[pastrychef]

I definately will keep her and her barn mate shoeless as long as possible or until they actually need shoes. And someone made the point depending on what the horse ends up doing...reining for example...they need shoes.
There is a "natural trimmer" that comes to this area and i know a girl that her young barrel racer had founder. One farrier told her hes gonna get so sore very soon, hes gonna have to be put down.she also took him to a vet school, and they coulkdn't do enough for his feet. he was sore. So she called this lady and asked her to do what she can.Well it took about a year....and hes being ridden, and now a couple years after , hes back to barrel racing. She swears by her. So i think ill email her, and ask some questions.
I also think these days all farriers should be trained to do both, but like others have said , that is very hard to find...here also. It would be great if this was easier to find.
i think farriers , and Vets, are like hair dressers, and doctors, once you find one you like you stick to them. Of course now that iam back into horses, i called my vet to come vaccinate, they got out of large animals, finding a new vet sucks.....and being limited to certain amount of vets in your area sucks...hoping you like them. (so far ..i like one more than the other...but we will see) i don't have much options.

thanks everyone for the great discussions.

 

[pastrychef]

Update....

Ayla and Bella are getting trimmed tomorrow (wild horse") style!!

 

[KaleylovesCharm]

BAREFOOT! Saves money, and is the best and safest way... Both my horses are barefoot(23 yr old & 12 yr old) there feet are as hard as rocks... It also help older horses deal with arthritis... I could go on and one, but I personally say barefoot.

 

[Super Nova]

I've never understood the question "should have a natural trim" as apposed to what "an unnatural trim" a good trim is a good trim....I have horses that go barefoot and horses that need shoes.....they are basically trimmed the same way......my farrier takes into account the foots conformation and trims accordingly.

Super Nova

 

[pastrychef]

Well she came and trimmed thier feet. All i can say is....amazing. and thats after the first trim. Ive had horses years ago, and had "normal farrier" come trim thier feet. it was nothing like this. I can see improvements,..very small but improvements already in what i was worried about. They were soooo well behaved for her, overall a great experience. Its was a great experience, and she's awesome at what she does. i can't wait for her to come back in 6 weeks.

 

[MyBoyPuck]

Glad you gave it a try. Sounds like you found a good knowledgable trimmer.

 

[wild_spot]

I had horses shod years ago, then I took the shoes off and got them trimmed by a few different farriers. All good farriers, the horses were sound, and all farriers had good reputations in my area. However my horses feet have never looked better than they do now that I am using a 'trimmer' (I don't think he would like being called a 'natural trimmer' or anything like that). There are a few small differences in how he trims that have made a visible difference in their feet - Were they weren't bad before, they are better now.

I do have the best of both worlds now though - A new mare who has been shod was trimmed by him the other day. He pulled her shoes for us, trimmed her, and said that if she doesn't cope he can shoe her for us even though he tries to avoid shoeing nowadays. I was super impressed - I loved him before this, now I pretty much worship the guy! Luckily she looks like she is going to cope fine though.