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[RC] endurance riders shoeing thier own horses - Judie Ricci
I know several endurance riders that shoe thier own. My husband and I went to shoeing school , I had the anatomy of the hoof memorized . I worked as a veterinary tech, and took tons of hoof x rays, Pete builds rockets , so we figured we could shoe. We had a very hard time finding a farrier in N. Alabama, so we had to do it our selves or trailer the horses a long way to a farrier.
We have been shoeing our own for about 6 years.
John Crandall who WON the OD 100 , (again) is an excellent shoer, he is always willing to advise on different types of shoeing, John does it for a living and works with Dr, Waldron to help correct hoof problems . I doubt he worries about losing a shoe. Flora , Anna, Sarah, Steve, the list goes on, it is a hard thing to do , there is so much concussion in endurance , longer harder trotts than most disiplines. Poor shoing will cause problems quickly, You have to learn to shape the shoes , be sure they are flat , balance the hoof. A lot of things some "shoers" dont always pay attention to.
Here in the north a lot of rides are very rocky , with limestone instead of dirt. There arent very many rides that have a lot of dirt, or sand. We are always finding new ways to keep shoes from wearing out too soon. I dont think any one up here would go to a ride in old shoes, or questionable shoes .
If you think the Old Dominion has rocks wait until the Fort Valley Ride. I think all the rocks in the whole world came from Ft. Valley. IF you can afford the time and expense of a good farrier school, you will pay yourself back pretty quickly. no waiting for the shoer, no worries about scheduling , the equipment can be purchased easily , the high quality tools are really worth the money, using a forge in winter to create neat stuff with old shoes is fun. you can learn to use drill tech, borium nails, ect.... Shoes up here in N.Va are high dollar., I dont know how we would afford to keep 6 horses in shoes if Pete didn't shoe. There are several good book by Butler on shoeing. Happy Trails
Judie Ricci
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