I had the EXACT experience with my mare. My trainer loved her farrier (and he is well respected…somehow), but over the span of a year, several horses in the barn ended up with NPA, mine included.
I switched to a farrier my vet recommended, and the two of them worked together for a year to correct my mare’s angles. Looking back at pictures of her feet then versus now, she was super long in comparison.
Valegro hacks out, does he not? And lives in a grass field.
From my experience, the farriers in the UK are far far superior to the ones in Canada.
That being said, my farrier is the bomb.
On some level I agree, there are definitely breeds, and lines within any breed, who genetically have more upright feet. But there’s still a difference between a conformationally more upright foot, and a tall-because-of-trimming foot.
But even then, something I mentioned in my first comment, there are too many US WBs who are by and out of European horses, where the Euro horses are trimmed with a taller (which is different from more upright) foot, and their kids here aren’t. That’s the biggest deal - the style of trimming, and in no way is trimming for taller correct. If they are more upright when properly trimmed, that’s fine.
No regulation in the US either. I don’t think it will ever work in the US or CN either, unfortunately, it’s much too hard to police.
THIS. It’s uneducated owners who allow incompetent farriers and trimmers to stay in business with their lack of good education.
I see this a LOT - farriers/trimmers can be amazing people, show up on time, shoes stay on 8 weeks, they come out for pulled shoes, all the Good Human traits we like, but they do less than stellar jobs, even craptastic jobs.
I’m kind of dealing with the opposite right now… farrier does a FANTASTIC job on feet but attitude, showing up on time, etc are getting a little lax. I think he is wise to the fact that he does the best job of anyone around and so we are all subject to some BS. I of course have some sympathy for him as he’s very busy and not willing to risk my horse’s feet, but sometimes I wish there was someone else just as good…
That’s tough but you’re right, quality work with some lacking bedside manners or promptness is sometimes the best you can do. Maybe there are some things you can do to help improve his “life” at your place?
Not in the pictures posted in this thread but sometimes in pictures posted by members here in other hoof threads. In a few of those the feet look too short. That is not the norm as most are obviously too long.
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