I'm just wondering if you guys know what certain vets are going to recommend before they recommend it? I have a few vets that if somethings not quite right about a horse they will always recommend barshoes. It makes me money but it's slightly annoying especially when the last thing some horses need is a barshoe.
As soon a vet starts talking I know what they are going to say ....Shorten the toe, set back the shoe ,increase break over, and Bar shoes ,Wait I almost forgot they need pads also . I believe it is a universal prescription that the tell them to use in vet school.
I think it is because vets are used to having to work with an unskilled farrier. If they keep the prescription simple, then most horseshoers can maybe fill it. There is a vet around here that prescribes 3 degree wedges for everything from navicular to a runny nose.... it cures everything!!!
I went to shoe a horse today that a vet wanted the usual barshoes on the hind feet. Both feet have negative angles. Prolapsed frog. And all anyone could tell me was there was a ligament injury. Where do you even begin with that vast amount of knowledge.
Remember the golden rule of horseshoeing , whether it's dealing with a vet or "helping someone out " . The last person to touch the horse loses !!!!!!
The vets were out in full effect yesterday. My neck is a little sore today from all the head shaking. I'm thinking I should invest in a neck brace before talking with vets about farriery.
Next time a vet tells you how they want stuff done, just keep asking them, "Would you like a small order of fries with that?"
Any more I am tired of fighting. I tell the vets to put it in wrighting. It turns out most of the vets here wont. Or they hedge, saying something to the effect "after looking at the horse it might need pads or bar shoes or it might not". I got that just last week. I tell the owners that the vet needs rads so they can come to a more firm conclusion. Depending on the owner I tell them I cant make the call to add a bar shoe or pad as they are a therapeutic device. Its sad when you have to think more about the legal ramifications then getting to help the horse. But I do have a few vets in the area that I know the shoeing protocol before they even see the horse, wedge it up, bring it back. Works for everything , even night blindness .
The real legal ramifications are that YOU and ONLY YOU are legally accountable for the work you do by your own hands. The legal president is UNIVERSAL. "I was just following orders," is not a valid legal defense when you know that what you are doing is wrong. Believe it or not, they teach this stuff to vets in vet school. All it takes is a gentle reminder. "Hey doc, I don't think what you want me to do to this horse is a good idea, so legally and ethically I can't go along with it. I can't pull the trigger on a gun and kill the horse because you ordered me to do it. If that's what you want, then you pull the trigger and you do it with your own gun."
The vets you work with must be clipping parakeet wings on Tuesdays . Mon,Wed,Fri are dogs and cats. And thursday is Horsey day. I think Lloyd's point is a good one. Suppose this was a Vet forum what do think the thread would be? -Do you guys ever get called to a barn for a lame horse and know that the problem is going to be shitty farrier work with long runaway toes?
All the time around here. That combined with what I call 'New Zealand fit'... reeeeally short shod and tight.
Rick Talbert posted this on the BOOBS facebook page. Made me laugh: I can guess why. It is intrinsic in the mindset. While there are exceptions, many revert to a very rudimentary understanding of the hoof. Basically it consists of bring breakover back. From what I've seen here is the breakdown or cheat sheet for farrier 'prescriptions'; .........laminitis=bring breakover back, navicular=bring breakover back, toe crack=bring breakover back, sole bruise=bring breakover back, abscess=bring breakover back, tendonitis= bring breakover back, founder=bring breakover back, breakover too far back=no such thing bring breakover back more, quarter crack=bring breakover back, suspensory strain=bring breakover back, stumbling=bring breakover back, overreaching=bring breakover back, upward fixation of the patella=bring breakover back, club foot=bring breakover back, poor performance=bring breakover back, sore back=bring breakover back, sweeny=bring breakover back, thrush=bring breakover back, whooping cough=bring breakover back, bubonic plague=bring breakover back, chlamydia=bring breakover back, jock itch=bring breakover back, erectile dysfunction=bring breakover back, so on and so forth. What is the only readily available off the shelf shoe that would accomplish this if applied correctly and is something that is marketed to the extent that they are aware of its existence? Enter the NB shoe. bada bing bada boom. September 12 at 11:25pm ยท 10 Regards
Rick, Got a call from a vet a to put a NB with a 4 degree rim pad for QH with small, thin soled feet. I talked her off the ledge and put 2 degree frog support with Triumphs on the way I wanted. Only problem was I thought the horse might hurt it's self running and bucking around the paddock when we turned him loose. Sometimes in these "consultations", I'll offer my suggestion first, and then get the "approval" to proceed. I get to do what I want that way.
it's always nice to point out that a #4 wedge pad is way more than 4 degrees of lift; it's just a #4 vs a #3,
I guess I'm pretty lucky. I got some good vets I enjoy working with. One guy, Kim, when we are out to a horse, we will talk it over. He might bring plan A, I might bring plan B. Some times we agree, some times after talking we get plan C. I have one customer who called her vet on a foundered pony. The vet asked who her farrier was and she said it was me. The vet then said - Just let him fix it, he knows what to do. I've also got a good working relationship with the local horse hospital. But then there are a few vets I wouldn't give the time of day to. I called one once to shoot up a horse who had one really bad abscess. She told me to just put a twitch on. I told her no way. She needed to get out and do her job. If she wanted my help then get a move on it. I hate to work with her, but don't have many horses in her area.
I feel for you that have to work with that type of Vet. In this part of the country we are blessed with some of the finest in the country I believe and most of the prescriptions I get are spot on.