Shoeing Stocks?

[Jeroen]

The video of the draft horseman on Martha’s Vineyard is nice and the way he is handeling his horses is fine, but you can see (and hear) he is having a hard time shoeing.

Alltough off topic I think you should know that his way of shoeing is not the right way, you never adjust the hoof of the horse to the shoe, but you make the shoe fit the hoof. A press as a tool for this is a joke and you can see he is blunting the hoof to fit.

[Will Stephens]

I think I was making it clear that what was of use was his ability to make his horse comfortable and to make do without stocks. I wouldn’t have him near my horses feet. The transistor radio ruined whistling and keg shoe may have done the same for shoeing. I have seen people trim and shoe by setting scribes at 3/8″ and trace on to the foot every 8 weeks and cut and nail. They never did figure out why there horses where lame. I would go further and say that the biggest component of shoeing that is dying out is the art of shoeing the horse and not the hoof. It is not enough to fit the shoe to hoof never mind fitting the hoof to the shoe. One must shoe a horses overall confirmation, work engaged in and conditions being worked in. Its an art, not something one learn in a 30-90 day school. I have been lucky enough to have two very good mentors in this field.

ps I am glad you read critically; it makes us all better.

[Tender Soles]

I second Will’s comment on being able to pick up a horse’s feet. Our Suffolk did not like picking up his feet when we first got him. When he did pick up his feet, he did it stiffly and leaned on you. I was determined to have him be more cooperative as well as gain his trust i.e. build our relationship. I picked up his feet every time I put him into his stall at night. He would never kick, but he would lean and resist my prompts to pick up his feet.

After a month or two of doing this, it became much, much easier to have him pick up all four feet. Now I can do this in the pasture anytime with ears curious instead of against the back of his head. His back legs are still stiffer than the front; I think this has to do with several factors.

I notice he is stiffer when I haven’t picked his feet out in a while. I think this has to do as much with how much exercise the horse is getting as well as the stretching you provide the horse when you do pick up their feet. Either way, the simple act of picking out his feet practically everyday was a nice, structured, goal-oriented way to build our relationship.

Once got his foot caught in a hay bag that got loose, but was still attached to the wall. Like Will, I also didn’t know how long it had been up there, but he yielded his foot easily so that I could untangle his hoof from the bag within 10 seconds. In case he gets his foot tangled in something else, I can rest a little easier knowing that he will let me handle his feet.

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