We live about 15 minutes from Gene Ovnicek. Several
years ago we visited him and took one horse that we’d just trimmed and
one that needed a trim so he could show us what we should be doing. He
didn’t charge a penny, told us we were doing just fine and advised us to
compete barefoot. We still shoe when we need to, but it’s nice to
be able to do little touchups or let the hoof wear naturally in between when
they’re barefoot.
Now we have a big boarding facility and several boarded
horses need some help that we were not comfortable trimming. We knew we
didn’t want to change things since the bony column had developed with
some major crookedness over many years, but the horses weren’t sound
because they either hadn’t been trimmed at all in a long time, or very
badly. I know there are some farriers out there that would try to “correct”
the leg and would end up destroying the horse.
So another trip to Gene’s and it is just amazing the
new tools and tricks available. One horse had just been trimmed badly
over time and had had some injuries, so we didn’t know what caused his
lameness. Gene put some special shoes on with some thick wedge pads, all
set up to wear as the hoof grows while not losing breakover. The horse
was instantly sound and the shoes lasted for 2 months.
The other horse was bench kneed and very twisted at the
fetlock. When he came to the barn he hadn’t been trimmed in 6
months so we did what we could to make him comfortable. His owner was
desperate to ride and we kept telling her to give him time or else get him to a
vet or Gene. She was expecting to hear that he would never be
sound. Gene put on a thick pad, then a little round rubber pad in the
center, so the horse wobbled on it. Both pads are designed to wear either
front to back or side to side, based upon what the horse’s structure is
telling it to do. Also should last a couple months – and only cost
$80.
This horse came home that night and was immediately
different. He’s stalled next to our stallion who is basically good
but would sometimes be a brat and not let this guy come into his stall w/o
trying to bite him. Poor guy would have to try to sneak in. Well,
that night, he said screw you and let out 2 big kicks and said I’ll go
where I please! His front feet no longer hurt, even though he was still
wobbling on the smaller pad since it hadn’t worn in yet. His owner
is amazed at watching him run now and how different he feels riding. Now
she finally understands why we were telling her he wasn’t right, but she’d
never ridden him while feeling good and he’s her first horse, so she had
no idea. It’s been about a week and the small pad is almost making
a smooth line with the big pad. The horse still has ugly legs but he’s
walking confidently.
I don’t think that even with x-rays it would be
possible to figure out the exact angles that this horse needs to avoid making
bad changes to bone, tendon and ligament this quickly. This system sure
is interesting. Long term, they’ll probably use this a couple
times, looking for consistent wear patterns and then be able to do regular
shoes with wedges that will work for this horse.
Gene does some things I don’t agree with, but I figure
there’s always something new to learn. I probably still don’t
want to attach a crooked foot though!
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