Information on Wet Horses
As we struggle through another wet winter there has been a
dramatic increase in horses presented to me wet. I believe this is
due to a lack of understanding about our needs as a Farrier and
the requirements of the horses we are working on. I have never
made a secret of it being completely unacceptable to be
presented with a wet horse.
The dictionary definition of dry is; “free from moisture” this does
not include any other version of dry, i.e. just a little damp - almost
dry, nearly dry or I did the best I could!
On wet days, a horse’s legs and feet will not dry sufficiently
unless they are left in the night before shoeing. Horses washed
off in the morning will often not be dry enough to shoe for the rest
of that day. (This will vary obviously as to how much feather your
horse has).
I know at times this is inconvenient but The Health and Safety
Executive, our Insurers and following the advice given by our
professional association The Farriers Registration Council, they
insist that we do not work on wet horses, under any
circumstances or our insurance will not be valid.
You employ me to apply the highest standards of Farriery to your
horses. In the past when I have gone through the miserable
process of shoeing a wet horse! All I desire is to get the job done
as quickly as possible. I do this job because I love it and I put a
lot of pride in my work so this takes out all the fulfillment I get
from the job.
This not only puts me into a very poor mental state but
compromises my work, also the safety of myself and the horse I
am working on. These are shortcuts and risks I will no longer
take.
Anyone who does not shoe horses cannot imagine how much
effort we use to hold up a proportion of hundreds of kilos and
how much of our body we use against the legs and body of the
horses we are working on. This process requires friction and
when wet, apart from being extremely unpleasant, most of the
friction disappears placing your horse and myself into an
extremely dangerous situation.
Horses feet have the characteristics of blotting paper and will
suck up water from the environment. This causes several
problems for us as Farriers.
The feet expand and in some cases this is so extreme we
have to increase the size of shoe to accommodate this
change.
Our foot trimming tools are designed to cut hard dry hoof and
when the feet are wet, not only does it prematurely blunt them
but our rasps clog up and become useless. (At £30 a time you
can understand that this is just throwing money down the drain).
Wet feet lose the definition and guidelines we use for
assessment and trimming. In this case it is easy for us to make
poor decisions about trimming and foot management, which
could lead to unnecessary discomfort or lameness.
When we nail shoes on it requires skill and practice to accurately
drive the nails with reasonable safety. As we drive nails
into the feet we are reliant not just on the angle we drive the nail
into the foot, but also we use the sound and feel as we drive the
nails. When feet are not dry, this vital tool is lost and we loose the
sound and feel of driving nails. This is obviously an extremely
dangerous and unnecessary position to be in for both your horse
and myself.
Having driven the nails through the hoof and out of the wall, we
cut off the excess nails and pull them tight against the hoof wall,
(forming a clench).
If the walls are wet they are very soft and we are unable to
secure the clenches without tearing them down the walls. Some
feet are so soft when wet it is impossible to tighten the clenches
fully, leading to the shoes becoming prematurely loose as the
hoof contracts down to it’s optimum size.
Until now I have not fully explained the reasons why dry horses
for Farriery are so important and I thank you for taking the time to
read this information sheet.
Another thing I want to bring to your attention is, as many of you know I have very bad circulation to my hands and suffer with quite extreme Raynauds. When my hands get damp I lose the feeling of my fingers, this goes beyond them just being cold and can then last for hours. This winter when damp they’ve hurt to the extent I’ve had to stop shoeing some horses. I then obviously can’t handle my tools with the same accuracy and can’t do a good job.
I know most of you do present me with dry horses and a dry area
for me to work on, which means a lot to me. I thank you for both
your consideration and the effort involved.