"quicked"

I do not think four days is a crazy amount of time to wait for a reset.

His schedule is busy. He fits you in.

With the price of gas I am sure he does not want to drive way out of his way just to reset a shoe.

If you do not like him, which it sounds like this the case, then find another farrier, that is fair.




When my horse is lame I do not instantly assume my farrier did something wrong. I start with the more common and obvious issues like an abscess.

That's not true. I actually really like him and I do not trust farriers that I do not konw or that others have not used. I also did not immediately assume it was the farrier. That is why I asked the question in the first place. I was trying to decide if it was a vet or a farrier call.

I'm trying to figure out if I have an abscess or a quick.

My issue is that I know my horse is in pain and I want it fixed asap. If it's a simple reseting a shoe then I want it done. If it's a call to the vet for ichthomal or digging out an abscess then I want to do it.

He texted that he'll be out tonight.

My general protocol when I my horse gets suddenly lame that I think might be an abscess is to treat it as if it is an abscess. Nothing you do for an abscess is going to do any harm.

Soak in hot water and Epsom salts (or Murphey's oil soap), pack the hoof and wrap it. Ichthammol can be purchased anywhere. If you can not find it you can use a sugar/iodine mixture.

All this can go on while you wait for your farrier to get there.

If the lameness starts right after the farrier, it's reasonable to assume there's a farrier problem. Also, it's a lot cheaper to have the farrier come out and check it out and do a hoof test than to call out the vet, especially on the weekend. Even if it's an abcess, the farrier is likely going to be involved in the treatment either with a packing, pulling the shoe or putting in a pad or gel under the shoe once it's drained. I always start with the farrier.

If you only have one horse and not a barnful, the farrier may not hop as quick as you'd like but really, one that's been caring for your horse for 4 years should NOT be making you wait 4 days for a reset. In 4 years with my farrier I can honestly say I've not had to call him back ONCE for a reset in all that time. I've been using him for 7 years and I have a barn of 20 plus horses and he's the only farrier. That's a lot of chances to make a mistake.

I have fired a farrier for consistantly soring my horses (the cowboys out here kind figure that if a horse isn't ouchy for 2 or 3 days after trimming they left them too long), punching my horses with a file, and one for drugging an antsy mare without my permission. She was pregnant and she has never been bad for the farrier, just that one, so when he drugged her I flipped and sent him packing. She has not acted up for a farrier since.....hmmmmmmm.

Thank you Always, I do know how to treat for an abscess but that's good advice to post anyway. The ichthomal I get from my vet comes in a jar and is really thick. I like it. The ichthomal that I currently have is from CVS and it's in a tube. I'm sure it will work as well but I do like that tar like stuff I get from the vet better. I also have epson salt.

Dreamcatcher, he's only sored Ri (If that is what has happened) this one time. I have 5 horses that he's been treating for 4 years. I do understand he's busy and I've never gotten "mean" with him. I did get angry the last time I lost a shoe because it took him a week to come out and I had a show. I really do however feel that I should only have to wait a day or two for a reset on a shoe. I think a week is too much. I'm going to talk to him about it tonight.

I love my farrier - he's better at diagnosing a lameness issue than my vet is, even though my vet is an equine specialist. (They often work together on diagnosing a lameness issue, so my vet really respects my farrier!)

I don't have to worry about shoeing, since my bunch of brats go barefoot. When daughter's mare went to the trainer's, she had just been trimmed. Trainer's farrier said she was trimmed too short, so she didn't get a trim until the next time the trainer's farrier was out. He made a MESS of her feet - even my inexperienced eye could see that. Our farrier had to go out two days after the mare's trim and try to fix her feet as best he could. At least she was a lot less sore when he got through with her, but her training had to be put on hold for three weeks to let her poor feet heal up to where she could walk without pain. We'll probably never have anyone else work on our horses...

I did not know I could buy ichthammol at the drug store. Interesting. Learned something.

I buy it at the feed store or Tractor Supply. In a tub.

[QUOTE=Alwaysbehind;1171563]I did not know I could buy ichthammol at the drug store. Interesting. Learned something.

I buy it at the feed store or Tractor Supply. In a tub.[/QUOTE]

Is it the tar like stuff you get from the vet? If it is I'll try to run out there tonight. I'd rather have that.

This stuff.

Hmpf. My link did not work and I did not noticed in time to fix it.

http://media.tractorsupply.com/is-vi...initialFrame=0