I have been wanting to take my horse shoeing/ hoof anatomy knowledge to the next level for a while. To that end, I’m planning to take a farrier course this fall to get more hands-on experience but I was wondering if the COTH collective had any recommendations for good books to read in the meantime. I’m not looking to become a professional but I do want to be proficient at assessing my farrier’s work and capable of light trims on the barefooted if necessary.
I have a very old copy of “Elements of Farrier Science” by D. M. Canfield but that is all. I prefer text book type manuals or at least texts with some substance. Any ideas?
The licensed farrier courses I’m familiar with are two years plus apprenticeship, not some thing anyone embarks on unless they seriously want to go pro. I can’t see doing all that just to be an informed consumer.
The most detailed material on hoof balance and trimming tends to come out of the more competent end of the barefoot practitioners such as Pete Ramey. Even if you want or need to continue shoeing your horse the trim and balance and angle information is invaluable, if you can just read past the anti shoe rhetoric.
Arguably the worst mistake farriers make in shoeing is to not be careful enough of keeping good angle and balance because shoes will compensate a bit. Barefoot requires good angles. Other than the finishing touch of the mustang roll or bevel, the trim for barefoot and shod should be the same.
The worst mistake owners make is letting their shod horses go ten weeks between farrier visits.
Ironically barefoot folks get into much more frequent trimming because they can see what the feet are doing, even though barefoot horses wear their own feet down and often only need a little rebalancing now and then. Whereas shod horses will develop under run and contracted heels if they repeatedly go way over their trim date.
Anyhow it would be very useful to internalize a picture of a healthy functional bare foot because that will help you evaluate how well your farrier is maintaining your horse.
As far as specially shoeing I’m sure there are books out there on all the varieties of heart bar and pour in pad and etc.
Why not Google Amazon farrier textbook and see what pops up? Or contact a college that does a farrier course and ask what they use. I’m sure there’s a standard text out there.
Thanks, I will check out Ramey and make a few calls. I appreciate that farrier programs for professionals are serious undertakings. The class I’m looking into is geared towards owners who want to be conversant in best practices and get a bit of hands on experience. It’s not a large time investment but I find myself wondering if I will get much out of it.
And I should add…the class only covers trimming for a balanced hoof. I think the closest they get to shoeing is teaching owners how to remove a perilously loose shoe…which my horses have historically done themselves.
I just got a great book off Amazon. “The Essential Hoof Book”, for starters! There are so many! You honestly can’t read enough, any google searching will bring up hours and hours of reading. Read everything, even things you don’t necessarily agree with. Spend too much time on COTH, and the horse grooming supplies forum used to have very knowledgeable hoof care posters. Join Facebook groups, ask questions, offer to hold horses/get horses for your farrier/barn farrier, and ask questions when they like you enough to answer, LOL. But seriously, I’ve spent years reading and holding horses for farriers, and asking questions, and reading, and reading, and buying books, and reading.
They have a hoof mapping protocol that really helps give a visual guide of what to look for. There’s nothing majikal about it–a good farrier essentially follows that guide in their head without needing to get out a Sharpie. But when you’re trying to figure it out the extra visuals can help.
I like my farrier but figure a second opinion is always good. I saw a posting for a new ELPO farrier in the area and decided to have him come out to do an assessment. He confirmed that my farrier was spot on.
