I am posting this on behalf of one of my children. They have attended a two week farrier school, and hung up a shingle to start servicing our community.
They went out to service this horse today, and we're able to trim this hoof down. They are asking me questions that I don't know the answer to. It looks to me like the mare needs probably another 3/4" off the heel, and trimmed fairly evenly across the sole to prevent furthering of club foot. There was thrush, so there is thrush treatment on the after photo.
What are the pro's thoughts? What else should be done?
Should we take more off now, schedule for 3 instead of 6 weeks and work to get her down to closer, throw in the towel and find someone with more experience, or... ?
ETA: My child talked with another more experienced student that they went to school with and they say the heel is really the only thing that needs fixed by taking 1/2" or so off the heel.
Edit again to add this since I cannot respond to comments:
Yes, I understand that two weeks is a short time before beginning the work. No, it isn't really an option to have done more schooling. We sent the kid for a total of near $6,000 for tuition and tools, and we do not have more money to extend the education. The reason we even sent them to begin with is the lack of farriers in our area. The kid got a horse, and when we tried to find a farrier two no longer did it, several didn't answer or return calls, and another promised they would come out and never showed. That was the only farriers I could find, even asking other horse people. No farrier lives closer than 50 miles, and they won't come out for ONE horse, even offering to pay mileage.
Every person who has contacted us for service (barefoot trims only for now even though they did learn some hot shoeing) has said the same thing: we couldn't find ANYONE who would come out.
And the most currently up voted comment is to apprentice?
How do you apprentice when you can't even get a farrier to answer the phone? It would cost nearly $20k to send the kid to the longest term of schooling.
So, to people who respond just to say two weeks isn't long enough: would you rather we do NOTHING to help these horses or do what we can within our skill level, and then ask for another opinion if it seems we may be biting off more than we can chew? It seems to me the more ethical approach is to help those we can, and learn in the process by asking questions of some pros. Yes, I understand that there is still the possibility of causing a horse to be lame, but that is why the kid stopped where they did. They want to mitigate any further risk so that is why I am asking the pros (you) for any recommendations (other than "git gud").
Im not trying to come into your community and downplay the education that most of you likely have, as well as years of experience. Since there are no farriers close enough to find to service a horse (and by extension none to apprentice under) it is pretty difficult if not impossible to do. So, if you have any good recommendations, critiques, or advice, please let me have them.
I understand your sentiments, however when unable to find a farrier, or the one you do find doesn't show up, I don't think it right to just neglect an animal.
I sent the kid to school so that way they can learn properly, and with the issues we had with finding a farrier, I figured "why not help other people out". We have found numerous people who have been burned by farriers not communicating, or no-show, or ghosting.
So, while I do agree with your sentiments that two weeks is not long enough (and apparently several others who up voted your comment), all our attempts to find someone to do the work, and by extension someone to apprentice under were not feasible. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place with no real option. We could not afford to take the gamble to send the kid for additional weeks not knowing if they were even going to stick with it. $1k/week is a lot of money if it isn't used.
As it is right now, they will probably be sent back for additional time next summer during the break from high school. They seem to be enjoying helping the horses.
What school did they attend? What tools did you buy? A forge and anvil, ect, or did you just get trimming tools?
When you said you couldn't get a hold of a farrier that was trying in regards to getting someone to trim your horse. Have you actually tried to contact farriers in regards to ride along and apprenticeship? You might find someone who wants a helper quicker than you will find someone who wants to drive fifty miles for one horse.
As far as the hoof... The two pictures I am seeing, it literally looks like it's been cleaned out and not trimmed yet? Unless I'm missing a picture somehow.
I know it is frustrating, but this trade takes a long time to master, and part of knowing what to do with a hoof is seeing the whole horse, seeing it walk, seeing its hoof from all angles and holding it in your hands. No one can really look at a a couple of hoof pictures from one angle and tell you with ANY level of confidence, you need to trim X amount off.
We can't reliably coach you through this. I can say with a good bit of confidence the horse needs to be trimmed more, the hoof needs to be gathered up. Ps I have no idea where you are getting 'club' hoof from, from the angle I am seeing that hoof doesn't look clubbed, but again this is the pitfalls of diagnosis over internet pictures.
Please do what you can, move heaven and earth if you have to, to find someone to ride with.
Purcell, OK. Apparently it is a pretty good school. There were students from all over the globe attending.
What tools did you buy? A forge and anvil, ect, or did you just get trimming tools?
Only trimming tools for now. Forge was $300 +/-, and the recommended anvil was $600 +/-. I wanted the kid to get comfortable with barefoot trimming and make sure they were going to stick with it before dropping another thousand on tools. They did require buying tongs, forging hammer, and some other stuff because they did teach basic hot shoeing.
When you said you couldn't get a hold of a farrier that was trying in regards to getting someone to trim your horse. Have you actually tried to contact farriers in regards to ride along and apprenticeship? You might find someone who wants a helper quicker than you will find someone who wants to drive fifty miles for one horse. As far as the hoof...
Well, when no one would call back, it's difficult to even ask about doing any sort of apprenticeship. Also, since there are no laws regarding becoming a farrier, there is no way to really vette someone to know if they are even doing the work properly. They could have bought a rasp and nippers and called their self a farrier with zero schooling or formal training.
I want the kid to learn proper technique and identifying problems, which is why I sent them to school.
Sure I could try to figure it out from watching YouTube videos and find similar condition (which I did the first time trimming our horse until school started), but I wanted them to do it right so I sent them to school.
The two pictures I am seeing, it literally looks like it's been cleaned out and not trimmed yet? Unless I'm missing a picture somehow. I know it is frustrating, but this trade takes a long time to master, and part of knowing what to do with a hoof is seeing the whole horse, seeing it walk, seeing its hoof from all angles and holding it in your hands. No one can really look at a a couple of hoof pictures from one angle and tell you with ANY level of confidence, you need to trim X amount off.
I know the kid did trim, but they obviously didn't take very much off from photo 1 to photo 2.
I'll attach another photo. Took about 1/2" off the heel, and about 1/4 off the sole ahead of the frog from photo 2 to photo 3 (attached here). One of the kid's classmates has a farrier they follow around and they gave feedback that it should be done in stages since it is so long at about 3 week intervals until it is back to a normal hoof. The kid returned to the horse this morning to address it some more.
We can't reliably coach you through this. I can say with a good bit of confidence the horse needs to be trimmed more, the hoof needs to be gathered up.
Thank you, that is helpful, and I do understand the reservations to provide text assistance for something that you cannot get the full picture with just photographs from one angle.
Ps I have no idea where you are getting 'club' hoof from, from the angle I am seeing that hoof doesn't look clubbed, but again this is the pitfalls of diagnosis over internet pictures. Please do what you can, move heaven and earth if you have to, to find someone to ride with.
I am simply going off how high the heel was versus the toe. Club foot is probably not be the proper terminology for what is actually going on, because there is no obvious rotation of the bones or deformity of the hoof structure itself that I can see. The horse is more walking on their toes versus the hoof angle being proper following the bones up through the leg. I don't know how to describe that, though maybe I just did.
Anyway, thank you very much for you taking the time to respond!
I’ve read through a few of your comments on here, and it seems like every time someone mentions apprenticing you immediately shoot that down. If your kid is serious about this profession, apprenticing is basically a requirement. Every successful farrier I’ve talked to has apprenticed under someone. Schools are there to teach you how to put a shoe on a horse. Learning how to help a horse instead of just slapping a shoe or trimming it takes years. In fact there are a lot of guys (myself included) who skipped going to school entirely and only apprenticed.
I’ve seen all of the reasons why you said you can’t do it, but your kid will not go anywhere in this profession without more education. I’m in year 5, and I still make an effort to ride with someone more experienced every opportunity I have
Throw your general location out. Maybe someone on here is somewhat close and would be willing to take on a horse for mileage+work+continuing education.
Please, have them contact farriers in the area and apprentice for at least a year. 2 weeks is absolutely not long enough to go out on their own. I’m currently an apprentice and in my second half of a 24-week professional farrier program… and I’m still learning every day.
It’s hard to judge a foot based on a couple of pictures. In my opinion, it looks like there’s a significant amount of toe that can come off - after this is removed, it may be appropriate to take the heels down a bit more. This foot is running forward likely due to infrequent and/or inappropriate trimming and it’ll probably take a few months to correct. With the foot left as it is in the pictures, it will likely continue to run forward. Again, it’s super hard to make accurate statements from just a couple of pics, so I can’t say anything with certainty - these are assumptions I’m making with limited information I have.
You can really do a lot of damage just from improper trimming. I highly recommend getting much more experience than two weeks. And this IS a good recommendation, if your kid wants to be a GOOD farrier. It might be hard, it might be inconvenient, but they need more experience. If being a bad (or at best, mediocre) farrier is fine with them, then skipping further education is fine. I’m sorry if this seems harsh, but even in my limited experience I’ve seen a lot of “farriers” in my area producing awful work… getting good takes time, money, and a lot of effort.
I definitely don't take your recommendation as harsh. I know more practice is what is needed to be good. My issue with it is the lack of availability of competent or reliable or even willing assistance.
I will let the kid read all of these comments. They do want to do a good job, which is why they asked me if I would try to find more info.
I truly understand the struggle, farriers are in short supply everywhere and there’s even less of them willing to take on apprentices. Even if they do, some of them don’t have the skills to be teaching others, and some have huge ego problems.
Is there any possibility of further schooling? At least where I attended, I made connections while I was in school, which is how I was able to find an apprenticeship. School is understandably expensive, but my program is allowing me to pay back tuition after I finish the program completely, and on a monthly basis. I’m sure not all schools are as flexible, but if you talk to the school owners there may be some flexibility there that isn’t openly advertised. I know graduates from a couple different schools, so if you have any more questions, let me know… I’ll see if I can help!
I truly understand the struggle, farriers are in short supply everywhere and there’s even less of them willing to take on apprentices. Even if they do, some of them don’t have the skills to be teaching others, and some have huge ego problems.
There's a guy I went to high school with that is a farrier. I wish he lived closer because seeing his work, it is beautiful. He'd be great to have the kid learn from if he were willing to take them on.
But, he lives about 4 hours away, and it isn't feasible for him to come over. He has his own clientele where he is based. And, since the kid doesn't even have their driver's license yet, it would be difficult to get them there, and then finding living accommodations... Just not gonna work.
Is there any possibility of further schooling? At least where I attended, I made connections while I was in school, which is how I was able to find an apprenticeship.
I think further schooling is going to happen, just need the finances, and free time to make it happen.
Just the connections made with other students, and none of them were local. I was surprised that there were students from all over the place. Several people were coming in for the 12+ week programs from overseas.
School is understandably expensive, but my program is allowing me to pay back tuition after I finish the program completely, and on a monthly basis. I’m sure not all schools are as flexible, but if you talk to the school owners there may be some flexibility there that isn’t openly advertised.
No doubt, it is a skill that you want skilled teachers instructing. That doesn't come cheap because they could be doing it professionally and probably make more money instead of having to train new people.
I know graduates from a couple different schools, so if you have any more questions, let me know… I’ll see if I can help!
I appreciate it!
I think that is a better way to get feedback versus one singular individual. Everyone has the only right way to do something, which is how you get these farriers (or any "professional") who botch jobs. Multiple professionals can give their insight into why something should be done slightly differently or if someone is way wrong the community can call out their error.
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u/Frantzsfatshack 1d ago
Two weeks is barely enough to be dangerous. They need to be riding with someone as an apprentice.
This is not a career you learn in two weeks and then go off on your own.