Linda, have you had a deadbeat horse neglector badmouth you and put a substantial dent in your business?
Well that's fine, but have you ever had a deadbeat horse neglector badmouth you and put a substantial dent in your business?
Kim I'm grateful for the track and all that comes from it. There's good money to be made rehabbing the feet on OTTBs adopted by folks with more money than horse sense, especially if you can be patient, calm and cool while working around them - and that patience thing helps with the horses too.
Hence the exodus of decent Farriers from the tracks I been reading about here. They'll chase off all the good ones then have to call, begging for you to come back and write your own ticket.
I have a rationale for bar shoes as such. I use a straight bar shoe when there is to much independent movement at the heels. when the horse has those legs and feet that breakover everywhere you can think of but never at the front of the capsule. As a consequence the heels shear and stride is effected, and you can get hold of the heels one in each hand and move them like butter. I try and lock that up with a bar shoe, and if the capsule allows it some decent nailing and clenching. If that looks a bit short, for some reason straight bars can look a bit short then a bit of curve in the bar sorts that out, not quite an egg but rounder than a straight. The other use I use them is to restore some symmetry when trimming alone wont allow it, this quite often occurs with the condition above. I have used lots this year with the appalling wet we have had, capsules lacking any strength to cope with any angular limb deformity. Usually fitting an open heeled shoe and welding a bar in and refitting it. I find in the reel world this is the quickest and most economical way of doing it as time is money and carrying masses of bar shoes in the van is expensive or fire welding shoes for me takes to long. (I can do that mind ) Iam not a fan of heart bars. They have become a cure all round here since Jim Blurton has made them, They seem to cure very little and when inappropriately used seem to cause more trouble.
I was working with a vet on a job yesterday and got to talking about luminary figures in the vet/farrier hoofcare scene. Grant Moon came up and the vet (who had been to watch him when he came to NZ) claimed that Grant said there is scarcely a sport horse that shouldn't be in straight bar shoes, for reasons of preventing over-dorsiflexion of joints. Can anyone confirm or deny this is true?
Are you asking whether is is true that Grant Moon said it or whether it is true that sport horses should be in bar shoes?
I guess that makes sense David. In the same way the statement made sense to me, but I still wouldn't run off putting bar shoes on everything.... I guess.
