Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
The little snowball fight is somewhat indicative of the contents of this blog - Enter at your own Risk (-:        You too Pat .

    When i started this blog i decided not to specifically point a finger at anyone or their website or blog or video and call attention to them in a negative way for having a different opinion than mine. I think it's low class , non professional and kinda ugly. When it comes to the horse industry and shoeing specifically i think that kind of behavior just continues to cause the division amongst us who all do our best to improve and advance in our knowledge of how to care for these animals , our horses.

     i'll do my best to continue to maintain that integrity.

     The other day i was doing a google search on the keyword "Farrieritis" and as i looked at each link got to the second page of google and came upon a site that was just doing exactly what i have described above - i was being criticised as though i was the devil from hell. The bitterness and hatred in the blog was loud and clear and the whole blog post was pointed at me.

     As i read the article i realized it was from a person named Pat Rainier who came to my blog ( i didn't go to theirs - she came to mine ) and left some rather negative comments in the comment section on my blog. There were some things she said that i just cannot agree with and when someone comes to my blog to leave a comment they should expect the possibility of getting a comment back - after all that's why comments are invited in the first place.

     Well apparently Pat was quite upset at my responses to her. I tried to be nice but it came to a point where i realized there was nothing i could say to Pat that she would agree with. It was Pats closed mindedness that made me realize nothing i said would make any difference.

     Pat accused me of making a horse sore - telling me about the work i had done " Oh the poor horse ".  Even after i told Pat this was the first time i worked on this horse so i didn't cause the problem in the first place - that it had coffin bone rotation from work that had been done previous to me she still was and still does apparently accuse me of making this horse sore - and as an example of her closed mind she continues to say these things even after i told her this horse was shod by me  and didn't take one lame step afterward , not one...  There was No blood everywhere as Pat mentioned in her blog as though i was the one that caused the horse problems - the horse had bruising only and the bruising was from the previous work being done on the horse.

     It quickly became obvious to me that Pat is in the Barefoot crowd. This is a perfect time for me to clear something up. I am not against barefoot horses and i'm not against the people who promote barefoot horses. I've mentioned this before , what i am against is when these barefoot people say "all shoeing is bad for horses" - and  that i just cannot go along with. Now even when i explained to Pat that i'm almost at 20 years of shoeing and i've not had ONE horse blow a tendon - get navicular - blow check ligaments , rotate coffin bones or any other such lameness during those almost 20 years Pats negative response to me was " 20 years is a long time to be doing it WRONG "...

     Pats welcome to her opinion but one would think that after almost 20 years and thousands and thousands and thousands of feet that i've shod if i've done something wrong at least ONE horse would have come up with some kind of lameness problem - But not one , not one ...  But Pat is sure that i'm out here ruining horses. I digress - Not only have i not had one horse come up lame from any shoeing i've done but i've gotten more comments than i can count from clients who have told me their horse has never been moving better. i've gotten reports from clients that told me their old trainer for their horse came back into town and now that i had become their shoer the trainer was riding their horse and asked " what did you do to your horse - she's all balanced in her movement ", to which the owner of the horse replied " i've changed shoers "....  But you see there's nothing i can say to Pat that will make any difference.   

     You know i'm not going to go into a whole big discussion on and on but there is one thing i want to elaborate on here and that's the issue of sole and sole pressure and what to do with the sole of the horse in general. Pat criticised me for removing sole and i know that's the opinion of many of the barefoot people. There's a couple things worth understanding :  If a horse is left to stand on it's sole ( when no sole is removed for example ) it sorta freezes the natural action within the foot. In other words the horses body weight coming from above - the horses bone column becomes somewhat static inside the foot. Leaving all that sole in a horse's foot is somewhat like suddenly becoming flat footed ( there is no longer any flex in the foot ).  I'm going to enclose here a youtube video showing a natural process of a horse's foot - if no sole is removed and the horse is standing on it's sole the movement you see in this video will be stopped , the natural process of the foot halted to a great degree.  I'll let you decide . Warning the video is not pretty it's got blood but is a good example of natural hoof movement.

     This is the YouTube Video:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7YuzTTOhp8 

     The barefoot crowd that leaves all the sole in horse's feet and suggest that horse's need to stand on their soles are basically stopping this pumping action.  Not all horse's shed their soles , sometimes quite often actually the sole just doesn't come popping out - if it's not removed it's left to build up and it's somewhat like pouring concrete into the bottom of your horse's foot . I've personally seen feet with the sole not being removed where the foot becomes stuck and rigid  , it starts to take on the appearance of a club rather than something that's alive and breathing and flexible , adapting and working - that's not good .   You decide.

     to drive home a point :  Not all horse's can go barefoot. Some are just way too sensitive to pain. If Pat is trying to tell me that no barefoot horse has ever experienced pain , well , i may as well just pray to be reborn into a new paradigm because i'm obviously not living in the same world as Pat , If no barefoot horse has pain then i want to live in that Fairytale land too.

     I have heard from Vets more than once that the horse's they get with the most problems are from barefoot horses. And just in closing here , during my talks with Pat she also originally told me horse's don't shed their soles - again , maybe i live in a different world than Pat , but take a look at this following photo and you tell me- is this horse not only shedding it's sole but also shedding it's frog at the same time or not ?     Well it's quite obvious to me horse's shed their soles and frogs and there's a reason - it's healthy for the foot !    

                                                                                                   

      When you look at the photo you see there's still a ton of sole left underneath all that sole that is popping off . When Pat originally told me "No horse's don't shed their soles" i think she spoke from stubborness just to maintain her ideology and i feel that's the kind of closed mindedness this industry doesn't need. 
     i have a couple sayings :
           " It's not shoeing that ruins horses - it's Incorrect shoeing that ruins them "  and 
           " it only takes once to have a permanently lame horse "  and this latter applies to barefoot horses too
                             Keep in mind , incorrect triming (barefoot horses) can ruin a horse just as easily.   

     You know some of the healthiest looking feet i've ever seen were on horses that lived in pads year after year after year. If sole pressure was so all important how could a horse survive living in pads all it's life yet have some of the healthiest feet i've seen. And i observed this on not just one horse but many many many horses living in pads , so not just one isolated case.

     And Pat , i don't need to convince anyone of what i'm doing in order for me to believe in myself ( as you've rather rediculously elluded to in your blog post ) i've convinced myself long ago based on my own studies and the merits of the method i use which rather speaks for itself - 20 years of never having one problem result from my shoeing stands on it's own.         

     With that i hope you can take from this post something positive . 

     Hoping Santa Claus keeps your horse's healthy and happy and may everyone have a wonderful New year. 

As usual , Happy and Safe riding and always remember to www.Care4Horses.com   

John "TheFootDoctor" Silveira

Feel free to drop me a line with any of your lameness concerns , I'm still giving consultations at no charge. Send a photo of your horse's feet if you like ---->   John@Care4Horses.com       

                                                   Take Care -  watch out for those snowballs   (-:

Todays link:  Your Equine Source - Specializes in bringing you a wide variety of Horses for Sale, Tack, Trailers, Trucks and so much more.

03/18/09 

           Hello Hello.   

              I want to say my book "Inside Horseshoeing Secrets of Lameness Prevention"  is done !!    I'm currently in the process of getting it accepted on Amazon.  Gonna take a few weeks .  In the mean time i'll be putting up the download link to to access it as a PDF file here any day - and -  it's FREE !    150 pages , photos and lots of information.  It's for you specifically to be able to recognize all the little issues that can lead to lameness. Pretty powerful !   Much of what's in the book was not taught me in the Farrier schools and evidently still is not as sometimes i get emails from guys fresh out of the schools and they ask me questions which i give answers to and the first thing they say is " I never knew that !"  .   Really this book will put you into the elite catagory when it comes to understanding feet and legs and your horse's movement.     So , i'm excited to provide this for you.   been a long time coming.   
                                         It will also be available as a download at www.Care4Horses.com as well.      
 
              Now i can't go without saying i've been totally elated lately due to finally getting UNSUPERVISED visits with my son Tristan. It's just incredible , like a whole new world . All i can say is "it's Nothing but Good - it's the light in my life" and Tristan's just loving it . We're both just anxious for the visits to go from 3 hours to 6 where he and i will have enough time to really get into things together. Unfortunately his mother is still a thorn in my ass that just seems nothing but hell bent on preventing Tristan from having a relationship with his father , well - but that's another story -    so let's move on to the horse talk for today. 

                                     Uncovering more controversy with Barefoot vs Shod horses. 
              
               To be perfectly honest with you this Barefoot thing is the ONLY area i get any flack from when i address issues surrounding it. And it's ALWAYS from the Barefoot People. So be it !!   I want to be clear - i'm NOT against barefoot horses - it's just that not all horses can go barefoot - just won't happen , but it does irritate me to hear these barefoot people say that "Shoeing Horses" is a problem , after over 18 years now that i have not had one lameness due to the specific method of shoeing i use i just can't stand on their side of the fence when they make that kind of statement. I've said it before " Shoeing's not the problem it's incorrect  shoeing that's the problem.  I might as well add right here that i have Veterenarian friends that tell me as well that Most of the lameness issues they address are with - get this - you guessed it Barefoot Horses !!!  HELLO !!!  

               By the way , these barefoot people are kinda like animal rights activists - they're down right beligerant at times. Oh well. 

                 One of the first things that almost always hear from the barefoot people is " Shoeing Stops the foot from expanding and contracting which stops the blood pumping action within the foot "   BLEH !!!   Let me show you why it's just NOT a true statement. Take a look at the photo below . The shoe came off of a horse when re-shoeing it at the end of it's normal 8 week shoeing cycle. 

                 Do you see the shiny spots / tracks on both sides of the shoe ? On the left side of the shoe the shiny area starts at the last nail hole and progresses to the end of the shoe. On the right the shiny area starts at the second hole up from the heel and progresses nearly to the end of the shoe as well.  Question: What do you think those areas are ? not too difficult to figure out. What you're not seeing though in the photo is those shiny areas are actually grooves right in the metal - and worn rather deeply as well. NOT only are they grooves but they're actually fairly WIDE , like almost 1/4 inch wide .  The point is what you are looking at is WEAR right into the METAL from the hoof wall doing exactly what the Barefoot people say doesn't happen , which is , that's right  ---------- Hoof Wall Expansion and contraction  ....    I rest my   #%>&@$!@   Case !!!!     lol   

                When you combine the two grooves of 1/4 inch each together we're looking at almost 1/2 inch expansion and contraction - wow !  That's quite significant isn't it !!       



                                                                     

                  OK !  So if you've ever heard like i have the horses hoof wall doesn't expand and contract when shoes are put on and you've wondered if because of that statement you're making the right decisions for your horse - just take a look at the picture again and rest your mind about it.   Not only have we just Debunked the facts but horses do not just get blood pumping through the contraction and expansion of the hoof wall .   Really !   Horses are quite heavy wouldn't you agree - 1000 lbs right ?  All that weight travels right down your horses legs and pumps the whole bone column up and down within the hoof wall - That is responsible for a LOT of blood pumping .      To be honest i would venture to say that the little bit of expansion and contraction that horses feet do is possibly insignificant compared to the other factors responsible for blood pumping concerns. Won't hang my hat on the statement but it makes sense to me.        

                So i'm hoping things are going well for you . Riding season will be in full swing soon .
As usual Happy and Safe Riding and always remember to www.Care4Horses.com

John "TheFootDoctor" Silveira  

               OHHH !   if you don't Twitter do so - it's fun .   Follow me on Twitter.   just go to www.Twitter.com take about 2 minutes to give them your screename and password and you're in !    then just use the search feature and look me up by my screen name which is familiar to you -------->   Care4Horsescom  and start TWITTERING and stop in often and say hello to me    (-:     Hope to see you there , it's soo easy and too fun.  

 Quick while you can - get on to this site for the First Ever Equestrian Giveaway !  FREE STUFF   (-:  

 This is expiring January 10th ,  Hurry and go to  http://Free-Horse-gifts.com/go/john@care4horses.com everything there is FREE.

12/08/08                                   

Hello and Happy Holidays.

It's been a while i've been kept pretty busy with court appearances and depositions again so have been real busy. Have managed to get several more chapters written in the Ebook "Inside Horseshoeing Secrets of Lameness Prevention" so nearing completion of that project. If i say so myself it's looking great and there's a ton of information there allowing you to recognize if your horse is at risk of lameness. I've been getting a lot of emails lately with people having problems with their shoers doing the trimming or shoeing wrong - the owner of the horse doesn't usually realize something's wrong until the horse is lame .

So i have a quick story for today. It's about the horse named Smarty, a big muscular quarter horse i have been shoeing for the past 10 years. Yes 10 years. You see when i started shoeing Smarty he was full of problems , fear ! It was easy enough to pick up Smarty's feet but every time i'd move my body to get under him he'd tighten up and get stiff as a board. If you're thinking "well he's sore somewhere" and that's why he's having trouble - well that's not it .

Over the years of working with Smarty i have been able to get him loosened up in the front end, that took some time, then was able to fix him from jerking his rear legs back when i was under him. You see he'd stiffen up so much while i was under him he'd wear himself out to the point where to get comfortable again he'd either lean all the way over till he fell or he'd hop or pull his leg back. I have to say pulling the legs back is bad specially when there's a nail still sticking out of his foot , too many times i've had those nails rip right through my pants and skin at the same time - got the scars to prove it.

So i've been able to get ole Smarty fixed up pretty good except he's still always been just alittle bit off ( Just wasn't right ). After i got him to loosen up in the front and back then he turned his anxiety into side stepping and fishtailing whenever i'd just go to make a move. Horse psychology is interesting isn't it - sometimes when you fix one "Symptom" it migrates into another area of the body and this can go on like this for some time and it did with Smarty. I had gotten his legs to soften up but now it turned into a dancing around problem .

My last shoeing with Smarty didn't go well, he was dancing sideways in the ties and just being a royal pain in the rear. I could tell he was just being a shit ! The Fear was still there , no longer jerking his leg - or stiffening up but now causing the dancing as a symptom and now it had gotten to the point where he's being quite , i use the word "Bitchy" about it. Almost a meaness and so that day Smarty and i had words !! Quite a few of them. I can tolerate alot when it comes to horses but when the horse starts getting a real attitude like he's going to call the shots with me and i feel like the next step for the horse could possibly be kicking me then i find it's time to have a talk.

Smarty learned how to stand that day but i pissed him off royally in the process - too bad isn't it sometimes , like a spoiled brat sometimes you just have to tell them otherwise even if you know they are going to throw a tantrum , it's for the overall good. I got done with Smarty that day put him away but the look in his eyes would have melted wax. LOL

Now i got a call from the owner a couple days ago that Smarty needed to get shod again. Smarty is in bar shoes cause he has navicular disease and he's also been nerved due to the navicular. He's a great reining horse and the owner wanted to extend his use and keep using him hence the nerveing. I find it kinda interesting how when a horse gets navicular then is the time to recommend the bar shoes but my way of thinking is why wait till the navicular sets in , why not just use the bar shoes all along ? Well the bar shoes cost a bit more money , not much but enough to put people off from regular shoeing with bar shoes.

What i do to accomplish a bar shoe effect without actual bar shoes is to just fit the horse with a shoe that's a little bit longer in the heels. I'll turn the extra length at the heels inward a bit similar to a bar shoe. This way the navicular bones gets support and the deep flexor tendon stops getting stretched from the heels sinking into the ground because now you've got some extra heel support with the longer shoe. Back to Smarty.

I show up for the appointment to shoe Smarty and i don't even get to square one and ole Smarty starts shaking like a leaf . I could see he's having a serious issue so i don't push it . I stay really nice - talk to him - give him love - rub his nose but it's not working , he's getting into a nervous fit. If i just ever so lightly just tap him with the end of my finger he flinches as though someone was driving a stake into his heart . Maybe he's been bitten by a vampire bat - Just kidding - ok this is no time for joking.

For Smarty the moment of truth had finally arrived. He was out of places to hide and out of physical symptoms to express his fears. The quivering was him dealing with his own anxieties and fears. I had finally reached deep enough into his mind , had finally made enough progress that now all that was left was for man and horse to unite and connect - the real question always is - is the horse capable of it ? This is when , the human factor has to be the most careful , this is where we bridge the gap and the vulnerability of the horse is wide open - the horses trust is for the first time being tested , the horse is finally opening up the doors this is no time for me to be an idiot .

Poor ole Smarty was reaching out probably for the first time in his long life and i could see it happening. Now that Smarty is open my whole approach changes , now my touch becomes a healing touch and i rub him in a way that soothes - i had to make darn sure exactly how i was going to touch him delivered a quality of care and compassion and had a calming healing effect to him. That's what he needed and that's what he got. As he took notice of all this and while he's dealing with his own deamons the connection between man and animal was made . Within minutes Smarty stopped quivering and the sighs of relief came for him. What a site to see.

Oh and how wonderful it was , now that the quivering stopped and now with our connection when i asked for his foot he'd just give it , when i pulled his leg out to the side so i could get under him he allowed it , he was comfortable , and sure in himself , relaxed , relieved and almost euphoric. What a joy to work on horses like that. (-: Smarty and i had traveled a long and complex road together. We have "Arrived" at the Destination . Here's a picture of Smarty , the look in his face for the first time is one of the most peace i have ever seen in him . He's a bit frazzled looking but also very relieved, he kinda almost looks child like in a horse sense . Here he is .

                                                           
        
   
As usual happy and safe riding and always remember to www.Care4Horses.com   

John "TheFootDoctor" Silveira

ps. Remember you can still have consultations for any horse shoeing needs
     just email me directly at John@Care4Horses.com    consultation is at no cost .  FREE !

 links: http://www.ncha.net/   http://www.swtcuttin.com/ http://www.riddenhard.us/index.html

11-03-08

          Something alittle different today. I'm posting an actual email recieved from a reader of this blog who's very concerned about her horses feet and how the farriers have been doing their job. Her "Erin's" concerns are very legitimate, no one wants their horses feet going out of balance and risking their horses becoming permanently lame.  

          I have more work to do on this article with the photos Erin sent me but want to post her actual email ahead of time to get this on a roll. You'll be able to Erin's email and understand her concerns then i'll follow up in a day or so with the answers and explanations along with the photo examples and suggestions to Erin posted right here for you to follow along.  So here we go.   Here's Erin's email , the follow up response from me coming soon.

          Dear Mr. Silveira,
 
I hope very, very much that you are still providing free consultations as I have two horses desperately in need of your help.  Home is where the military sends you and so just over one year ago I moved my horses from California to Arkansas.  My biggest fear in terms of moving is having to find a new farrier so when I arrived in Arkansas I opted to pay an outrageous fee to a Certified Journeyman Farrier with the foolish notion that he would know what he was doing.  WRONG! 
 
Stupidly, for eight months I paid to have my horses trimmed and/or shoed religiously every six weeks.  By the eighth month both of my horses feet had developed  broken back hoof pastern axis's resulting from toes left too long and heels that had crushed underneath the hoof so badly that both of my horses were standing on the hairline/heel bulb of all of their hooves. 
 
Rock, my twelve-year-old ex-racetrack Thoroughbred gelding was forging nearly every step at a walk and at one point severely overreached causing a deep, nasty wound despite the professional's choice ballistic overreach boots he was wearing.  He had also been showing signs all last winter of hind limb lameness that I thought was due to back pain so I hand walked him and massaged and stretched him nearly all winter.  He also was not extending his front feet normally at any gait and appeared to be standing over at the knee.  He was always standing on diagonals all of the time versus ever standing squared up.  He also refused to lope off with his back rounded and head down specifically on his left lead.  He had never presented any of these problems before (which should have been a big clue to me).
 
Blue, my six-year-old reined cow horse American Quarter Horse mare also had the broken back pastern axis's and was standing way back on the hairline/heel bulb of all of her feet.  My concerns for her developed when it appeared her knees were wobbling like jello after each ride and she couldn't "get in the ground" with her rear-end to stop like before.  Then, she began cross firing in the pasture and on the longe line resulting in a huge bruise on her inside front leg and repeatedly hitting it in the pasture has given her a permanent hard knot.  I was truly surprised when my mare also began to forge very frequently as she has a very long back. 
 
I called my now ex-farrier out to my place to address the issue that I felt both of my horses needed more toe to be taken off and figure out how to get them standing back up on their heels.  My ex-farrier requested watching me ride (I am a horse trainer and have a very successful show career) so he could asses what the problem was.  After sitting on my horse and walking around as instructed he admitted that my gelding was forging (as he was hitting/interfering nearly every walking step), but my farrier came to the conclusion that all of my concerns were a result of my horse following his nose around in a circle (and I wasn't even using the reins to turn him)!!!
 
I have since switched to another farrier who has been trying to correct the angles of my horses' feet.  He tried to put slideplates on my mare which she stepped on and ripped off in her stall the very first night my new farrier put them on.  I would love it if you did an article on how to properly shoe a horse with sliders.  The pictures I have attached were taken two days ago.  What you see is after only three weeks from their last trim which is the second time my new farrier has given my horses hooves attention.  The first trim with my new farrier was five weeks apart, and the next trim will be four weeks apart meaning the farrier is due to arrive November 5th.  My goal is to get their hooves back to normal and I thought getting their feet trimmed more often would help expedite the growth of new angles.  My horses have been very sore footed after my new farrier's trimming as he has been taking off as much as possible to help correct their hooves.  Should I be worried about this or is he on the right track?
 
This is why I have contacted you.  My horses desperately need your help!  What do I need to do to get my horses feet back to normal.  Specifically, how do I get their angles back to normal and get them standing back up on their heels?  I am not convinced my new farrier knows what to do, but he tries very hard to do what I ask him to.  Both my horses are fed the best quality hay I can buy and are fed Omelene 200 (they were on Ultium) along with Platinum Performance and are currently on smartpaks with grandflex, grandvite, msm (thanks to Sandy Collier a trainer friend of mine from Buellton, California).  I have wondered if their forward growing/crushed heels is the result of moving from a sandy, dry environment to a very muddy, wet one.  I do notice that their heels seem to sink down and become mushy after it rains.  Do you believe in Kerratex Hoof Gel to keep out the excess moisture or is their another product you might be able to suggest?  Please, please respond to my letter as I have not found a farrier that I can trust here and my horses need all the help they can get to get their hooves back to normal!  I will gladly send more photos if you need them.  My Thoroughbred, Rock, has always had mismatched front feet with the left being more narrow and upright, but this has never caused him problems.  Thank you so very much for any help you may be able to provide.  I can't wait for your book to be available, and I would love to be entered in your hoof pick drawing.  I tried to attach the photos of my horses to this e-mail, but apparently I will have to attach them to different messages because of the big size.  So please view the photos on the other e-mails I am sending.
 
Thank you so much,
 
Erin Kirsten Long

===========================

          Thanks so much for writing in Erin, Doing some editing to the photos you've sent and i'll be right back to you.  There are some interesting things going on with your horses feet that deserve attention.    See you soon.

     John  
===========================
Here's the follow up for Erin's horses 

  
                                          
 
       First lets talk about heels. if you look the heel of this horse has already been stretched forward. Most likely from the toe growing too far forward. I don't have before and after shots of this horse so no visual comparisons but when the heels get sheared it's one of the hardest things to fix. You can see the yellow penciled in where the heel should be.  What happens is the horses weight and center of gravity in this case fall behind where the heel is currently - the tendency then is for this foot to want to rock backwards due to no heel support. At this point it looks like plenty of toe has been rasped back so the toe's not long anymore but the damage to the heel has already been done. Fortunately shoeing is the easiest fix - just fit the shoe longer in the rear at the heels for the support the foot needs - basically we're faking the foot has heels.

         So that's for starters - one thing i did want to mention right off is the feet have a slight appearance of what i call "Impacted" - meaning the feet aren't breathing well - flexing - expanding - contracting - but rather are kinda rigid in appearance and when i examined more photos it started to become apparent why ( cover that in a minute )   so lets go to the next .

                                          

         In this photo the right foot looks like it's lining up well. Angles look pretty good here. The red dotted line of the right foot is where to correctly measure for angles meaning i don't use a hoof guage like many farriers do rather i use the grain of the foot right there where you see the red line. Using this method puts the coffin bone at it's most natural angle. Using the hoof gauge at the toe as some do is not accurate as it completely disreguards any hoof stretch or long toe syndrome at the toe which would throw off the reading - besides what is the hoof guage really reading ?  think about that - it's measuring the hoof wall not the angle of the coffin bone . The comments i've recieved after viewing Xrays of horses i shoe in this manner always come back that the coffin bone is in the correct position - obviously the only real way to know if the coffin bone is correct is with the Xray, so follow this method will be closest to natural angle for your horse.

          If you look where it says coffin bone not level you'll see that foot is not trimmed correctly and the coffin bone is cocked to one side. Foot is short on the medial side coffin bone slopin toward the medial side as well. Remember horses are straight ahead animals and don't make turns well at all , that's due to the bone construction of the feet and pasterns mostly. The feet just don't move much except in one direction (forward and backward ) horses basically are Stiff.

          The worst part about feet not being level is the stress being put on the navicular bone. With the navicular bone riding right up against the coffin bone if that joint is not meshing correctly it's stressing and causing undue wear to the bones. There's a correct way to measure and trim a foot for level that has nothing to do with the coronary band of the foot ( the hairline ) being horizontal - it's really irrelevant what the hairline is doing, the foot must be trimmed in a way that when the foot is on the ground the "Bones - coffin joint" are all lined up correctly- and the hairline is no indication of how to establish level so in the archives here there is a link called "True Level" find the one that works and you can understand the correct way to establish and trim for level. I'll be posting more videos on this aspect .

         Lastly with this photo you'll see the flare on the lateral (outside) of the left foot. Not adressing flare can lead to hoof drift, basically as the flare keeps spreading to one side as in this case the other side of the foot gets pulled with it causing the whole foot to stretch and fall out of alignment with the bone column of the leg - it would be as if your own foot ( the whole foot ) was now slightly - lets say one inch - farther to the right or left. With a horse once the foot starts to stretch there's a tendency for it to continue to stretch , the outside keeps flaring ( as photo above ) and the inside ( medial side ) of the foot starts to buckle and round itself as it gets dragged toward the outside ( the medial hoof wall actually bends and takes that set ) now the only way to fix these issues is to start removing the flare and allowing the medial side of the foot to grow a whole new foot ( more on this later as it's all related to what i call "FOOT LOAD" and how load characteristics change depending on how the shoe is placed and how the foot is trimmed ( that part gets to be alittle complex to discuss ).   Ok now moving on - next photo is about contraction.

                                                     
    
        Here you're seeing both feet quite contracted. Contraction can be caused by the long toe syndrome ( bozo feet ) when the toe is not rasped toward the rear and then can be caused due to just the genetics of the horse. Some are born severely contracted. So how do you know which is the case for your horse ? What should you be aware of to establish if contraction is a result of Farrier malpractice or Genetic. There are some clues . Obviously if your horses feet look like a ski at the toe ( very long out in front ) ( or long toe and low heel combined ) there's a good chance it's farrier related. In the photo above i'm seeing mostly genetic , and most likely all genetic. If you look at the sidewall of the foot at the hairline you'll see the coronary is very straight - the coronary curves around the toe nicely but from the side of the foot to the heel it's straight as an arrow and not round; that's your clue to genetic pattern contraction. The extreme straight line of the coronary band will be next to impossible to change.

         Looking at the bulbs of this foot there's basically no room between the heels. If your horse is narrow in the heels balance is all the more important - remember the conversation we just had about navicular disease ? The foot not being level causing Navicular ? well contracted heels is another culprit to Navicular disease. When the rear of the foot is so narrow there's no room for the navicular bone in the foot. No room for it to move around and find it's most comfortable spot. Navicular bone is getting crushed from sideways pressures. There are some preventive measures such as pads that help spread the heels , some like to let their horse go barefoot for a while which helps the foot expand at the heel and other methods worth using. So Erin since your horse is contracted here it becomes all the more important to keep this horse up on it's heels and keep the toe moved to the rear so the foot breaks over easily - at this point ease of breakover is the best thing you can do for this horse. Bar shoes are always the go to fix for horses with Navicular so any heel support / help would also be beneficial to your horse.
 
       So lets move along to the next photo just to give you a little bit of comparison. This photo the horse has much better width to the heels. But let's not wander away from this point as the photo following this one will tie things more together - so we're not moving away from Navicular issues just yet.  Ok here's the photo.


                                                 

          You can see the width is more acceptable here. I like it !  this is fine.  Ok lets move on as this next photo will help bring things together.

                                                 

        We've talked about the feet that look what i call "Impacted". Now when you look at this foot which looks nice and wide at the heels ( no contraction - good thing ) you'll notice either the foot is actually flat footed or simply none of the sole has been removed. Judging by the length of the heels the foot looks long to me so i'm suspecting more sole can be removed. With so much depth to the commisures ( tracks between frog ) i'd say more sole can be removed.  
 
        I take my nippers and grab those bars of the foot and cut them out - then i can grab the sole with the nippers and start to pop the excess sole out. Once that is done i get my hoof knife and trim as much of the bars out as i possibly can. Doing so will expose more hoof wall all the way around the foot which can be shortened - of course not too much we don't want out horses coming up tender footed.  When the sole is all cleared out nicely now the foot will breathe better - flex more at the heels - and basically undulate within itself better. With all the sole in there (not removed ) the horse is pounding the extra sole INTO the foot putting alot of pressures into the foot- the energy of this translates into an appearance on the outside of the hoof wall that makes the foot look excessively hard and Static !  It's not what i like personally over 18 years i've been doing this. I don't like feet that are like granite.  I like the feet to breathe - it's just healthier for the whole foot - expansion contraction breathing and ALIVE. 

           Same thing with the frog - you can see in the photo i'm suggesting removing more of the frog. Some horses don't like much frog pressure , since all frogs are different , some soft some hard , and since all horses are different, some almost impervious to pain while others super sensitive , having too much frog can cause pressure within the foot and the horse is going to be uncomfortable. So don't hesitate with trimming the frog - it grows back fast anyway. 

           The other side to this is the contraction issue we've talked about. We want feet to expand in the heels to prevent navicular risks. If the bars of the foot are left in and not trimmed as in the photo above , well the bars LOCK the foot across the heels making it more difficult for the expansion we want to occur. On barefoot horses i used to leave the bars in ( that's what they taught us at the schools ) but over time i take the bars out on barefoot horses as well - always when shoeing.  Moving on again - we're coming down the home stretch.  (-:

                                           

        This photo above is quite common. The foot is out of balance regarding width across the foot in relation to bone column - basically too much foot to the medial side and not enough to the lateral side. Very common with pigeon toed horses. Most horses and i've approximated 97-98 % of horses have this condition ( pigeon toed ). It's too complex to cover here this time but i'll be making videos to cover this aspect.  Fixing this is all about shoe placement and rasping the excess foot at the medial side ( which is basically flare ) and growing new foot. We've already talked about how feet drift and this is a view that helps explain it.  As that excess foot on the medial side is not fixed it typically gets worse. It's basically just flare but the problem is as it keeps moving toward the medial side and flaring that lateral side of the foot gets pulled in the direction of the flare ( i know i'm repeating myself ) but wanted to show you this from a different direction of view. The dotted line shows two points - one the difference between how much foot is on one side and how much on the other - but also that dotted line is not lineing up with the leg ( not shown in photo ) basically telling us this foot is pigeon toed.  Nothing too serious here but if you're after balance and removing risk of lameness these things need to be adressed.

                                               

           Finally for today i want to talk about this frog. This frog is not intact. Now Erin has informed me the horse's were in a moist environment and surely contributed to this but nevertheless. The frog is separating. And separating deeply. What looks like a deep fissure there on the right side of the frog is an indication there is bacteria creeping all the way under the frog. The bacteria will keep spreading and eroding the frog until it reaches where soft tissue starts. 

            i was just at a ranch yesterday working on a horse with this same issue. All i did was to poke a tiny bit into the fissure and the horse jumped in pain. You don't want to let these become Chronic. I saw a horse quite a while back with chronic thrush. The frog was completely eroded away and the horse just wasn't growing any frog and bleeding where the frog should be. Any touching of the area where the frog should have been caused immediate seeping of blood from the tissue.    Any Thrush buster applied daily for a month should take care of this. Hopefully a dry environment is also available.

             So i've covered some of the basics again here . These photos are not shoeing feet with too long of toe like bozo - so the farrier is rasping toe back - but there is some sheared heel issues indicating that probably somewhere in the past the toes were long. Sheared heels don't typically fix themselves - something has to be done about it  ( another article coming ) . The rest we've talked about here is not so difficult to understand . I kep going over some things because sometimes it just takes a little time and different examples to really start to get and grasp the ideas. 

              For me i'm finding out as i keep delivering this information that Videos are going to be a must. So this is definately going to become a part of this blog - i expect to be video blog casting soon , also look for an audio blog cast soon as well (Podcasting) you can recieve it from your iphone.

          Thank you for being here taking in this information , thank you Erin for allowing others to see your particular situation,  i don't particularly feel your horses are in as bad a shape as you may have thought (Thankfully right?)

           so i'll say goodbye for now. 
     
            for the new folks to the blog i do continue to give consultations at no cost , just email me at the following address John@Care4Horses.com and let me know whatever issues you're having and i'm happy to help. Photos are welcome. 

As usual happy and safe riding and always remember to www.Care4Horses.com

ps.
    Working on chapter 5 of the Ebook "INSIDE HORSESHOEING SECRETS OF LAMENESS PREVENTION" which is also free. 
        Just leave me your email address and you'll be placed on the priority list for notification soon as it's done.

thanks .

10/15/08

Hello and what a wonderful day it is here . 

First things first - a late announcement , Septembers Custom Hand Forged Horse Head Hoof Pick winner of course !

                                               Bill Eckroth from Mandan ND.  Congratulations my friend and enjoy.

        There's alot of controversy around the Barefoot Horse. I'm just curious how many go barefoot. A short time back i recieved a link from a friend to a website all about barefoot horses and was asked for my opinions. After looking over the website complete with videos et all , well , this is one area that i could really get set off on. It's not because barefoot horses infringe on my income rather the more i've seen about these barefoot movement people the more i want to scream. 

         I'm not going to name names but the website i visited was quite elaborate , showing the barefoot facility and what is done there. There was a strong video but after about 5 minutes into the video i got the feeling the speaker was just trying to overwhelm with information - kinda a smoke and mirror approach. I quickly noticed the speaker starting to quote a Dr. of Veterinarian medicine and this is where i noticed the body language of the speaker changing as he obviously was just repeating what was told him and didn't himself have the courage of his convictions. So i quickly became suspect of what was to come and i have to say i wasn't let down.

        I have to just jump in here , there was a track all around the facility there where all types of different terrain is set up for horses to walk over - tree stumps - gravel - sand - rocks - fallen logs - water - you name it they have it - probably lilly pads too ( add humor ). The process of going barefoot is that these horses need the different types of terrain to walk on for their feet to toughen up. I don't have any objection to feet toughening up but what i saw on the video was interesting - the horses as they walk around the track were advoiding the obstacles that are supposto toughen them up. So that was for starters.

        The second thing was the speaker started talking about the sole of the foot and how the horse should stand on it's sole - a direct quote from the Veterinarian associated with this website. To be specific they're proposing the horse should stand 85 percent on it's sole and 15 perent on the hoof wall , and there's a reason - mainly that by standing on it's sole the pressure into the foot would stimulate blood flow and strengthen the foot. Good Lord !

        Look - think about this just for a minute - horses shed their frogs and they shed their soles - it's natural ! if they were supposto stand on their soles they wouldn't be shedding all the time , and secondly think about this - how much does a horse weigh on average - 1000 lbs ?  easily - well that little bit of hoof wall down there on the end of their leg has to support a huge amount of weight even while just standing let alone running. Well the bone column going down the leg and into the foot is certainly causing pressure and blood circulation inside the foot without having the horse have to stand on it's sole.  This supporting of weight certainly strengthen lamina and improves integrity of the foot all by itself. 

        Horses live in all different parts of the world - some on open pasture land others in the sand of Arabia for example and others in the rocks of mongolia etc etc . It's all different but they all flourish in their particular environments . 

        I'm going to show you a photo of one of the barefoot practitioners. I've heard from some that they should not ever touch the bottom of the foot - never to remove or work on the sole at all , the photo will show you what i'm talking about. 

        The website in question here ( interesting enough ) showed an example of their best barefoot horse - interesting that the sole had been trimmed away and the bottom of the foot was concave as it is naturally unless you have a flat footed horse , but obviously this foot was not supporting 85% of it's weight on the sole - rather it was supporting almost all of its weight on the hoof wall. I don't want to confuse you but their example was not in line with what they teach. In the photographic example the horse doesn't stand on it's sole much at all which is contrary to what they said -  OH now even i'm confused   (-:    

        Yes horses can and do go barefoot , obviously out in the wild , but not all horses can do well going barefoot. Horses have thin soles , some will never toughen up and be able to go barefoot. Some have very thin hoof wall and will always be tearing hoof apart also not a good candidate for going barefoot. There's is also a long toughening up process that could result if your horse is tender footed. You'd need to ride your horse barefoot - it would come back to the barn limping and you'd need to lay the horse up for a few days till it's foot recovers then you subject the horse to more punishment (toughening) and another layup for recovery and repeat the process hopefully the horse will finally get where it doesn't need shoes. WOW ! I don't know about you but i like to ride and not have to deal with those kind of issues. I mean if i look at my horses feet and i say it looks like it could go barefoot lets try it out then good , one of the lucky ones that can go barefoot.

        Where i really had issue with this website is when the speaker said it was Shoeing horses that causes lameness problems.  I just about jumped out of my skin - but i saw that coming . Here's the bottom line on that - i've been shoeing horses for almost 18 years now and i've never had a horse come up lame from my shoeing technique. There's nothing wrong with shoeing at all providing it's done right . In fact there are actually some serious balance issues that can only be addressed with shoeing such as pigeon toed horses and addressing what to do with flares and load characteristics on the foot and a few other things. Nope shoeing's not the problem it's incorrect shoeing , and it's incorrect trimming as well including barefoot horses. i think you're getting the idea.

        So my job here is to pass on what i know in order for you to make better decisions for yourself and your horse.   I always say " It only takes ONCE for you to have a permanently lame horse " much better off educated.

        I'm in the middle of a few challenges lately but nearing completion of the Ebook which is FREE like everything else on this site --------->  "Inside Horseshoeing Secrets of Lameness Prevention" You can sign up to recieve it by just leavning your name and email to me at John@Care4Horses.com i'll promptly send it to you.

                                           So here's an example of a Barefoot Horse being treated incorrectly

                                              
  
                                                    Look at that !  Can you believe it ? This poor horse. 
That poor horse has to walk on it's sole completely. The person who sent me this photo for consultation said this is what the farrier told her needed to be done with this horse.  You can see the sole has grown longer than the hoofwall, the frog is buried way inside the foot where it gets little contact with the ground , and you can also see there is some flare at the toe. By popping that sole out of the foot as if it had shed itself the farrier would then be able to shorten the foot to it's natural position as well, right now the foot is too long because of the excess sole. And there's no way you can tell me this horse/ pony actually is happy having to walk on these feet in this condition. Like i said , makes me want to scream sometime. 

          Ok - so enough said. If you noticed i mentioned "Consultation" with the person who sent me the photo. Yes i do consultation , again , like everything else consultation is no cost whatsoever - that's FREE .  (-:  right ? 

          So as usual happy safe and sound riding and always remember to www.Care4Horses.com 

        John "TheFootDoctor" Silveira 

 for consultations just email me at John@Care4Horses.com
                               
         

 



         

Links:
http://www.EquineNow.com
www.YourEquineSource.com
http://equine-barnyard.blogspot.com/
http://safehavenhorserescue.org/

08/29/08 

         So it's my pleasure to be here.  The August Hoof Pick Winner will be announced just around the corner - 2 more days .   Hope you are going to have a great weekend and a great Labor Day.

      This is spontaneous - a friend suggested i write this post.  I just came home from a 5 day retreat in Sanger Ca. called Wizard Camp.  About a year and a half ago i did The Enlightened Warrior training 5 day camp as well , these programs and more are available from Harv Ekers Peak Potentials group. I do volunteer work for this company which pays my way to these courses. Enlightened Warrior Camp really blew my mind, i came back from that camp changed for life , i already had signed up for Wizard Camp at that point , had heard some people thought Wizard Camp better than Enlightened Warrior but after personally experiencing Warrior camp for myself thought Warrior Camp would be nearly impossible to beat . To my surprise Wizard Camp topped Warrior. 

      I don't usually talk about myself here let alone on an intimate level but what follows is an accout of one of the most intimate and profound experiences of my life if not "The" most profound . This account is about me - if you want to know something about me personally and something very unusual read on - but if you came here for horse information - this time you won't be getting any and i appologize for that , so enter at your own riski (-:

        Wizard Camp ,  5 days , every day is a different day long activity geared toward introspection and self improvement. Completely out of any comfort zone and what is familiar or routine . In the evenings during sessions (Indoor events with the speaker or another facilitator  is always something new as well. On the 4th evening by our total surprise we had a special guest -   Mahara Brenna a holistic rebirther , mediator , and wonderful woman. We , all 250 of us were told earlier in the day to bring a pad to lie on and a pillow and towel for the evening session not knowing we'd be meeting this beautiful woman. All gathered we were told to split up into two groups as we met Mahara.

         The first 125 people to set up their stations lying on our padding with pillow and Mahara eloguently told us what to expect from our Breathing Rebirthing session .  We were told this was a healing , that everyone would have an experience unique to themselves. We were told how to breathe ( Quick full inbreath and rapid exhale as if pushing out anything unwanted - getting rid of . Mahara continued with varying explanations of how some will cry and others will be angry etc etc and all the funny examples that left people laughing out loud and surprised as she said words like "Snot" in our nose or how some will need a vomit bag that was provided and on and on. Who would have known she wasn't lying - she had an ease and grace and style like none other. To me she wreaked of mysticism or shamanizm or Gypsie , but there was something obviously very real about this woman.

        We were told she'd issue in Archangles and all manner of spiritual beings.  Were told some of us would feel our wrists and ankles swell and stiffen and if we got stuck that the way out of it would be to wriggle our fingers or toes . Were told some of us would actually stop breathing as we slipped into the process but not to worry as the autonomic breathing system would kick in. Were told how to channel the healing in time with the breathing. As she continued to speak i just had no idea what this woman was talking about but i knew she wasn't lying and i placed my trust in her and went forward into the unknown with openess and trust.  

         The lights went down and the drumming started , and we were guided into the breathing practice - Quick in - harsh out - IN - OUT - IN - OUT , and this went on for an easy ten minutes At about this point is where the White lite appeared to me , my eyes closed but as it came on it slowly appeared and brightened in my minds eye , also as she told us some would be experiencing this . I'm breathing through as instructed of course and then suddenly i hear Mahara , she had nealt down next to me and told in the voice of a goddess to "Feel it down here" as she placed her hand on my lower Chakra and i immediately started to "Feel" it there and all she said was "Yes" and was gone. The white lite as gently as it came gently went away but i knew the process had started and i was in it's embrace. The little blue lites danced in my head as well just following and i continued to breath and go deeper into what was happening. Breathing IN - Out - In - Out  ------- In Out when i realized i started heating up and sweating and i melded into the earth in some kind of state of relaxation that i just simply can't ever remember experiencing in such a deep complete and full way. 

        As i drifted deeper into the breathing and melding into the ground noticing the gravity of it all i was increasing aware that my wrists and ankles had become thick as a type of energy coursed itself through my system. To me it was as if a Divine presence was saying " i am holding you now " just enjoy and i did. I'm enraptured by now 15 minutes or so into this process , still breathing in - out - in out rhythmically. Noticing now though injury in my body , areas that just didn't feel right to me for one reason or another but knowing it all had been like this for quite some time. During our instruction we were told to "Get Under" this and that the breath IN would bring awareness to what was being experienced and the outbreath would push that negative out , and so again that's what i did.  Breathing IN noticing the pains and Breathing OUT pressing the physical sensations out through those swollen stiff wrists and ankles . The outbreath is like discharging so believe me when i tell you the outbreath was done powerfully deeply and sharply now.

       The inbreaths would charge the exhale , it was thrilling , breathing inwardly experiencing the negative energy and exhaling and feeling the bad energy being pressed outward through those swollen wrists and ankles. Great waves of breathing came over me - i could choose to draw breath inward ever so slowly to experience fully the negative energy so i could deliberately blast it out of my body with a forceful authoritive out breath - and i did. By now believe me i am deep in a zone , shrouded in some kind of mysterious process , in the hands of some mystical all encompassing journey through for me was the complete unknown not knowing how long this process would continue or what was coming next and it didn't matter whatever would come next i was going with it - i knew this was a healing and there was no way anyone was going to take this away from me , i would have lay there in the dimly lit room with the drumming music for hours if need be. This was happening . This was amazing.

        As i arched and wreathed as i experienced these wild energies flowing through my body and exeriencing this Gawd Allmighty grip the process had on me it all suddenly became rather funny as i realized or it came to me that everything that was happening to me was just not that big a deal after all  and i just couldn't help myself with a deep smile and belly laugh as the humor of it all flowed through me - just as we also were told that some of us would feel this - and i did. And the process continued , rhythmically in and out still experiencing but now with Joy.

         Surrendering to the process was easy , i knew and felt it was a pure experience and trusted completely in the warmth of it all but what came next i wasn't prepared for. As i breathed inwardly again memmory awakened in me and i shifted from the physical healing aspect of it all to one of the most painful memmories of my life , that of missing my daughter Marissa.
 
        Marissa was special , and she and i had that kind of connection i can only say we would do anything for . But being taken out of Marissa's life when she was only 3 nearly destroyed me with anguish . Too many times i'd wake up in the middle of the nite unable to breathe and weeping so deeply from a dream of her that i wondered if i'd ever breath. 

        On the long ever so long inbreath of remembering her the return of the pain of loss came with it. As i arched on the inbreath with full lungs i was at a loss for understanding how to rid this and expell this energy and pain filling my every inch on the cellular level. After what seemed like a very very long time , still arched , the opening showed itself and with that exhale and through that exhale flowed the most agonizing scream of pain as this pain started to leave my body, and of course all followed by the next ten minutes or so of that sobbing that no one ever hopes to experience , that kind of sobbing that takes every bit of breath away for what feels like forever. And now this was the experience that took over and for the next 15 minutes the screams and crying continued , and all i feel is oh my god oh my gawd this is too much yet somehow knowing this is all healing.  

        I guess all things will pass , as something inside of me decided to have an influence on this process that was happening to me and at that point i decided it was time to "Let this go"  let this pain go and having been wrapped in this spiritual journey now for about 45 minutes it was time to come down and return to myself. While deep inside this process there was a small , very small place where there was a piece of Marissa there and i could touch her with the tips of my fingers of one hand as i lie there. I'll bet you she felt that too. At least i hope so , you see Marissa and i remain estranged to this day.    

         As this whole process was passing and the waves of emotion became smaller and smaller i started to reconnect with the nature of life and my reality and i realized the beauty of the whole experience , and i reached up above me with arms outstretched into the dimly lit room , still lying , and with finger tips felt for and said hello to the angles that had just visited me and provided me this experience . Now we were guided over the music of the drums by Mahara through her microphone to gather those missing parts of ourselves and let them embrace us as we lay there in relaxation.  

          This was Rebirthing Mahara Style , and for the life of me i have never felt anything to compare this to ever .  Without a doubt the most profound experience of my life.  I take from this experience a sense of peace and power like never before.  I can tell it's going to take me a while to integrate this Miracle into my being .                    Wow .

                       Mahara Brenna ----------- thank you.  
        www.MaharaBrenna.com 

         
      

08/03/08  

     Here's a great big hellooooooooo to you.

         The July Horse Head Hoof Pick Winner , wouldn't you like to know happens to be .......................
                                                IRENE GAVNITZ of Tipton Iowa   Congratulations Irene.  Lucky you.

    Ok ,  So i got chewed out the other day.  I shoe for a Vet in Milpitas Ca. and while shoeing her horse one day a young woman with her horse in hand came and asked me to look at her horse due to some lameness issues and she's an endurance rider.  So i looked the horse over , somewhat pigeon toed and a few other issues that i didn't like much with the feet so we decided to shoe the horse.  During all this i  was asked for my opinion of the horse regarding Endurance riding , my opinion at the time was maybe alittle bit harsh but i said the horse would not probably ever be a champion and probably wouldn't hold up , apparently i said "Would NEVER hold up".  Whew !

     Well i didn't shoe the horse after the first shoeing and the woman went ahead and attended 5 50 mile endurance rides on the horse. So far so good the horse is holding up.

     So i'm shoeing for the Vet the other day and this girl ( the endurance rider ) approached me with her horse in hand again ( i hadn't seen her for 8 months ) and she says to me "Remember me"?  my reply was "Of course". She continued with i've ridden this horse through 5 of the 50 mile endurance rides and he did pretty good. She continued with " i almost took what you said to heard about my horse not ever holding up to endurance competition - and that i should watch what i say to people with my opinions ".    Truth be told !     

     It must have been that i felt the horse was pretty seriously out of balance and most likely had bad joints and right now i just don't remember exactly what the horse looked like , but if i made such a bold statement to this woman i probably would still stand by my opinion today.  She hasn't done any 100 mile rides on the horse and if she starts pushing this horse through 100 mile competitions , it's very risky in my opinion . As already mentioned i'm most likely still stand by my evaluation of her horse.  If it were me i wouldn't push the horse into 100 mile rides, not if i don't want to risk lameness.

     Some horses can tolerate lots of abuse to the joints and legs while others just aren't able to survive the punishment. Every horse is different .  When it comes to horses i feel i'd rather err on the side of safety rather than keep pushing the horse to the limits.

     Why is competition so important sometimes that it overlooks better judgement possibly, in this case maybe a horse coming up permanently lame ?  I used to compete in the Olympic Weightlifting Events - i did well enough. But i've seen the results of competition when pushing and pushing. I've seen weightlifters twist elbows like a chicken wing , i've seen Jerry Orlando rip both knee caps right off the tendon and had the knee cap roll right up his leg - he went down in shock and screamed for 5 minutes , and the list of catastrophies is long. I had a friend loose a life from taking steriods to be stronger and feed his need for MORE POWER.  The sports world is full of drug abuse to achieve the dream , the goal , the vision ahead. It's not much different when it comes to horses in my opinion.

     This rather nice young woman , can keep riding her horse , keep pushing and perhaps actually finally enter the big 100 mile ride , but i still don't think the horse will hold up to the "Competitive Level" of 100 mile rides , I still think the horse will blow before it ever wins a 100 miler.  I think the question for me becomes , what is it that becomes more important - my will to win or what's best for the horse's future. Does it all come down to what i want or should it be what's best for the horse.  I think that's a decision everyone makes for themselves.    

     I certainly hope if the horse gets pushed as hard as it's going to need to win 100 mile rides that it holds up for her - i hope she proves me wrong ,  they both have my best wishes.

     -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Quick change of pace .  Here's a pic that i hope you never have to see for yourself. I was called out to shoe this horse about 9 months ago and this is what i saw ,  I haven't been called back so i don't know what condition this horse is in , i just hope it's ok.  I've seen this kind of thing lead to so much deep flexor tendon stretch that the fetlock joint of the horse was almost hitting the ground - the horse ruined beyond repair.    
                            Here you go .  Prepare yourself , i don't want to be sued for causing heart attacks.  

                             

     This following photo was the best i could do with this horse the first time.  See if you can understand the red lines . 
              
 
                                     
   
     To the left you see "Excess Hoof"  That's extra hoof that i couldn't rasp off the first time - the hoof should match up with that red line.  Next you see the pastern angle , it's just a bit steep but the hoofwall doesn't match up with the pastern angle - see the "Grain Of Hoof Stretch" red line , it should be in line with the pastern angle red line.  
  
      When setting the coffin bone angle along with the pastern angles i don't use the toe of the hoof wall and a hoof guage , i have found it's not accurate .  What i use as the closest guage of angles , next to XRays , is to use that grain  in the hoof right there ( Mid Point of hoof - not the toe , not the heel - but mid point ) right there where the red line is drawn that says "GRAIN".  When you can get that mid point grain angle to line up with the pastern angle you'll be about spot on for angles .   

     So here it is August , a few more good months of riding , hope you are doing well and the horses are too.  

     As usual , happy and safe riding and always remember to www.Care4Horses.com

     Consultations are still free ( FREE ) Free             Free Free Free - ok you get the idea .  You can send photos for evaluations and hoof care guidance or just to show me what and how you're shoeing your own horses.  It's my pleasure -  TRY ME !!    i dare ya !!     (-:  

John "TheFootDoctor" Silveira