I need recommendations for an exceptional farrier that services SE Massachusetts.
OTTB with typical long toe, low heel. Terrible feet. Can’t hold a shoe. Severe negative plantar/palmer angles.
Who is the best of the best, that will travel to a one-horse owner, non show barn?
You’ll probably get better responses over on EquineSite.com’s bulletin boards. But it might also help to be more specific about what you define as SE Mass. People’s idea of what this area is tends to vary a lot (in my mind this means South of Boston, but have met others who consider everything South of Gloucester).
South of Boston. Norfolk/Bristol/Plymouth county.
Don’t know if any of these will do, but you could talk to Steve Hughes, Owen Hughes, or Joe Schembari. They all work on the south shore and go to the horse. Myron (don’t know his last name or if he is still in business) used to work with Doc Sheehan but you had to go to him.
Myron McClane.
Thanks
When you find a truly brilliant one, let me know. When I was in Aiken there was a much, much better selection of farriers. The farrier I used for my horse down there was just nonpareil - he truly made such a difference in my gelding’s way of going. When I moved back north I wished I could have brought him along.
I think a lot of the farriers here are just fine, but not all of them are good with correcting OTTB angles. The trend with a lot of farriers here is to have long toes. Almost all of them shoe like this: (not my photo - from COTH) 
Personally I look at feet like that like :eek: - high/low & very long and not uncommon to see fever rings… but that’s the fashion for shoeing in this area, I’ve noticed. There are four different farriers at the barn I lesson with (has 30+ event competition horses) and all of them shoe like that - and I doubt very seriously every horse has the exact same shoeing requirements… In the spring when all of the event horses come back from Aiken or Ocala their feet always look so much better…
Another trend here is really long hind feet - most competition horses I see here have some sort of negative palmar angle behind.
I’ve had a hard time with my own OTTB, who had beautiful feet angles before I moved to MA. Since then he has struggled with all sorts of things, even popped abscesses (which he never got before), hot nails, developed some really crushed heels and narrowing of his frog, and flared out within a few weeks of every trim.
I stuck with one farrier way too long and it caused some body issues with my gelding.
Here were his feet (pics taken immediately after a trim) before I wised up and switched farriers: [ATTACH=JSON]{“alt”:“Click image for larger version Name: IMG_4347.JPG Views: 1 Size: 19.0 KB ID: 9988543”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-attachmentid”:“9988543”,“data-size”:“full”,“title”:“IMG_4347.JPG”}[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=JSON]{“alt”:“Click image for larger version Name: IMG_4340.JPG Views: 1 Size: 16.9 KB ID: 9988545”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-attachmentid”:“9988545”,“data-size”:“full”,“title”:“IMG_4340.JPG”}[/ATTACH]
I had the farrier ^ above work on this horse for almost two years. His hooves kept getting longer, and longer, and longer.
[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“thumb”,“data-attachmentid”:9988550}[/ATTACH]
^ Above was the farrier’s last trim before I cut bait and switched.
Bobby Benson is probably the best of our choices for a specialty farrier, but he charges a lot… Expect to pay ~$400 or so for just 4 shoes. More if you need specialty pads/wedges, etc.
Right now I am using Billy Duffy and of all the farriers I’ve used here he seems to be the best match for my horse… We had a crazy cold snap (in the negatives) and had to reschedule our appointment and my gelding didn’t flare out until the 8th week… we normally keep him on a 5 week schedule but the last two months have been really bad weatherwise.
Some horses are more forgiving about incorrect angles, but I find with TBs that have been on the track, that their bodies really need the right angles or parts of them start to go… their back and their hind end are usually the first to get really sore.
The farm I lesson with has a score of horses that tweak their hind suspensories and all of them have NPA behind.
I believe Myron is retired now. Garrett Maloney (maybe Mahoney?) trained with Myron for years and is very good. I used Myron years ago and s was the best. He recommends Garrett to people now.
I strongly second Garrett Maloney, but I think he cut back his territory a couple years ago and might not go that far for one horse. I think he has a forge you can take your horses to, Stone Bridge Forge in northern RI? Does great work if you can get him.
Grey
Thanks @M. Owen and @Grey623. That is very helpful advice - especially the info that customers can ship to him. I have heard very good things about his work.
I highly recommend Matt Prescott and/or Patrick Strong. Both of them have been the only farriers to keep my guy sound and happy
Anyone who works for Larry Hill - but particularly Patrick!!
I just wanted to follow up to this old thread to say that I went with Garrett Maloney. SO pleased with the results. Horse is 100% sound after ONE SHOEING.
I do have to trailer to Garrett at his Stone Bridge Forge in Chepachet, RI, as I am outside his standard service area, but it is completely worth it.
Highly recommend to anyone else in need of an excellent farrier. Very knowledgeable, professional and willing to help.
If you are willing to go north, Rebecca Watts is terrific. She helped me fix a problem that had been created by another farrier. She’s at http://www.newenglandequine.com/New-England-Equine-Farrier.html but met me at another client’s barn so I didn’t have to drive so far.
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