KEEPING HORSES SOUND

I believe that keeping horses sound is simple. If you learn how too balance a horse too it's natural bone structure. I also believe that in the last five to ten years we have gone back words thirty years in shoeing practices. In the late seventy's and early eighty's farriers were being told that you had too cut the heels down and lengthen the toe, this would give them more stride. What actually happened was as farriers we created a hole lot of navicular horses. How ever this is still being taught at some farrier schools today.In the last couple of years there has been a big push to get the frog and sole on the ground. I had about thirty horses come to me this year with this problem. In every case I have put bigger shoes on and in the more severe cases I have had too use a wedge shoe. Some of these horses could hardly walk. As soon as we got there angle right most of these horses showed immediate improvement. That is why I strongly believe that all it takes too keep a horse sound is too properly balance it too it's bone structure.The problem with this is you have too be willing too measure hoof angle using a hoof gauge. medial lateral balance using a T square, and toe lenght using a tape measure or a protractor.I strongly believe that there is no way anyone can do this just by eye. In my blog you can find all kinds of pictures of improperly shod horses that were just done by eye.If we don't start looking at the horse as a individual we will just keep on making more lame horses. Some farriers believe that it's the shoe that makes the difference. I believe that the shoe or the type of shoe has nothing to do with balancing a horse.I also believe that hot shoeing does not make any difference when it comes to balancing a horse.Just because your farrier makes his or her own shoes does not mean you are getting a better job.I think you are better off with a farrier that is more interested in trimming the foot properly.                                                

        

 

In all of these pictures the horses have too small of shoes and uneven toe length.I am discussed that farriers can do this kind of work and charge money and go home and sleep at night. I wounder where these farriers are learning there trade. I believe that the north American schools are failing there students and the horse owners. When a student goes to a farrier school and all they learn is blacksmithing skills I don't believe that they are getting the wright skills. What they should be learning is proper hoof balance and anatomy. In my 30 plus years as a farrier I have fixed hundreds of horses by just simply balancing there feet.

Hock Injections

Do your horses feet that look like this.If so they have a serious balance problem.

The pic on left shows high on inside,the pic on right shows too small of shoes and under run heels.

Is your horse getting regular hock injections, just too keep it going. I believe at best this is a band-aid solution. What if you could keep your horse going with out injections. I believe that most horses are sore in the hocks because of bad farrier practices. At farrier schools we are taught too leave the heels high on the inside on the hind feet too make them stand straight. If we as farriers and vets would learn to balance the hind feet to the angle of the femur and the natural angle of the leg, we would not have hock problems. For the horses sake we need too look at the long term not just a quick fix.I believe that if you balance a horses feet too it's cannon bone using a T square you can eliminate hock problems. I also believe as equine professionals we need to start measuring toe length and hoof angles. We are the only professionals the can get away with not measuring!  What we go to school for two months and come back with a magic eye.I have had horses come to me so sore that they could hardly stand too be worked on. As soon as I got there feet trimmed to balance using a T square hoof gauge and measuring toe length,they stand relaxed. By using these tools they have staid sound with out drugs for as much as 11 years. RE: Henry a navicular since 2003 still going with out drugs.
I had a customer ask about hock injections as preventative maintenance. I was shocked too here that people are doing this. When it is so easy to keep your sound just by proper hoof balance. Why spend hundreds of dollars on injections when it can be fixed with proper shoeing.






Same horse balanced too it's natural bone structure. Using  just bigger shoes on hind. I believe we can fix any lameness problems by balancing our horses too there natural bone structure.

ZANE HANKLE

When I was down in Texas going to rodeo school I had to get my black horses hocks injected every month. Since I  have been going to Ian Zoerb I have not had to have his hooks injected or use any drugs.

Hoof Crack

Question by Tiffany Rozumniak

I watched your clinic at farm fair and was very interested in you techniques.

I have a gelding who has had a toe crack for probably the last 5 years or so.  I have had  numerous Farriers shoe him and say that is the only way to fix it. However even though the shoes would make it look like it was gone and healing,  there would always still be a hairline crack right from the top. My most recent farrier shod him and he kept losing shoes and his feet seemed to be crumbling so I had him take the shoes off.  He told me there would be no way to fix this crack.  I have attached a picture below and was just wondering if a stitch could be used to fix this crack?

                                                                   

I believe that a stitch would fix this crack. The problem with just shoeing the horse is the foot will expand with the horse's weight. If you just put a shoe on it, it is going to stop it from expanding  at the bottom, but it will continue to expand at the top. This will prevent the crack from healing completely. If it is stitched just above the crack, you will stop it from expanding at the top.  When you were having trouble with the feet crumbling, it is just from using too small of shoes and rasping off too much hoof wall.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

P J TAKACS and JAKE

Jake is one of the horses that attended the horseshoeing demonstration held at Northlands Nov 07/11.  He was short striding - landing toe first.  He was out of balance medial laterally with under run heels.  I balanced Jake's feet and am pleased to report he is moving much more freely.

Up Coming Clinics

Hoof Balance and Anatomy Clinics
-instructed by Ian Zoerb an Alberta Farrier who has over 30 years experience keeping horses sound
-learn how hoof balance affects your horse's movement
-maintenance and soundness of all types of competition horses
-how to balance your horse to avoid medications and injections
-keep your horse at peak performance
 
Up coming clinics

 Mar 3, 4, 5 2012 Cold Lake AB

 Cold Lake Ag Society

 Call Niki Elash 780 812 5719

Mar 23, 24, 25, 2012 Waldner's Arena
Medicine Hat, AB
Call Dianne Tessman 403 548 6446
An excellent opportunity for farriers and horse owners.
Day 1 Anatomy and Hoof Balance; Day 2 & 3 Hands On.  Bring your own horse.


October 13,14,15
Grande Prairie A B
Call Michelle Miller
780 518 9561
grndmedo@telus.net

Day 1 Anatomy and hoof balance ; Day 2&3 Hands on Bring your own horse.                                                                                                                                                                                                  

CC Profile

CC was very sore on all four feet - landing toe first stabbing his toes into the ground.  He spent most of his time laying down.  When he would get up, he would push himself onto his hind quarters lifting himself up with his hind legs.  After balancing CC's feet, he walked more comfortable and wanted to buck and play.

                                                                   Front Feet Before

                                                            Front Feet After

 

                                                     
                                                     Hind Feet Before

                                                         Hind Feet After

 CC Two Weeks Later 

(I apologize for the video quality, it was taken from a phone and sent via text message to me)

pic of foot

shoe too small

Back feet too small shoes too low angle. This is way too common, there is no support to bone column at all.
                                                                                   

front feet uneven, left half inch longer

under run heels, shoes too small

If you look at these pictures all these have under run heels. This is the number one cause of lameness in horses. The second most common cause is out of balance medial lateral.All of these problems can be fixed simply by tacking the time to measure, toe length hoof angle and most of all using a T  square!! Last week I had a horse come 6 1/2 hours because of being diagnosed as a navicular horse It turned out he was gust out of balance medial lateral. We x-rayed him before trimming it showed he was out. We then trimmed him and re x-rayed to see the difference it showed he was balanced perfect to his bone structure,this was very interesting to me. But it makes me wounder why more farriers don't use tools to measure hoof angle toe length and use a T square!! I am 100 % positive that if farriers would learn to use these tools we would have a lot less lame horses.

Ian Helped

I have a 14 year old mare  that I was told had navicular and wouldn't last a year without nerving her. Within a couple of months I was roping on her sound and without butte.
                                                             Zane Hankel

t-square (part 2)

t-square (part 1)

Check out previous videos on the new VIDEOS page.

TWO By Jody Husted

Before coming to Ian, my horse didn't seem to be fluid in his turns.He felt stiff + uncomfortable. Almost like he didn't want to turn. After coming to Ian it's like riding a totally different horse! He feels free and comfortable.  My times are quicker  and I am confident with how he runs and feels. I like that Ian shoes my horse to the way he is built.

3 Tools Your Farrier Should be Using: Part 1-Caliper

Would you hire a carpenter that never used a measuring tape, a level, or a square?

Not a good idea and yet, how is that many farriers can convince people they can trim and shoe without any measuring tools? A wise horse owner should question that logic, or rather, lack of it. No one has eyes (alone) that are that good.

So much damage can be done. A little knowledge can ward off a lot of grief.

The following are 3 tools your farrier should be using. I've been at this for 30 years, regularly deal with difficult cases, and yet with every horse, every foot, every time, I measure with all three of these tools.

1. Caliper

 2. hoof guage,

 3. T-square

1. Caliper

Used to measure the toe length. Both front feet should be the same and both back feet should be the same. Although the fronts may be different than the backs.

Why? Well think of it it this way. On your own two feet, if you were wearing a shoe that fit and one that was longer on the other foot not only would it be annoying but it would bother your walking and eventually make you sore. It's the same for your horse.

Also, in a horse, a 1/4 inch of toe-length can make a 5 degree difference in the angle. An 1/8 inch can make a 2 1/2 degree difference. Do you think your farrier can eyeball an eighth of an inch? For us, that might be like wearing a flat shoe and one with a one inch heal. We won't be performing our best so how can we expect a horse to, whose angles are affected by his toe-length. More on angles in Part 2: The Angle Guage.

3 Tools Your Farrier Should be Using: Part 2-Angle Gauge

                                                

The Angle Guage

The angle gauge has to be held tight to the foot .

This checks the angle of the foot compared to the ground, front to back. Like toe-length explained in part 1, both fronts should be the same angle and both backs should be the same but the backs may not be the same as the fronts.

We don't want to walk with two different heights of heels on our shoes.  Also the horse has 7 joints between his coffin bone and  his elbow. Being two different angles can put stress on their joints.
                                                                                                         

I like to check angles on both fronts to see if there is any difference before I start. This gives me an idea if I should take off toe or heel. 

3 Tools Your Farrier Should be Using: Part 3 T-square

The T-square

A great tool when correctly used

.

Hind shown from laterial view

.

Hind shown from rear view

  Shown on left front from lateral view. 

                                                           

This tool checks the medial lateral balance of a foot (if the hoof is high on the inside or or outside). It is made so that the top rests on the cannon bone.....  and goes down parallel with the horse's cannon bone. The foot is viewed over the T-square.  Level the foot to the T-square. It is very important to make sure the shank is straight with cannon, the T is not tiped to either side.

Sometimes a farrier will think part of the hoof should be trimmed or filed a certain way and makes a mistake but this tool never lies and will show exactly what needs to be done to level out the foot.

This horse was sore in the hocks and stifle (can you blame him?) but came sound as soon as he was leveled out.

(left hind)

{right hind}

(after correct balancing)

The average length from the ground to the elbow is 3 feet.
If the average foot is 5 inches wide (side to side) and you are a sixteenth of an inch out at the foot (eg. high on the inside) you will be nine sixteenths out at the elbow. When you consider there are 7 joints in this part of the leg it's no wounder horses get sore. This is also the same on the hind leg.

I was asked how the T square would work on horses with crooked legs.
The T square will balance the foot to the natural bone structure of the horse.
This will make a horse sound 99% of the time, if it is used right.I have clients that have horses with deviations and rotated cannon bones, in the same leg that were sore from farriers trying to make them stand straight.After balancing them to the T square they became sound.

Front view

When viewing a horse from front we have been told look at straight lines. Most horses are not built that way. When you look at the chest, the joint between scapula humerus and humerus elbow joint. If they are wider at bottom the horse will toe in. If they are wider at the top and narrower at bottom the horse usually will toe out.

These diagrams show the bone structure differences between toed in and toed out.

 These three horses are wider at top so they toe out.

This horse also has a deviation in his leg plus a rotated cannon bone. If you trim this horse to stand straight you will make him sore. But if you balance him to his cannon bone he WILL stay sound.

This x-ray shows a medial-laterally balanced foot the lines between the bones are even. On a unbalanced foot they will be compressed on one side and open on the other. This foot was balanced using a T square.

When viewing a horse from front look for deviation rotations and offset knees.This will help you to see why the horse is toeing in or out.

                             The black horse is a perfect example of diagram on the left.

Soundness

The main reason for this site is to try to get the message out to those who have horses with soundness issues, that it might not be as severe as you think, it could just be a problem with an unbalanced hoof.

Of course, some horses can't be fixed. But if x-rays are clean of breaks or bone spurs often it's just a problem that can be corrected by properly balancing the foot. It doesn't mean fancy shoes, just correctly trimming the foot.

That sounds simple but there is so much misinformation, a horse owner can get confused about what best to do to help their horse. This site is dedicated to helping horses by helping the horse owners gain a better understanding of correct hoof care.

What is a Balanced Foot

A balanced foot is medial laterally balanced to the cannon bone with the heels under the center of the cannon bone. The hoof angle should be the same as the pastern. Some horses will be steeper some lower. They should have some depth to their foot with frog support but not frog pressure.

The toe length should be the same on both front and on both hind. But may vary from front to hind.

Foot balanced with shoe.

                                                         Foot balanced with out shoe

                                                                 Balanced front feet.

Balanced to T-square

If all horses were trimmed or shod like this there would be very few lame horses.