 |
RE: [RC] [RC] Shoes and a flat hoofwall - katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxFrom: Howard Bramhall howard9732@xxxxxxx Well, that believe sure would put a lot of hot shoers out of business. They sure don't leave any gaps between the hoof and the shoe. I thought that was kind of the idea when hot shoe'n. No gaps left behind. Are you anti-hot shoe'n, Kat? No, I am not anti-hot shoe; although only one of my shoers does hot shoe (unless they need to pull clips or build a special shoe or something). The one that does regularly is a woman and the reason she hot shoes is that iron is easier to bend when it is hot; however, even she does not put them on the horse's foot hot. Neither I, nor any of my shoers, has ever been much of a proponent of the burn the shoe into the foot thing. However, even if the shoer were to practice this, it still doesn't mean that the hoof wall has to be totally flat before doing so. Level, yes, flat, no. I'm not quite sure why you would leave a gap, at the quarters, between the hoof and the shoe. For one thing, it would expose a nail or two. The reason for doing this would be to take a little pressure off the hoof wall at the quarters (the same reason, presumably, that you do it on a bare foot). And since the amount of gap that gets left need not be more than about 1-2 mm (maybe 1/16th of an inch), the amount of exposure of the nail would be sufficiently minimal as to be totally irrelevant. For another, if your horse is pounding the hard ground, hits a rock there, the shoe will take a bend, especially with those light aluminum ones, and, well, that just doesn't sound like a good idea. Since I have never, and don't know anybody who has, used the light aluminum shoes, I can't speak to what may or may not happen to them. However, I can guarantee you that steel isn't gonna bend into that little gap (nor have I ever seen steel bend into a big gap that is left when there is a big chip out of a hoof wall). And, if there's a nail anywhere in that area, it will come loose, because in the change of shape of the shoe, and, you will most likely lose that shoe sooner than later. I have never found this to be a problem. But if nails come loose, which happens occasionally, before it is time to have the horse reshod, it is pretty easy to just reclinch them. Although I have found this to happen more often because the nail heads start to get worn down, not because the shoe has bent; when shoes get bent, I replace them. I'm not a professional shoer, but, eveything I've learned from other farriers and the tons of books I have on this subject teach no gaps between the shoe and the hoof. None. Presumably you haven't read Gene Ovenick's book, since you can't do a four point trim without leaving gaps between the shoe and the hoof. Please, Kat, what on earth are you talking about? You and I have obviously not been talking to the same shoers nor reading the same books. Since I don't know which books you have read or which shoers you have talked to and I don't know what they may or may not have said (or if you misunderstood them:)), I cannot comment on what they may or may not have said, except to say that it is perfectly acceptable, sometimes desireable, and sometimes necessary to leave a gap between parts of the shoe and the hoof. And if they say that it isn't then they are mistaken. :) kat Orange County, Calif. I guess this is one of the reasons why we don't like talking about this topic. But, Kat, mention what I just said to your farrier, please. I'd love to hear his answer. Nothing personal at all; just a question. cya, Howard --------------------------------------------------------------------- Kat says: It is a mistake to think that the hoof wall needs to be flat in order to put a shoe on. What a farrier should do is to trim the horse's hoof as if it were barefoot and then nail the shoe on. kat Orange County, Calif. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= _________________________________________________________________ Don?t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|