About The Work We Do

As a company providing a professional Farriery service we pride ourselves on producing work to an exceptionally high standard which is complemented by our dedication to client service.

Our client base enables us to work on a wide variety of horses covering a range of disciplines.  These include

• Eventing
• Dressage
• Show Jumping
• Showing
•  Driving
• Endurance
• Trotting
• Mounted Games
• Hunting
• Hacking
• Point-to-Point

Working on competition horses to hacks, our goals remain a constant - to ensure we maintain soundness in all our clients horses, no matter what the discipline.

It is important as a Farrier to adapt the style of shoeing for each individual horse according to the work that is required of it by the rider.  Upon assessing each horse it is also imperative that each limb be assessed and shod as an individual entity.  In short, the way in which one foot is shod is not necessarily how you would shoe the opposing foot.  This could be because of many reasons, such as a distorted hoof capsule or a limb injury.  With today's high standards in Farriery and the ever evolving practice of Veterinary science a lot of our work is aided by working closely with Vets.  This can range from a combined assessment of a clients horse to a Vet sending or emailing appropriate x-rays of a horses foot to us.  With the aid of digital x-rays and with having a laptop computer with us in the van we can view x-rays clearly whilst carrying out work at the clients stables. 

Although our daily work involves helping horses stay sound we also have a great interest is working on horses that have lameness problems with the aim of achieving soundness.  As we are not tied to a specific Veterinary Surgeon or practice we are able to work alongside any of our clients Vets when necessary to achieve soundness in the horse.

Some common problems of the foot that can cause lameness but can be dealt with by corrective Farriery are 

• Medial/Lateral Imbalance
• Anterior/Posterior Imbalance
• Sheared Heels
• Collapsed Heels
• Pedal Bone rotation
• Negative Pedal Bone rotation
• Quarter Cracks

These are a few types of problems we may encounter and work towards correcting.

Some other causes of lameness in the Equine that can be helped by corrective Farriery are

• Angular Limb Deformity
• Tendon Injury
• Brushing
• Spavin

Other common contributing factors in Equine lameness that are very frequently overlooked include

• Poorly fitting tack
• Skeletal Pathology
• Muscle asymmetry
• Dental Pathology

The problems/conditions listed above are but a few of the many that can affect Equine soundness but give you an idea of what we have to consider in our daily practice.  Although the last four factors listed above might not seem like they can be related to Farriery they actually play a major role in causing lameness that affects the limb and shoe/foot wear.

We aim to ensure all our clients horses are sound and in work and to achieve soundness in those horses that have a lameness that can be helped with our Farriery expertise.

As not all horses need 'corrective Farriery' a great deal of our time is spent shoeing with normal, standard steel shoes, preventing corrective work from required in the first place.  This still requires the same assessment prior to shoeing as with any corrective shoeing, but in treating all clients horses with the same high standards, prevention of may problems can be achieved.  Through simple observation we aim to shoe each horse in a way that prevents any avoidable lameness and you as the client and owner from any unnecessary expense.

 

Equine Information

To help us make an informed decision on how we shoe each individual horse i.e. the type and fit of shoe we use, we require all of our clients to complete an 'Equine Information Form' prior to shoeing.  These Forms are completed by every new client (Client & Equine Information Forms can be downloaded from the site and completed prior to our visit) or for every new horse a client acquires.  In the near future we aim to have these forms on a tablet so as each client can update their horses records with us at every visit.  This will allow us to constantly re-evaluate our shoeing plan for each individual horse.  A shoeing plan is an essential tool when working to keep horses sound and in work.  Shoeing plans can also help clients understand what we are aiming to achieve with each shoeing.  Having a written plan also helps clients follow any 'aftercare' instructions that we leave and require to be carried out more so than a verbal instruction that can easily be deviated from. 

 

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Our Handmade Shoes

We make our standard steel shoes in our Forge from straight bars of fullered concave stock.  We carry 7 different sections of stock and make 12 standard stock sizes of shoe.  As we make our shoes we also make bespoke shoes for individual horses.  This ensures we are providing the best possible shoe fit to our clients horses.

 

 

Shoeing Cycles

The shoeing cycles we recommend depend of the style and type of shoe your horse has fitted.  The style your horse is shod in depends on the information you give us.  Please ensure that you keep to the shoeing cycle discussed when your horse is shod as leaving your horse in shoes longer than they were intended to be on may result in lameness.

Our normal recommendation for a riding horse shod in a 'riding' style with good conformation and having good sound feet is a maximum of 8 weeks. Other styles/conformation/horn quality will affect the shoeing cycle.