Equine Sports Farriery & Forge,llc

01/13/2025

10/30/2024

Regular farrier appointments aren't a luxury, they are a necessity for your equine companion's lifelong welfare.

❔Did you know❔
Every extra 1cm of toe length results in -
🔹an extra 50KG of force acting on the tendons
🔹a -1° drop in sole angle where the DDFT inserts into the coffin bone can lead to a 4% increase in the pressure exerted by the DDFT on the navicular bone

(Credit Dr Renate Weller)

09/25/2024

It never hurts to ask.

09/08/2024

I say this all there time and it goes in one ear and out the other.

Knowledge sharing post No.1.

Digital/Phalangeal Alignment in a wet environment.
Pollitt and Hampson did a study at University of Queensland a couple of years ago.
They concluded the hoof wall has a constant moisture content. The sole however is like a sponge, soaking up all available moisture .
When hydrated to capacity, it loses it's tensile strength and the ability to support the hoof capsule as intended.
The back third of the hoof, which is also the shock absorbing section, drops or prolapses as a result. Counter rotation of the coffin bone occurs.
This is now known as negative palmer/planter angle. That is the angle the bottom of P3 makes in relation to the ground.
As a farrier, the best results to help this are to engage the back third in a load sharing package. Traditionally a heartbar shoe or wide bar was used. More recently dental impression material or pour in material is added to load share with frogs and commisures.
Plastic frog support pads are available most recently, as skills to fit a heartbar correctly are highest level. Protecting the internal structure are paramount whilst load sharing.

Horse's hooves are not designed to be constantly wet. Best results are to remove the cause.
A dry bedding of pine sawdust draws moisture and helps kill bacterial invasion of the whiteline and/frog's.
Overloading of the over hydrated hoof is exacerbated by the weight of the horse. To many horse's are overweight for the tensile strength of the hoof capsule.
If your horse gets to the situation where it needs this specific shoeing package, it's your responsibility as an owner to change the management or husbandry process.
Horse's shod with a load sharing package should be in a confined environment where they can't gallop about with the possibility of overreaching causing premature shoe loss. They should not be in a herd environment where other horse's can stand on the shoe's at play causing premature shoe loss.
Your farrier sees your horse at a cyclic time to reshoe, trimming the hoof to keep in balance perimeters.
The management between visits falls squarely on the owner.
Unfortunately to often expectations of correct digital alignment are overshadowed by owner mismanagement. I'm older and get grumpy when "buck passing " ends up in my lap.
At the end of the day as a professional tradesperson, it's me who decides if I continue to be trying my best for your horse's welfare 🙏

09/05/2024

08/29/2024

08/05/2024

How to make a farrier or any equine service provider happy.
1. A big fan when hot(portacool is a plus)
2. Plenty of light
3. Level hard surface
4 Cross ties area that has plenty of room
5. Not far to walk to the rig
6. Insulation
7. A horse that will stand quietly

Thank you to my clients and or their farms that have these things or that try their best with what they can do. It makes my job so much easier and enjoyable.

07/01/2024

So what are these wild looking cracks/defects that you randomly see appear?

Here’s what Iv learned through anecdotal observation and seeing what other farriers have said over several years.

1. Extreme moisture. In Houston Texas area I normally start seeing these early summer after a very wet spring and when humidity/dew points are extremely high and dew doesn’t burn off the grass till noon. In 2023 we had a very hot and dry year and I don’t remember seeing any of these defects then.

2. They seem to appear overnight and very randomly and can involve only one hoof or multiple.

3. Never any prior lameness associated with them nor
Do they cause any.

4.They’re not associated with selenium toxicity. That would look like a horizontal separation around the hairline and most likely a sloughing of the hoof wall and not be confused with and old abscess blowout which will look similar to these cracks/ defects.

5. There’s not been any real research or biopsies to know exactly what we’re dealing with. If someone knows of any please let me know.

6. What’s suspected and what makes sense to me is that these cracks/defects are a byproduct from a fungus infection at/under the coronary band. Or they involve the periople. Which creates this superficial wild looking V or W looking crack/defect.

Conclusion is no one really knows yet. they look scary but are harmless. They will grow out and eventually trim off.

06/29/2024

😏

03/05/2024

“Remember this next time the vet is taking radiographs. Don’t be that idiot at the end of the lead rope eating a snickers bar and not paying attention, and don’t be fooled by “experts” that are just going through the motion and billing owners for bad shots.” -Derrick Cooke CJF.

Set of x-rays of the same horse taken within seconds/minutes without any change in hoof balance.
X-rays by Equinovum Stomatologia Koni