Watch out for the guy who says he's been shoeing 40 years but can't hold a rasp right.

Had a guy come into my barn last spring bragging about his decades of experience, then I watched him leave a heel bulb so high the horse was walking on eggshells. Has anyone else run into these weekend warriors who talk big but won't take advice?

3 comments

3 Comments

charles8366d ago

Saw a farrier last fall who'd been at it 30 years but left a horse sore for a week because he couldn't read the hoof angle. What worked for me was keeping my mouth shut and asking to borrow his tools, then showing him the right way to hold a rasp without saying a word. He never asked for advice, but he watched me closer after that.

baker.christopher6d ago

Is it possible the horse had a conformational issue you might've missed?

flores.emma6d ago

Oh @baker.christopher, that's the million dollar question, isn't it? Were you the one who originally looked at this horse before it was bought, or are you just coming in after the fact? I guess what I'm really asking is did you have a chance to watch it move on a lunge line or under saddle before things went south? Because sometimes conformational issues are super obvious in hand (you know, standing still) but can totally hide themselves once the horse is moving out. Or were there subtle things like a slight toe drag or uneven tracking that you noticed but maybe chalked up to something else at the time?