Hoof Care

Careers with Horsepower: Farrier Dean Sinclair

Posted:

January 5, 2016

dean sinclair farrier kelowna bc, career as farrier, equine farrier careers, horse farrier careers, olds college farrier, certified journeyman farrier, canada farrier

“The beginning of the day starts in my shop at about 7:00 am, doing some forge work clipping up shoes and sharpening knives for the day’s work,” says Certified Journeyman Farrier Dean Sinclair of Kelowna, BC. “I have a young man who is apprenticing with me and we are under our first horses at 8:00 am. I have a mixed practice of shoeing show horses, endurance horses, and pleasure horses along with a handful of jumpers. Lunch is generally a sandwich on the run and we wind up the day back at the shop by about 5 pm. All of my appointments are pre-booked so I finish the day calling the next day’s appointments with a quick phone message or text to remind clients. We average about four to six shoeings and five or six trims per day depending on the time of year. Being seasonal work, many farriers will work much longer hours and sometimes seven days a week during the busy time of the year to make up for the slow times over the winter months.”

A Hoof Care Plan for Distance Riding

Posted:

October 5, 2015

vettec, sole guard, hoof care, solar support, endurance trail riding, distance riding

When gearing up for endurance and trail riding season, there is a lot of training and preparation that go into it for the rider and horse. Both have to be conditioned to face the 25, 50, or 100-mile race that lies ahead of them. Because a horse will be on its feet in rocky terrain for long periods of time, it’s important that hooves are properly protected, supported, and prepared for any possibilities such as uneven, loose footing, stepping on sharps, cuts, and hoof impacts.

Treating Navicular Disease with Farriery

Posted:

August 12, 2015

equine Navicular Disease Farriery, Cole Henderson, horse navicular, navicular syndrome, chronic heel lameness, caudal heel syndrome, No Foot No Horse

Navicular disease, now referred to as navicular syndrome, chronic heel lameness, or caudal heel syndrome, was first documented in 1752 by farrier Jeremiah Bridges in his famous book No Foot, No Horse (published some 40 years before the opening of the Royal Veterinary College in London, England).

Unravelling the Mysteries of Navicular Disease

Posted:

July 20, 2015

equine navicular, petroglyph animal hospital, horse hoof problems, equine hoof problems, equine coffin joint, equine bute

First let’s begin by locating the navicular bone in the horse. Each of your horse’s hooves contains two bones: the distal phalanx (coffin bone or P3) and the distal sesamoid bone (navicular bone). The navicular bone is a small, boat-shaped bone that is bordered by the coffin bone, middle phalanx (P2), and deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT). It is approximately six centimetres in length and two centimetres in width in the average 1200 pound horse.

Longer Shoeing Intervals Can Impact Stifles

Posted:

February 26, 2015

horse shoeing, equine shoeing, horse trimming, hoof trimming, horse stifles, hanz wiza, hoof problems

Sophie is a twelve-year-old seven-eighths Hanoverian mare whose main job is dressage. She is also hacked out for an hour or two a couple of times a week. She is fit and robust, but she has recurring bouts of problems with her stifles. Immediately after being shod, she has no issues. But as she gets further along in her shoeing interval her rider notices that her stifles keep catching.

When Does Your Horse Need Trimming?

Posted:

February 7, 2015

hoof trimming, trimming a horse, hans wiza, horse hoof care, horse cannon bone, horse frog, overgrown horse shoe

“How do I know when my horse’s feet need to be trimmed?” This question has been posed to everyone who trims the feet of horses. As a service provider, I can attest that there are a number of answers to that question – and all of them are correct.

Understanding Laminitis

Posted:

December 20, 2014

what is horse laminitis, inflammation of horse laminae, horse anatomy, equine physiology, coffin bone horse, signs of horse laminitis, horse colitis

The word laminitis elicits fear among horse owners because many associate it with the end of the horse’s career, and sometimes the horse’s life. Laminitis is a catastrophic syndrome that should always be treated as an emergency; however, recent research and new techniques used to treat this condition now make it possible to save horses that might have died. A diagnosis of laminitis is no longer a death sentence.