Lucy got her feet done today and for the first time since I've owned her, she is wearing shoes without quarter clips.
As my farrier explained it to me, clips are good to keep the shoe straight on the horses foot, but they are bad if the horse has genetically crappy feet, like Lucy, because they cause the walls of the hooves a lot of trauma and the walls tend to break down around the clips.
It's taken six months, but Lucy's feet have recovered enough from her accident in November that the farrier had sufficient hoof wall to nail to without having to rely on clips to keep the shoe secure.
So I hope in the long run, her hoof walls will remain more stable and not fall apart so badly!
Here's a cute photo of her nuzzling the farrier - he is so patient and calm with her and I know she adores him.
My horse used to wear side clips for the longest time until we realized they were causing more harm then good. Toe clips and my horse agree much better! Hopefully Lucy enjoys and can keep the no clips!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! Paj has crappy feet.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in the h/j and eventing world, it seemed like every horse had side clips. In fact, I recall learning in Pony Club that clips were not, in fact, standard, and was surprised.
ReplyDeleteMy new OTTB mare is barefoot at the moment, and I'm hoping to keep her that way as long as possible, but I bet once we get to jumping she's gonna need front shoes.
I was JUST reading this before I saw your post: http://www.horsejournals.com/good-hoof-bad-hoof
Cute photo!! Sounds like you hace a great farrier which is so hard to find sometimes.
ReplyDeleteInteresting... Hue has Quarter clips but he has pretty good feet so we have never worried about the clips. I didn't realize that the clips could cause so much damage.
ReplyDeleteAh clips. Hate them, mostly because if your horse loses a shoe with them, they ended up ripping off a good chunk of hoof wall :-(
ReplyDeleteYay for improving feet!! Hope her feet keep on the up and up! :)
ReplyDelete