Category: Farrier

When New Shoes are a Bummer

9/11/2018

Thanks a lot, California. Your super hot and dry conditions finally wore Izzy down. His feet that is. Two years ago this month, my farrier pulled the last shoe, and Izzy's been barefoot ever since. The hinds had been pulled the year before.

I am not anti-shoe at all, but Izzy just couldn't keep those front shoes on. He plays hard, and he loves to put his feet on, under, and around anything that will (might) bear his weight. All of that playfulness meant that his shoes were constantly getting ripped off. Eventually, he had hardly any foot left upon which to nail a shoe.

After some initial tenderness, Izzy's soles toughened right up, and he was sound as a dollar, until now. With conditions so dry here in the Golden State, Izzy has been chipping off his hoof wall faster than it can grow. Over the past six months, his feet have gotten so short that my farrier had nothing left to trim. Izzy finally came up sore footed.

Darn it.

After his most recent trim, if you can even call it that, Izzy looked like he had laminitis. He was so sore on his front feet that each step made me wince. I put in a call to my farrier and asked what we could do to get Izzy back in business. My farrier was actually surprised that it had taken Izzy this long to get tender. He'd been expecting a phone call long before this.

While I didn't want to do it, we agreed that Izzy needed front shoes again. My farrier came out late last week and popped on a new set of front shoes. Izzy was instantly sound. I also put him on Platinum Hoof Support, the supplement that I used for Speedy last year. It stimulates hoof growth and hardens the hoof, both are things Izzy needs right now.

Due to an unrelated hind end tweak combined with the sore front feet, Izzy hadn't been ridden in nearly three weeks. I finally got to ride him over the weekend, and while he was sound, he was also a complete jack ass.

Woohoo? Horses ...

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Coronary Band Injury: 3 Months Later

1/19/2018

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If you'll remember back to October, Speedy separated his hoof wall from the coronary band while doing who knows what. He was on vacation for nearly three months but has healed up quite satisfactorily. In fact, he's back to work, obviously, and just as sassy as ever.

Facebook reminded me the other day of this little gem of a post. Check it out real quick - I'll wait ... Did you notice anything? Yep. Speedy did nearly the same thing back in 2011, although not as severely.

Here's what he did in July, 2011:

Ouch	6 months later

Here's what he did in October, 2017:

OUCH!

3 months later

I am not positive, but I think the first one was a front foot, the right, and the second one is a hind foot, also the right. It is growing out well with no issues. As the damaged portion of the hoof gets closer to the ground, we'll see if it remains sturdy enough to ride on. So far, it's been fine.

Quit doing that, Speedy G!

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Barefoot But Not Pregnant

10/7/2016

3 Comments

A week or two ago, Izzy pulled yet another shoe, so I decided to go barefoot all around. The hind feet have been shoeless for more than a year, but his front feet still needed shoes. When I first bought him, he came off a grass pasture so his his feet were pretty splayed out. The farrier has slowly roped in Izzy's pancake feet, and now they're nice and round.

When he pulled the right front for the second time in a week, I gave up. I rode him with one shoe until my farrier could come and pull the other front. He was never ouchy on either foot. I've ridden for more than a week on barefoot hooves, and he's been sound.

The farrier was out last night and cleaned up the previously shod hooves and then smoothed out his hinds. I was actually concerned about his back feet as they looked terrible. They were heavily chipped, but they look great today, so it must have been cosmetic chipping only.

Here's a quick look at Izzy trotting out on freshly trimmed feet. I am delighted that he's not at all tender footed. He's not exactly moving his best, but this was a cold trot out with no warm up.

Izzy was standing in uneven dirt when I took these photos, so the angles are all wonky. The right front still has nail holes because we had to reset that shoe so many times. I am delighted that he grew so much foot that there aren't still nail holes in the left front.

right front

left front

I wish I had thought to take photos of the hinds before the farrier trimmed them as they looked really bad. They had taken on a pointed shape, but that was only from above. From underneath they still looked round.

right rear

left rear

As long as he stays sound, I'm hoping to keep him barefoot. Speedy's been barefoot for more than a year. I hope it works for Izzy too. It's quicker for the farrier and a lot cheaper for me!

3 Comments

Bye Bye, Cinderella

9/28/2016

5 Comments

Izzy has lost one too many shoes. We are now going barefoot. I am not an extremist either way: I like the sturdiness of shoes, but the convenience of going barefoot is hard to beat. Izzy just can't/won't keep that right front shoe in place.

I kept Speedy shod all the way around for many years. For the last couple of years though, he kept coming up lame without any apparent reason. I took him to Alamo Pintado, a premier equestrian medical center on the Central Coast where he was diagnosed with a possible suspensory ligament issue in the hoof. He had months off, and came back sound. When repeated the lameness a year or so later, my vet felt that we needed to change his shoeing. When he came up lame again, my current farrier posited that he was simply whacking himself with his own feet. He suggested we go barefoot. Speedy's been sound ever since.

While Izzy is sound, he keeps yanking that front right shoe off. He's pulled it twice now in the past week. My farrier isn't complaining about it, but I am tired of replacing chewed-up bell boots that aren't working anyway.

It's not often the farrier comes to pull just one shoe.

When I saw the shoeless foot on Saturday morning, I said screw it and saddled him up anyway. Dude was sound as a dollar. I called my farrier and asked if we could just pull the shoes and try going barefoot. Farrier said that it's a cheap and easy thing to do and certainly worth trying.

Hinds were already barefoot.

If Izzy gets sore being barefoot, we'll just stick the shoes back on. Given how sound he's been for the past few rides, I am hopeful that we can go barefoot permanently. He's already shoeless in the back and has been for more than a year, so I think this might be the cheapest fix in history!

5 Comments

Oh, Cinderella ...

8/23/2016

8 Comments

An order from Riding Warehouse is coming my way ...

Since moving to the ranch less than a month ago, Izzy has pulled the same shoe twice. The first time, he pulled it cleanly off, and I was able to track it down easily. My farrier was in the area and was able to reset it that same day. This time, Izzy didn't pull the shoe off. Instead, he left half of it hanging on tightly.

As luck would have it, I discovered the wonky shoe while chatting with the ranch owner. As I gave it the stink eye and tapped it ineffectively with my hoof pick, she told me to hang on a second as she had a good pair of nippers that I could borrow.

Now I need to get some of these.

The farrier always makes it look so easy. It took me a minute or ten, but I was finally able to pry the shoe off without tearing up the hoof wall. I thanked the ranch owner for the loan. I would have been out there forever with my hammer and hoof pick trying to get that thing off. She showed me where she keeps her farrier tools so that the next time I have a loose shoe, I'll know where to look.

With all of Izzy's new space, he's able to do a lot more zooming around. I am also hosing him off more frequently which has softened up his feet. Woo-hooing with soft feet is a good way to irritate your farrier. Izzy was due for shoes this week anyway, so I guess the timing was good.

8 Comments

A Farrier Check-in

4/28/2016

16 Comments

When I first got Izzy, he had been living out in pasture for more than a year and a half. Actually, I think his owner might have had him on pasture for pretty much his first six years of life. While pasture is fantastic, especially for young horses like Izzy, it can be pretty tough on their feet.

Izzy had developed a crack up the front of his hoof, but I knew it would grow out with good farrier work. While Izzy was with the "leg wrecker" trainer (start here and scroll back to find the beginning), I had her farrier shoe him because he was starting to get footsore (he was barefoot). It was a fairly mediocre shoe job at best.

Mediocre shoe job in December 2014

Re-shod by my former farrier in February 2015

Within just two or three visits by the farrier, the crack disappeared, and the hoof started taking on a much more balanced shape. Farrier work is one thing I don't try to micromanage. I always have good farriers and trust them to do their work. I can recognize a really bad shoe job, and a nice shoe job will stand out just as easily. Outside of that, I leave the angles and length to them. So far, that has worked out okay.

My current farrier has been working with my horses for almost a year, and both of their hooves look really great. Speedy has been able to go barefoot, which I love (no more lost shoes), and Izzy only needs to be shod in front.

My farrier was out this week. I forgot to take pictures of Speedy's toes, but I did get some shots of Izzy's freshly shod feet. They have really changed shape over the past year and look like they are now an excellent weight bearing structure.

Right front (same one that was cracked)

Left hind

Right front

Left hind

I follow a six week shoeing cycle, how often do your horse's feet get done?

16 Comments

What Does the Other Guy Look Like?

12/11/2015

1 Comment

I work really hard to avoid afternoon appointments, but lately, they've been hunting me down. I rode Izzy on Monday afternoon, but then I've meetings on Tuesday and Thursday that kept me away. The farrier was out, so I was eager to get there on Wednesday to check out how Izzy and Speedy's feet looked.

I have to be the luckiest gray horse owner alive. Not only does my nearly white horse keep himself impeccably clean, but he has the hardiest white feet I have ever seen. I couldn't even tell that they'd been trimmed. Speedy rarely has chips or flares of any kind. For this go round, I think my farrier shortened and buffed them a bit to make them look pretty, but I bet he spent all of ten minutes and not a second more. There simply wasn't much to do.

Speedy's feet are so lovely that I didn't even hesitate to take him on a hack around the neighborhood on freshly trimmed feet. He is never sore after a trim and doesn't care whether we choose the dirt shoulder or just mosey right down the middle of the road.

As I was photographing his toes, I looked up at his left eye and was shocked to see that he had clearly gotten in a brawl with someone. I hope the other guy looked worse than he does!

Poor guy!

I usually notice stuff like this much more quickly, but when I haltered him, I was focused on his feet and didn't even look at his face. It's hard to tell in the photo, but it looks like he scraped his lower lid. It's all dried up, and it wasn't particularly sensitive to touch. It's just swollen and unsightly.

Before I saw his eye, I had planned on doing a regular schooling ride, but after I saw it, I ditched that plan. I've had some eye issues myself over the past year and know how irritating it can be to try and focus (mentally) when you can't see well. Given our limited light anyway, I was happy to just swipe a brush over his back and throw on my riding halter.

I didn't even change out of my muck boots to ride. We were both bootless as a matter of fact. And I know I've shared this a million times already, but Speedy has the world's most awesome bareback space upon which to lounge. His back is so wide and flat that even a non-rider would have trouble falling off.

A bit of the Haner Family Farm

We did our regular neighborhood loop which included a stop at the apple tree for a few late fall apples. If there were apple trees in a dressage court, Speedy's leg yield would earn a 10 every time. It's amazing how well he moves sideways when it comes to sidling up next to a treat!

We also passed by the Haner's farm. The turkeys were gobbling and the goats were making all kinds of noises. Speedy gave them an interested glance, but he knows his job by now and didn't do much other than flag his tail in salute and blow a bit.

This is why endurance riders use rope halters and long reins - dinner on the trail!

We stopped for some obligatory grazing; Speedy expects it. He knows that trail rides are about relaxing and enjoying our time together. As we continued on past the corner of our property line, we spotted Izzy in Laurel's turn out. When I called to him, he trotted about three steps towards us, but then he froze. He's still too nervous to use the length of the turn out alone. We continued on while he whirled and galloped back toward the barn. Silly boy!

Yes, that's my big chicken of a horse - too nervous to come down to greet us.

When we finished up, I gave Speedy's eye another check. It looked the same. I am not worried about it as it was just a slight scrape. We're going to the cabin this weekend, so I won't be able to ride until Sunday at the earliest. I am sure it will be all healed up by then. I can't speak to the other guy's condition though. Hopefully Speedy gave as good as he got.

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you on Monday.

1 Comment

Pony Pedis

8/2/2015

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The farrier was out a few days ago, which is always interesting. I don't get to see my farrier very often as I am usually at work when he comes. This was the last time I'll get to see him until Christmas at the earliest.

The first thing Paul wanted to know was how Speedy was doing. Going barefoot is a new strategy for us that is turning out to be far more successful, not to mention cheaper, than we expected. We have very dry footing here that is either rock hard or sandy. We weren't sure that Speedy's hooves could hold up to those kind of abrasive conditions.

Paul was really pleased with how Speedy's feet looked. Not only was there no new bruising, but Speedy had actually managed to grow a fair amount of hoof that Paul could trim and shape. Our worry had been that he would wear off more hoof than he could grow. It seems we worried over nothing.

Izzy getting his feet trimmed.

Paul's assistant, Walker, pulled old shoes and trimmed Izzy's feet while we were busy with Speedy. I didn't ask how his feet looked. I was more concerned with how he behaved. He wasn't naughty, but he did do some wiggling. Rather than get upset, Walker just stood at his head distracting him while Paul finished shoeing the front feet.

Paul's method is kind and gentle which the horses seem to really appreciate. Both men work quietly and confidently with the horses' happiness in mind. They realize that happy horses will ultimately make their jobs a lot easier.

Having been able to watch them work for the last three visits has left me feeling quite confident in their ability to do their jobs with my horses' best interests at heart. Next time they come, my only job will be to leave a check. How nice that a horse related expense is actually getting lower!

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Cinderella

5/15/2015

2 Comments

Hey hey, Cinderella, what's the story all about
I got a funny feeling we missed a page or two somehow
Ohh-ohhhh, Cinderella, maybe you could help us out
Does the shoe fit you now

- Suzy Bogguss

Speedy G has definitely decided that his alter ego is Cinderella. I've owned this horse, or rather he's owned me, for more than seven years, and we've never had so many shoeing issues until this past year. He's clearly pining for some glass slippers.

Does this come in a narrow web bar?

The neighbor told me that Dr. Tolley had stopped by last week for her old man and that he had popped over to check on Speedy while he was there. When I didn't hear from the vet, I assumed that he hadn't seen anything other than what we had already been seeing.

When I called the vet hospital to talk to Dr. Tolley about Izzy's leg on Monday, Dr. Tolley shared what he had found with Speedy's feet. He agreed that Speedy was quite footsore on the left and that he had a strong digital pulse.

After poking around a bit, he realized that there was a fair amount of dirt packed between the rim of the shoe and Speedy's sole. Once he scraped the dirt out, Speedy was "60% better."

This is a hind foot, but you can see where Dr. Tolley would have found dirt wedged under the edge of the shoe. While I pick out my horse's feet daily, this dirt would be hard to get with a hoof pick.

I shared with Dr. Tolley that the front shoes had already been pulled and that Speedy was to be re-shod in mid-June. He liked the plan but suggested my farrier shoe Speedy with a narrower web bar shoe so that the dirt can't pack in under the shoe and put pressure on the sole.

I hopped up on Speedy bareback on Monday afternoon to see how he felt. There's a show coming up in a just over a week that I really want to do. I haven't shown since November, and I really miss it.

I walked Speedy over the poles, and he felt sound. He also seemed very happy to be working again. When he was focused on the poles, I urged him forward into a baby trot and continued working on the four poles I had laid out in a circle.

I am not sure that he was 100% sound, but he felt pretty good. I kept the trot very tiny, but he stepped over those poles nicely. And did I mention that he was bareback? Even without a saddle, he lengthened his stride where he needed to, and he was pretty good about not diving forward over the poles or rushing off to the next one.

I worked him to the left first and later to the right. I sent in the entry yesterday; it's due today. If he still feels sound this afternoon, I'll give the show a try, and if not, he'll have until mid-June for any soreness to heal.

2 Comments

New Hypothesis

5/9/2015

4 Comments

Unfortunately, Speedy came up very foot sore again last weekend. I could tell immediately that it was the same thing we've dealt with over the past fifteen months. I won't say that I am not terribly disappointed, but boohooing over it doesn't fix anything. So rather than get too upset, I put in a call to my farrier and let my vet know. And then I just waited.

My farrier was able to come out yesterday and take a look. He noticed a few things which have given us a plan of action. I love a plan of action, so I immediately felt better.

Here is what he saw ...

Look at the pink area to the left of the nail holes.

Both of Speedy's front feet have bruises on both the inside and outside along the hoof wall. My farrier thinks these bruises are the result of Speedy's hind feet coming up and whacking the inside and outside of his hoof.

Seven weeks ago, he was also forging pretty heavily which we know contributed to the foot soreness as well. With the corrective shoeing that my vet's farrier did, combined with Paul's work, the forging has been taken care of, but something is still causing Speedy to be sore. This may be it.

After discussing it pretty throughly with my new farrier, we suspect that Speedy has been hitting the sides of his foot because of the work we have been doing over the past year, especially the work we've done in the last few months. I have been asking Speedy for more collected work which includes stepping deeper and deeper with his inside hind. It's the insides of both front feet that are the most bruised!

Not a great photo, but it shows how close he gets.

We may be simply grasping at straws, but it does make a lot of sense. His stride is quite long in the back, so by sending that inside hind leg deeper underneath him, he very well could be thwacking the insides of those front feet.

So here's our plan. We've pulled his front shoes so that he can level himself off the way he wants to in the front. This will show us how he wants to wear his feet. We're going on vacation in three weeks and won't be back until mid June. When we get back, we're going to re-shoe the fronts but leave him barefoot in the back.

Paul, my farrier, thinks that he might not bruise himself so badly if he doesn't have a steel shoe whacking the walls of his hoof. I am also going back to full time bell boots to help protect the hoof when he does strike it.

Again, this is a just a theory, but at least it's something that we can test. We've also done x-rays, nerve blocks, corrective shoeing, and several lameness evaluations. There isn't anything structurally wrong with Speedy, so this seems like a good next step.

As ever, onward and forward ...

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About the
Writer & Rider

I am a lifetime rider.
I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
Welcome to my dressage journey.

Photo by Lori Ovanessian

Email Karen

About Speedy G

Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse and occasional trail horse. He is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.

May 2018

About Izzy

Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are schooling the dressage basics. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand Zweibrücker gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.

Second Show - July 2016

Bakersfield Dressage approved!

National Awards

USDF Second Level Rider Performance Award - 2018
USDF First Level Rider Performance Award - 2015
USDF Training Level Rider Performance Award - 2013

Stuff I'm Working On ...

Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) Qualifying Scores
Second Level Scores:
Score 1: 63.485%
Score 2: 61.282%
Score 3: 62.879%

CDS Championship Qualifying
Second Level Scores:
Score 1: 63.485%
Score 2: 61.282%
Score 3: 62.879%
Score 4: 61.970%
Score 5: 62.973%

CDS Ruby Rider Award
Training Level Scores:
Score 1: 70.179%
Score 2: 72.600%

First Level Scores:
Score 1: 66.093%
Score 2: 68.750%

Second Level Scores:
Score 1: 63.485%
Score 2: 62.879%

USDF Second Level Rider Performance Award
Score 1 - 62.879%
Score 2 - 61.970%
Score 3 - 64.242%
Score 4 - 64.268%

USDF Bronze Medal
First Level - 70.179%
First Level - 72.600%
Second Level - 62.879%
Second Level - 61.970%
Third Level -
Third Level -

2018 Show Season

Show Rating
(***) CDS/USDF/USE
(*) CDS
(s) Schooling
(c) Clinic
(t) Ride-a-Test Clinic
(Q) Must Qualify

2018 Pending …
8/26/18 Tehachapi (*)

2018 Completed …
1/14/18 Hurtado Clinic (c)
2/10/18 Hurtado Clinic (c)
2/24/18 Hurtado Clinic (c)
3/17/18 Hurtado Clinic (t)
3/18/18 GEAHS (*)
3/31/18 Hurtado Clinic (c)
4/14-15/18 El Sueno (***)
5/27/18 Tehachapi (*)
6/16-17/18 El Sueno (***)
6/24/18 Tehachapi (*)
7/22/18 Tehachapi (*)
7/28-29/18 El Sueno (***)
8/11-12/18 RAAC (Q ***)
8/26/18 Tehachapi (*)

When New Shoes are a Bummer

Coronary Band Injury: 3 Months Later

Barefoot But Not Pregnant

Bye Bye, Cinderella

Oh, Cinderella ...

A Farrier Check-in

What Does the Other Guy Look Like?

Pony Pedis

Cinderella

New Hypothesis

About the
Writer & Rider

About Speedy G

About Izzy

National Awards

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About the Writer & Rider

About Speedy G

About Izzy

National Awards

Stuff I Read

By Topic

Archives

About the
Writer & Rider