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What is a Hoof Care Plan? |
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A horse's feet never stop growing. Therefore optimal husbandry must include REGULAR HOOF MAINTENANCE. While this fact might seem obvious, we often encounter horses which require damage control or therapeutic farriery because they have not been receiving hoof care from a qualified professional on a regular schedule. Each horse has different hoof care needs which are determined by many factors including;
Please note that there is no schedule frequency on the list above. This is because the combination all of these factors SHOULD determine how often your horse is scheduled for farrier service. Some farriers work appointments on a 6 to 8-week schedule. This arbitrary time frame is based on convenience and financial considerations. If a horse requires farrier service on a different schedule, then what? What if your horse's feet begin falling apart after 4 weeks, but your farrier will only come every 6 or 8 weeks? When the farrier arrives it is no longer maintenance, now it is damage control. However the damage cannot be controlled because the farrier cannot get ahead of the hoof growth cycle without showing up more often. Showing up more often might be inconvenient and more costly. But consider the cost to the horse! If anything we are describing controlled neglect, which only serves the interests of arbitrary ignorance. We provide professional trimming and/or shoeing services custom tailored to your individual horse's needs. We do not subscribe to a particular "brand name" shoeing or trimming methodology. However, we have studied most of the popular protocols for scientific merit. Therefore you may find aspects of our work which appear to be similar in some ways. However, we do not "follow" the same procedure on every horse because no protocol works on every horse every time. Beyond the theoretical aspects of modern farriery we have the benefit of field experience with thousands of horses over a significant period of time. It is our experience combined with extensive education in anatomy, biomechanics, equine locomotion, physics, and material science that allows us to:
Simply stated, we know what we are doing because we are educated, experienced, fully qualified professionals. Our hoof care plans deliver superior quality custom hoof care for each horse according to its individual needs.
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