As opposed to racetracks, where "resident farriers" care for those "resident athletes" on a timely basis, these girls are traveling multiple states over a period of multiple months. Acquisition of a farrier is a logistical problem. Will there be a farrier at the rodeo to replace a pulled shoe? If so, will he understand how the shoe is to be set as explained on the video? Will he know how to set a rear toe clip? What if the pulled shoe can't be found? Will they be carrying extras? I bet one will eventually wind up in a forge. Many of the ropers and bull doggers shoe their own horses for this very reason, and some even replace lost shoes or shoe for these girls. They will be in for a surprise. Hopefully the girls will prepare in advance if possible. I wish them the best.
when I am giving a different shoe on a horse; before a race, and I know they are not carried by most farriers; I give a spare shoes both front and hinds just for that reason with extra nails for that shoe. problem solved.
Chris I was more impressed with the video than I thought I would be. However I do have a pet hate and see it as my personnel mission to rid the farrier world of the phrase "support" In the context of farriery after 32 years I have no idea what it means. Support is what I do to needy friends. Clients and vets use the phrase when they have no idea of the features of a shoe. As I say the vid gave me food for thought.
Yes Linda I think far ahead thats why I said what I did...when some of these girls go off for months at a time, I do send preshaped sets fitted and marked shoes for either their husbands or boyfriends or other Farriers to be able to nail up..sometimes I send my spare tools and shoes with a client if I know they will be flying me to meet them on the road...feet can fall apart when they are being hauled from rodeo to rodeo and state to state...unlike track horses that some are vanned or flown in themselves..but the care of the grooms plays a big hand in it all..
I stopped by the Razer booth to ask Conny when he was going to buy me the pint that he offered a few years ago, and the conversation turned to these shoes, I ve seen them and handled them in the past , basically showing Conny about using carbide pins to the shoes for added traction since the use of heat in any brazing or welding practice would remove the temper of the steel. in my hand i could observe flexing of the show without the use of a vise, that would to me approximate some of the flex that is shown in the video, not sure if that is necessary or if it happens but the shoe did flex approx 1/4 inch. probably more accurately, one branch 1/8 '' north and 1 branch 1/8'' south, so in my hand there was about 1/4'' difference ,heel to heel from a flat plane, and it returned to equal when i stopped . I could not spread the shoe by hand. and i will report that Conny now owes me two pints cause he offered again to go have one but only after i told him i was on my way to the airport. Regards Ray
I have the luck to shoe standardbreeds in sweden.. have used much razersfor one of my clients.. it`s as close barefoot you can get.. ( in sweden we vant to race troters without shoes..) Mikko
One gal ran a barefoot horse at the NFR about 6 yrs ago, not another one has made it back to the NFR since? Jordan Peterson is her name, but they booted them up for walking parking lots and such...
tracks in sweden are much softer the in the north america.. our troters(vi have both standardbreed and frensh trotter) race every 7-10 days.. and many gå barefoot every time... i trim our trotters if hoofs get too bad.. athorvise grooms just put the old shoes back on... Mikko
Picked iup a set of Razors at the Summit and hope to get them on a horse sometime during the next week or so.
Hi Erik maybe i did use the wrong word when i said that we improved the function i should instead say that we hade to change and improve the design. if you seen the video you can see that we rounded of the outside perimeter and made the back half of the hindshoe smooth to allow for more slide in the landing . and i would be more than happy to come over to your barn to show you.
the real genius of this design isnt the flex, its the ability to get so much grab with a low profile shoe that doesnt jam them when landing.
Hi guys a lot of talk about the flexibility in the shoe but that is only one of the reasons the Razershoe works so well. I have used this shoes for 7+ years now and seen my race horses improve in both stamina and soundness i been able to greatly reduse heel brusing eliminate qcracks and the flexibility is one thing but the low profile and narrow outer rim plays a big roll for soundness as it sinks in to the ground and distribute the load over the sole frog and wall, and it compacts the dirt under the hoof not like a traditional shoe where the dirt breaks away. My experience have showed to me that the flexibility is of great help when turning, horses that had trubble in the turns on smaller tracks especially can trot around the turn much faster.
