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A client's comment about hoof balance made me rethink my whole approach
I was trimming a client's quarter horse in Springfield last month, and she mentioned her trainer said the horse was moving better after my last visit. I asked what changed, and she said the trainer pointed out the horse wasn't 'tipping' on his front feet anymore. I went back and looked at my notes and photos from the last three trims, and I realized I'd been taking a tiny bit too much heel off the left front, maybe 2 millimeters, trying to correct a slight flare. That small change over months was throwing off his whole balance. I never thought a client's casual comment would point out a pattern I missed. How do you guys track small changes in hoof balance over time to catch stuff like this?
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harris.zara1mo ago
Honestly why overcomplicate it with tracking every tiny detail? Sometimes a horse just moves different on any given day. Could that "tipping" have been from the ground being softer or the horse feeling fresh? I've seen people chase perfect balance notes for months and miss the actual horse standing right in front of them. Maybe the trainer's comment was just a lucky guess and you're reading too much into a 2mm change.
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