You are such an incredible farrier. Thank you for everything you do to help all these horses. We all know, if their feet aren’t good, the horse is not happy or healthy.
Was there any concern with the lack of solar support to the lateral side? Like could you have done this same thing but with a full shoe and just kind of float that injured part? Genuinely curious because I’ve seen some abscesses blow out and cause hoof wall weakness resulting in resection but never personally to this size
When I was a kid, 10 or so, when it was farrier day I was there on an upturned bucket watching everything. We had a barn that has a safe place from a kid to chill safely. I always found it amazing how some horses came in so ripped up, half the hoofs still in the shoe, or thrush that was bad from some of our guys in the wet fields. I would love to sit and watch, chat, learn, and I felt blessed these hardworking men and one woman would slow down just enough to point something out different on a certain horse. An angle or a crack in a bad spot that won’t heal without a lots of help. My old old blacksmith worked into his 90’s (!!!) and he loved to teach as well as get some help! He would ramble on with his tales and stories and I love them.
You can see a small vertical incision in the foot above the hoof, so I'm betting that this started as a foot injury where the pressure buildup caused it to blowout through the hoof. The foot looks fine now and was obviously drained, so besides the bacterial sinus track through the hoof the foot looks nice and healed. Iodine or chlorhexadine foot soaks might also prove beneficial in getting into the track and drying up any remaining infection and inflammation. Gotta say I really liked the ingenuity in using an old rasp to build the frog support and the use of dental putty to cushion it. I hope this gentle guy heals and gets his spirit back. ❤
Great job. I would say it was good timing on that crack happening at the school. You were able to spot the problem and do something about it, while it can still be fixed. Please do a follow up if the owner is wise enough to bring the horse back for his next trim.
I hope the student didn't feel bad about it! Would have had to come off or else the white line infection could have gotten so much worse! Cool to see old rasps being reused for the specialty shoeing, too.
@@YellowstoneHorses In the walk at the end, he's more lame on the leg with the swollen knee than he is on the leg with half a hoof. I suspect that, over the years, he may have developed some arthritis so slowly that it isn't apparent to someone who sees him day to day.
You are the Hoof Whisperer. Or Burrich, the stablemaster in the Robin Hobb fantasy books, who also ‘feels’ his way through and towards what has to be done when a horse (or hound or hawk) has an injury. I admire your skills so much! ❤
it’s wonderful to see Master Farriers at work producing bespoke shoes for these horses, it was obviously an old horse and great to see it being made a bit more comfortable. As others have said it would be nice to see a follow up perhaps?
Oh man I didn’t even see the swelling in the other leg! He was so patient and super tough, and both of you persevered and now he’s far more comfortable ❤
Great approach and can only imagine the horses painful walk prior. Would love to see the incremental improvements as the hoof grows out and is reshod. Imagine 6-8 months for that nasty ring to be trimmed off. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, believe it or not, my horse didn't even limp! The ring around his hoof was very noticeable, but I had no idea that it was rotting away. I own the horse and I really appreciate the Idaho Shoeing School Team for discovering and treating him. The shoe is only nailed on one side so I need to tighten it each day. I'm so impressed with the expertise in shaping the shoe and carefully routing out the decay. The horse has a slight limp when trotting, but he walks just fine. I will keep you posted.
@@YellowstoneHorsesReally? He never limped? That's crazy because it looks like a huge abscess that blew out. Horses are so damn tough. I had a palomino mare that tripped when running through a gate one time and she gouged her ribcage on a ROUNDED "HORSE-PROOF" latch. She had a slice down her ribs at least a foot long that cut all the way to the bone. I could literally see her ribs! Her only reaction was to look back at it once, and then put her head down and graze like normal. If I hadn't seen it happen, it could have been hours before anyone saw it. Your guy looks like such a gentleman. And can I say what beautiful body condition he has? Goals.
Great job! Thank you for helping out this sweet horsey. Looks like the owners love her - correction: him - lots, and I hope she's getting some sort of treatment for that arthritic left joint. Get well soon! ❤🐴❤
The sheer number of tools and skills shown in this video is incredible, you are a master! Seeing that shoe come together felt like magic, using a piece of a rasp in that way was genius. Thank you for sharing your trade with us!
Awesome job you done there, I've been around horses most of my life and always admired the good honest hard work done by a farrier, must play havoc with your lower back though, anyway, well done and would love to see any follow-up if possible 👏 👏👍👍
Omgoodness!!! Look! What an AMAZING job! Ya know, a lot of peeps don't have this service available to them. So, because of your expertise, this beloved babe gets to live and heal!!! Thank you, Thank you! ❤🐎❤️
Amazing job creating a shoe for this guy. I was floored when you started hammering out that rasp!I’m glad you said something about his left knee because I was about to ask!
Many moons ago I had a horse with terrible sand racks on three feet. In the UK we have a product called Cornucressin, rubbing that into the coronary bands with a tooth brush, made the hoof growth a lot faster and all had grown out in four months.
Seeing amazing work like this is one of the reasons I love this channel. Seeing traditional methods and modern applications to solve issues like this. I hope there are follow up videos.
Not putting anyone down. Is this something the student missed initially or was it found after horse stepped wrong? Thank you for sharing these stories with us.
Thanks for the video. My favorite part is watching the instructor make the horseshoes. Those hand forged shoes take talent and those students are lucky to have such a fantastic instructor.
Dang. I hope the student knows they aren't the one who caused the issue, only the lucky one who was there when it showed up. I'm glad you were able to do something until the hoof grows out. Kind of looks like a founder ring, doesn't it?
Oh my gosh! I'm kind of freaking out, thinking about going to the dentist for work on a cavity. Did you give him a bit of novacaine or at least a local numbing agent? Thank you for helping these beautiful, silent animals who cannot tell us about their pain.
Dude!! You continually amaze me!!! That's absolutely beautiful!!! I'm assuming the horse's knee is so swollen is because he was bearing most of the weight on that leg??? Sure glad I found your channel!!! Blessings, Bridge
Exceptional job, wow! Poor horse, and he's so beautiful too, will there be an update on him? Thank you so much for all you do for these beautiful horses, just incredible, take care.👍💙🐎
What other profession is there where you need to be a blacksmith, a veteranarian and a manicurist all at the same time? It's an ancient, noble calling.
How will the vet address the swelling of the knee you pointed out to viewers? What did you do to address the cut on the front of the leg above the hoof? 😮
your skills, your techniques, and the benevolence you have towards this horse, are a pleasure to see. you wish the best for him, it's all to your credit. animal welfare comes first. THANKS
It was interesting to see how you can help a horse with a problem like that. I hope his owner can do something for that awful knee too. Thank you for sharing.
Poor guy. Glad he's doing better. Not sure if this was, but it seems horses are being neglected prior to your shoeing efforts. Are there enforceable laws regarding abuse & neglect? Being familiar with kill pen situations, it doesn't seem like there are many laws, if any. Thank you for what you do for these beautiful animals❤
It's really interesting to watch especially for a horse owner like myself i don't think a farrier gets half the credit they should it takes as long to qualify as a vet ,correct foot balance is everything and being able to help this horse with remedial shoes to help his mobility is amazingly ive seen heart bar snd egg bar shoes but never these shoes which obviously help with correcting the foot balance, ill look forward to another educational video
I've been meaning to ask, does anyone ever 100% wash their horse's hooves? I would imagine it would be a very healthy and precautionary step to take at least once a month, so no compacted mud or manure can hide early signs of dangerous problems. You did such a fantastic job. The shoe design is brilliant and you have so much patience with his uncomfortable shifting - kind of a difficult job for both of you. lol I hope his hoof grows out well. ☮
The answer is "it depends". I had show horses, so part of every workout was a whole body rinse and leg treatment (bucket soaks in cold water). Because your ride literally depends on those feet, most of us were fairly obsessive about the hooves, and they would be washed and conditioned almost daily. Then again, we were keeping horses in a fairly artificial environment (stalls, shod etc.). Horses that were retired, pastured, and barefoot needed much less just out living their lives on grass, and needed only occasional spot checks and regular farrier care. :)
I used to ride my horse through the creek or salt water to clean his feet, the bottoms were so pretty and clean when we got out, you could see the white line, he was always barefoot, and I did his hoof trims.
If you clean the mud, rocks, and manure out with a hoof pick daily, infections don't happen or at least get noticed early so that topical medication can clear it up. Washing their hooves once a month is not really necessary because they should be getting their hooves trimmed or shod every 6 weeks. If a horse gets an injury to the hoof, that would also be noticed with daily hoof picking. I have onky ever washed my horses' hooves when they also get a bath/shampoo, either because they are going to a show or just if they get really dirty, or when they're shedding. Rinsing them off after riding to get the sweat off also can rinse the feet but it's not usually a priority. Also, hooves can be over conditioned, and like fingernails, spending too much time being wet can cause softening, and also fungal or bacterial growth.
Horse hooves and frogs, like a lot of areas of the horse, have beneficial flora that, when things are all healthy and balanced, are good to have. They actually help keep the nasties under control. Keeping things too clean might be detrimental. I do regularly pick though, and I spray a very mild zinc-based thrush preventative into the central sulcus of the frog regularly.
@peteacher52 The horse was probably sedated a little, so that he didnt feel too much pain when the infected area was worked on. If a horse feels pain by something you did, they are going to let you know. And since they outweigh a human by at least 5x, if they dont like what you are doing to their feet and it hurts, they arent going to stand there peacefully with their foot up.
