Its Back....Winter Once Again

Once more winter settles in bringing with it everything from cold bits to chilly saddle seats.

Riding conditions warrant a serious change in one's mindset if winter riding is on the schedule. It is hard enough to walk on winter's slippery surfaces when you only have two feet to worry about; imagine how hard it is to keep track of four feet with someone on your back who may not always be perfectly centered.

There are any number of devices available to help a horse maintain a certain degree of traction on slippery surfaces, however, they come with a couple of counter-weights that the horse owner should acknowledge before saddling up.

The most common traction enhancers for the horse to be used on ice involves some form of tungsten carbide crystals (Borium) welded to the horseshoe, either in spots or as a thin bead around the perimeter of the shoe. Either way it needs to be applied judiciously by someone familiar with the proper techniques. Borium is expensive and time consuming to apply. Fortunately, with this product, a little bit goes a long way and there is no need to have large gobs of the stuff plastered all over the shoe . it is just a waste of the farrier's time and your money.

There are all sorts of corks (caulks), grabs that can be forged as part of, welded onto or screwed into nail-on or slip-on shoes for easy attachment and/or removal. I've even seen roller bearings from the locking hubs of old pickups welded to horseshoes to be used on ranch horses that were going to be working outdoors regardless of the weather and surface conditions. Ouch!

There are frost (ice) nails that work fairly well on ice, but not so well on pavement where they tend to wear off rather quickly. Borium, on the other hand, will outlast the steel on most horseshoes.

While the benefits derived from these devices will vary between users and applications, the one thing they all have in common is that any increase in traction comes at the price of restricting the mobility and flexibility of the hoof and its supportive structures, especially during turns and stops. A shoe with borium will not slip . period. It will gouge furrows in ice and concrete if enough pressure is applied. Care should always be taken to adjust one's riding technique to minimize the adverse effects caused by these additions to the horse's feet.

Additionally, any time you add anything to your horse's feet, you have to be aware that if the horse kicks another horse or steps on itself, the severity of the injury is going to be magnified due to the very nature of the traction device; to say nothing of how many octaves your voice is going to rise should you be the recipient of an errant kick or step.

Perhaps one of the most detrimental effects of any purported traction device is the accompanying false sense of security that often leads one to explore the outer limits of the laws of physics as pertaining to remaining upright while moving at anything faster than a cautious walk across an ice covered field.

Riding barefoot is an option that probably works well for the majority of winter pleasure riders, while those horse owners that for whatever reason need/want/feel more comfortable with (which is a very big part of enjoying a ride) to ride in difficult conditions may find it necessary to have their farrier winterize their horses.

And then of course, there is the all important concept of using common sense. The hard part here is remembering to use it before it becomes a lesson learned . the hard way.

Along with the end of the year comes a few questions and headaches that just don't seem to go away. Thrush may become more of a problem as horses are brought in out of dry pastures and spend more time indoors or in smaller wet areas. The best way to prevent this foul smelling, potentially debilitating destroyer of a horse's frog is through frequent use of the hoof pick. There is a reason thrush appears where it does. The crevices between the bars and the frog are the logical place for everything from sticks and stones, mud, muck and manure to become compacted and thus trap this anaerobic bacteria so it can begin its work in the oxygen-free environment it needs in order to develop.

Once it gains a foothold, it is important to begin treatment immediately before it is able to cause severe damage to the hoof. Thrush appears to know no boundary and may occur in any horse, in any barn, at any time of the year. The best defense against it is also one of the cheapest and simplest ... use a hoof pick to clean out the bottom of the hoof, do it often and never allow any part of the hoof to become packed with anything for any length of time. Anytime material prevents air from reaching every part of the hoof, the situation becomes ripe for a thrush invasion.

It doesn't take long. Ask almost anyone who has had to deal with thrush how quickly it appeared and the answer is more often than not, "It just showed up . all of a sudden ... there it was." Thrush may slightly favor the plain shod horse over the barefoot horse, probably because the shoe itself offers more opportunities for something to get stuck in a position that favors thrush's growth. However, a horse that is shod with a full pad covering its hoof for an extended period of time becomes a prime candidate if special care is not taken to maintain a well-managed hoof care program.

The good news is that if caught early and treated aggressively, this scourge can usually be brought to heel in short order.

While it may be a simple fact that the vast majority of hoof-related problems can be traced directly back to whoever is responsible for trimming the hooves, both horse owner and farrier must accept that there are limitations as to how much of a change can be made to the way a hoof looks, travels and/or lands before the health of the horse is compromised.

The club foot seems to draw a great deal of attention no matter what the season. To my knowledge there is no way to "fix" a club foot. It is there for the duration of the horse. Before buying a horse with a club foot, one needs to understand that this foot, and quite often its diagonal counterpart, are going to require special hoof care . and not every farrier is up to dealing with this particular situation. There are some basic tenets that provide guidelines for trimming and keeping a horse sound under these conditions, but as with all things dealing with horses, one has to keep an open mind and be willing to accept that what works for one horse may not work for another. Consequently, the farrier must be prepared to adapt to the individual horse's needs as each case warrants.

That being said, most horses with a club foot lead a normal life and are active in just about every endeavor imaginable. All it takes is the proper hoof care. That, and an owner who is willing to recognize that the very thing that causes the hoof to be shaped as it is, may result in heavier than normal stress loads being placed on certain parts of the limb, thereby requiring a possible adjustment to how the horse is going to be used. Most problems that occur with a horse with a club foot can be traced to poor hoof care as a result of a lack of understanding of the what it takes to keep this type horse sound. Trimming a club foot to make it look like the other hoof in the pair is one sure way to lame the horse.

"Navicular" is one of those words that causes your heart to skip a beat. The bad news is that in a lot of cases, it really is bad news. On the other hand, sometimes it seems to be a catch-all term for any problem that cannot be easily identified as long as it is somewhere between the horse's nose and the tip of its tail. This is one diagnosis that needs to be taken seriously and performed by professionals. This is the only way to up the odds that you will be able to treat the problem and not just the symptoms.

"Heels" is another hot button in the world of hoof care. They are either too long, too short, crushed, contracted or sheared and the horse is lame. It wasn't all that long ago that a major problem for horses concerned heels trimmed too short. These days, there seems to be a real problem with heels being left too long. Total opposites with the same result . lame horses. It makes you wonder about people trying to fix things that aren't broken. If your horse is sound, know what it takes to keep it that way. Keep a written record . it removes the guesswork and helps prevent change just for the sake of change.

A professional farrier carries a wealth of knowledge and skill with them to every barn on their schedule. What is missing at every stop is that information concerning what has happened to the horse in the interval between appointments. This is where the horse owner has to pick up the slack and make the effort to be present. It is for the horse's benefit, your peace of mind and the farrier's safety and liability.

After trimming a horse for two or three times, unless there is major work in progress, he or she will have the feet trimmed and shaped just the way they should be. Once this happens, and as long as a regular schedule is set up and adhered to, this horse is now on the farrier's preferred customer list simply because it is just so much easier and that much more pleasant to deal with well cared-for feet than it is to have to start over from scratch every time. Hoof care is a lifelong affair . a farrier and horse owner working together can keep it pleasant, keep it simple, and most important of all, keep the horse safe, sound and traveling as it should.

Best wishes for a happy holiday season.

Buz Riley - 2004 ©

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