McMahan’s Hoofcare

09/19/2025

A little lovin from a sassy mini! Sundance Horse Rescue and Sanctuary

09/09/2025

Got to see Pistachio and Dobby today!

06/27/2025

Hi all! I have some openings in my upcoming schedule, so please share this with your friends!

06/04/2025

DON’T 👏 WEAR 👏FLIPFLOPS👏AROUND👏HORSES

Always a good reminder this time of year!
Don’t wear flip flops around horses
It’s never worth the risk 😉

04/07/2025

Not a joke...

Have you ever wondered why you can have a 15 acre field and part of it is chewed down to nubs and the other part has grass a hand high, But your horse is constantly grazing in the chewed down part?

Grass 6 inches and taller has less sugars than grass under 6 inches.

For every inch drop below 6 inches, the fructan (sugar) content rises.

Grass under 6 inches is stressed like it's a Monday morning with a project deadline. It uses sugar to repair itself.

Stop mowing your fields short.

Stop grazing your chubbys on chewed down grass. (this is why grazing muzzles are so touted...they keep the horse from being able to get much short grass)

(We aren't saying let your fields be 3 feet tall, by the way. The optimal thing to do is keep them 6-8 inches tall and graze them in small areas there)

04/03/2025

Cleaning up some older nippers and shoe pullers. I wish I had thought to take a picture of them rusty and crusty before I started!

03/29/2025

Gotta love a good ol’ barn cat!

09/21/2024

Did you know?

PPID, or Cushing's disease, is highly prevalent in aged horses, affecting up to 20% of horses over the age of 15. 🐴 This endocrine disorder causes excessive production of cortisol, leading to symptoms like laminitis, weight loss, and a long, curly coat. Monitoring for signs and managing with appropriate care and medication can improve the quality of life for horses with PPID.

Visit our blog to learn how to feed a horse with PPID:
🇺🇸https://madbarn.com/how-to-feed-a-horse-with-ppid/
🇨🇦https://madbarn.ca/how-to-feed-a-horse-with-ppid/

08/28/2024

This is a great illustration of why you shouldn't pull nails or any foreign object out of the foot until you have taken the horse to the vet to have it xrayed. If you pull it out, without a radiographic image, you won't know where the nail Penetrated. Getting radiographic images can help prevent your horse from long term or permanent lameness.

08/03/2024

Why does your farrier require you to stay on a schedule if you stay with him? Is he just wanting more money? Is he just taking advantage of you? Absolutely not. It’s all about keeping the horse’s foot as consistent as possible. Too many people think “oh, they don’t look bad so they don’t need done.” When in reality, if they do look good inbetween cycles, and they still look good when they are due next…that’s a compliment to the job the farrier has done.

For every 1 centimeter of extra toe, it’s an added 50 kilograms of force on the tendons. If you do the conversion, that’s 110lbs of extra tension!!!!! Think about the pain a horse has with toes that are 4-5” long. Or, on a horse that’s only done once or twice a year. So, when a farrier requires or asks that their clients stay on a schedule, it’s for the benefit of the horse. It’s our job as farriers to do what we can to keep our client horses both sound and comfortable.

07/21/2024

Forget firefighters! When there’s a heat wave, clients who have Krispy Kremes, fans, ice water and lawn chairs waiting for ya are the real heroes!

07/09/2024

Time to say see ya later to that raggedy old steel stand and helloooooo nurse to a fancy new extra light stand!