Steve and Jason with Jaci
by Steve Karshner
Transitioning the traditional Farrier to a Natural Barefoot Farrier is not unlike the transitioning of the shod horse to a natural barefoot horse. Both take time, knowledge, skills, and the passion to keep learning and do the best you can for your clients and their horses.
I have been a long time advocate of the barefoot Farrier instead of the novice barefoot practitioner to people who contact me looking for someone good in their area. I’ve done this because of the barefoot Farrier’s long and personal experience with shoes, the damage that he has seen done by them, and all the things he’s tried to do to counteract their negative effects. I cannot over emphasize the value of that experience and how much it enhances the ability of the barefoot farrier to see your horses problems coming long before they become a lame, and the practical advice that he or she can give you on avoiding these problems altogether is invaluable.
Now let me say, I’m not against the barefoot practitioner, on the contrary I think we need a new way to train our hoofcare professionals. The leaders in this quest are doing their best to change the way hoofcare professionals are trained. I support that effort in spades, but so many of these people get a couple days of training and then go out and put themselves forward as a hoofcare professional, when they are not. They end up laming horses not because of what they have learned, but because of what they don’t know. How could they know? They have not had enough time to really know anything, let alone have the experience to deal with any real problems. As I have said in the past, what is done in the name of the barefoot movement reflects on us all. So lets not put people out there that have just learned the correct way to trim a correct foot and expect them to have the knowledge in their mind and enough skills in their hands to do anything more than not hurt a horse when they are trimming one. A word to the new or novice hoof care practitioner: mentor with the best, stay within your knowledge and experience level. You are the future of our business. Learn well, practice with caution, and above all, do no harm.
I have always been a barefoot advocate but I’ve put shoes on my clients’ horses too. When I could convince them to let the horse go barefoot I did, and they were always happy with the outcome. As a working farrier how do you transition from shoes to barefoot? Well, there are two aspects to this. One, you need to understand the concepts (if you are considering the change I’m sure you have been reading a lot and asking tons of questions to educate yourself just as you did when you started in this field). Two is the business end. This is the part that you will be the most worried about in the beginning. I’m not going to get into techniques, but the standard trim cycle is 4 weeks. From here on out only take new clients that are ready to commit to a 4 week schedule. If you are doing your trims at eight weeks your old clients will probably not like the change so don’t push them into it. Tell them if they really want a hard foot, the 4 week schedule is the way to do it, and leave it at that. They will come around in time. Remember at 4 weeks you only need half of the horses you needed to make the same income at eight, so as you have your normal attrition every year, replace those clients with barefoot clients only. If you shod your horses every 8 weeks at $120, then $50 every 4 weeks will give your client a break in cost so it shouldn’t be hard to sell that. And of course you know you could probably trim 4 horses in the same time you would shoe 1, so if you use your time wisely you could make more money and save your clients money at the same time.
The benefit to the horse and owner of having their farrier there every month instead of every 2 months is priceless. You can catch problems early by being there once a month before they become real problems. This will not go unnoticed by your clients, and you will be amazed at the increase in healthy feet that you will see in your practice. As you already know you can trim a lot more animals in a day than you can shoe, with a lot less pain and expense. The horses you are doing at 4 weeks will not take as long to do as the trims done at 8 weeks, so you will be keeping these animals balanced and you will be maintaining that hard callused foot with less effort than before. You will not be afraid to tell your clients that they can go right out and ride instead of saying they need to be careful because you had to take a lot more foot off than you wanted to.
I spent the day today with two very different farriers. One has been slapped and taken for 20 years and has now come over to the natural side, and the other is a spunky young man who has 12 years experience as a farrier in the Midwest and felt he had to come all the way to California to find the answers to his biggest questions. Two Different men, one very common interest. Learning all they can, and being the best and most knowledgeable farriers that they can possibly be for their clients and their horses.
I met my first farrier in transition one year ago when I took over the horses of one of his clients. Russ was very gracious about having been relieved of these animals and came to watch our first session. Of course I afford to have him come up at each trim if he could make the time and we would go over these horses individual problems, and start getting them on the right track. Russ planned on coming but wasn’t able to make anymore sessions because of his schedule. Russ didn’t make those trim sessions, but what he did do was start reading, and he built a knowledge base over the next year that lead him to Pete Ramey, and then back to the farrier that offered the knowledge to him the first time. I’m not sure who was teaching who today. Russ went on and on about all that he had learned, and he gave me all of Pete’s new guidelines for soul depth and told me all about the videos he was studying. I could see a new excitement in this old farrier’s eyes as he told me about all the old ways that he had thrown away, and just how much better his horses feet looked now that he had this new knowledge. So I guess you can teach and old farrier new tricks, but what stands out the most to me is that with the skills and knowledge base that Russ has developed over the last 20 years, all he really needed was some good information to put that new knowledge to work. That is the difference between teaching a new hoofcare practitioner and transitioning a traditional farrier to barefoot, one takes months, the other years.
The second farrier, Jason, came to me from Kansas because I have one of his clients Reining horses in rehab at my center in Tehachapi, California Jason recently came out on the loosen end of a misunderstanding with a bucking horse and was forced into a little down time. Being the optimistic and inquisitive young man he is, he decided to come to California to see what asymmetric rehab is all about. Jason had done a good job on his clients horse but just couldn’t get that last 25% of right into that horses feet. To be fair I had the horse in my rehab and was working and watching this horse for 3 weeks before the reason for her sudden lameness was revealed to me. Jason still shoes a lot of his clients horses because he is in the middle of the reining world, but he knows the truth about the health of the horses foot and is trying to come all the way to the natural side. Now if you are a farrier you know how hard it is to admit that you cant solve your clients horses problem. Before you come to that conclusion, you have done everything you know how to do, and talked to every other farrier you know, and you have let the vet give you his 10 cents as well. But in the end Jason knew he was at the end of his knowledge base and no one in his circle of professionals could help him or his clients horse through her problem. So he did what any respectable farrier would do… he stopped and had a beer! No, I’m just kidding, he went looking for the answers and found a way to come to California. One broken foot, a pair of crutches, and a great attitude, looking to help in the rehab of his clients horse. Jason has only been here one week, but I have to say we are kindred souls. He has learned fast and is very anxious to get back home and apply what he has learned here. Seeing a whole week of work on his client’s horse, Jaci, he has been able to see some ups and some downs. That’s how you learn. If this was an easy fix it could have been handled in Kansas, but I think Jason was meant to be here at this time and for this reason. He can now take this knowledge back home and apply it to what I am sure are many reining animals with the same issues.
When you decide to make the transition, be sure to bring all the tools at your disposal to the game. You can’t shoe your way out of the problem anymore. Know your boots, and know all the applications possible for each one. I told Russ and Jason to get set up with EasyCare as dealers and have their truck filled with every boot you can afford to help you leave that new rehab or shoe transition horse in the most comfortable boot possible. A happy, comfortable horse makes for a happy and reassured client. If the horse is in pain you will fail. So boot them up and tell your client all he or she has to do is call you if things don’t look right and you will be there in a flash. EasyCare has a great program called Fill Your Truck. I think it is one of the smartest and most helpful things that EasyCare has done to date to help keep us all in boots at a reasonable price. So till next time, remember: no hoof, no horse.
Steve with Libby the Wonder Dog
About the Author:
Steve has his natural hoofcare practice in Tehachapi, CA where he now specializes in the natural rehabilitation of navicular syndrome, asymmetry, and founder. Steve is a published author and speaks at different equine events on the subjects of navicular syndrome, asymmetry, and founder. Steve was a farrier first and is proud of the trade, but moved to natural hoofcare as a result of years of education and observation. “For the conditions of navicular and founder, shoeing is at best a band-aid and at worst the reason that these conditions become chronic. The only way to reverse these problems is to encourage the foot to return to its natural biomechanical function, and in doing so return the natural healing blood flow back to the foot”. Libby the Wonder Dog has been Steve’s constant companion for 13 years and it is rare to see Steve anywhere without her at his side. For more information on natural hoof care, visit Steve’s web site at stevekarshnernaturalhoofcare.com, or drop him an email at skarshner@aol.com.
