PSA: That old cowboy at the feed store made me rethink my hoof angles

Ran into a crusty old farrier named Hank at Murphy's Feed last Saturday, and he flat out told me I've been putting too much angle on my hind shoes for barrel horses. He said I'm chasing a look instead of watching how the horse moves at a lope, which hit different because I lost a client over lameness last month. Has anyone else had to unlearn something a mentor taught you because it just doesn't fit modern horses?

2 comments

2 Comments

walker.alex19d ago

Gotta push back on this one. That old timer probably has a barn full of sound horses but his methods are from before we had angles and biomechanics figured out. Just because a horse moves okay at a lope doesn't mean a proper x ray wouldnt show way better angles for long term soundness.

milesp3819d ago

Has your friend ever had a horse come up lame six months after an old school trainer said it was fine? I had a buddy who bought a mare off a guy just like that, old timer with a big reputation. Swore up and down she was sound as a dollar. Friend rode her easy for a few weeks, then started noticing her not wanting to pick up her right lead. X rays showed she had some nasty ringbone starting, nothing you'd catch just watching her jog. @walker.alex is right, those guys rely on feel and tradition, but that can miss a lot of problems that'll show up later. It's not that the old timer was lying, he just didn't have the tools to see what's brewing under the skin. I'd rather trust a vet with a radiograph than a guy who says "she's fine, I've been doing this fifty years.