Visited a big barn in Ocala last month and saw some sketchy shoeing

I was down in Ocala Florida looking at a buddy's new facility and walked past this one stall where a farrier was working. He was using nails that were way too big for the hoof and just banging them in without even checking the angle. The horse was already fidgety and I could tell it was hurting. I wanted to say something but figured it wasn't my place. Has anyone else run into work that just looked dangerous from the start?

4 comments

4 Comments

black.jake10d ago

You said "I wanted to say something but figured it wasn't my place" and that's exactly the problem right there. Too many people stick their nose in where it doesn't belong. Unless you're a certified farrier with years of experience, you don't know what that guy was doing. Maybe the horse has a bad hoof wall and needs bigger nails to hold. Maybe the angle looked off from where you were standing but was fine up close. Farriers deal with all kinds of messed up feet and sometimes rough work is what gets the job done. Horses get fidgety for a hundred reasons that have nothing to do with pain. You saw ten seconds of a whole job and jumped to conclusions. Next time mind your own business unless you see blood or a broken bone.

drew5510d ago

You brought up "maybe the horse has a bad hoof wall and needs bigger nails to hold" and that's a fair point I hadn't thought about. But what about the horse flinching and pulling away like that? I get that horses can be fussy for no reason, but a sudden flinch like that usually means something hurt. Do you think there's ever a good reason for a farrier to keep going when the horse is clearly reacting to pain, even if it's not bleeding or broken?

ellis.leo9d ago

Horses flinch for all kinds of reasons that aren't pain. Could be a fly landed on it, or the horse just got spooked by something behind it. Not every flinch means the farrier messed up. You gotta watch the whole trim, not just one second. Unless you're pulling floats and nippers yourself, it's better to trust the pro who does this every day.

mila_campbell259d ago

honestly people are acting like this guy kicked the horse or something 😭 like yeah the horse flinched but so what? horses literally flinch at flies, at shadows, at their own farts sometimes. i've seen horses jump sideways for literally no reason at all. if we stopped every time a horse moved a little we'd never get anything done in the barn. unless you're up there watching the whole process and know what you're looking at, it's kinda dumb to assume the worst from one split second. plus half the people in these threads have never even held a rasp so like maybe calm down a little.