What's Dave Think?

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Our farrier, Dave Jacobsen, never minces words. This time around he's answering your questions on shoe options and sanding. Read on and comment at the end of the article with any questions you have for Dave.

Pifee Asks:
There are so many different tips of shoes now, what do you think of the plastic or rubber shoes? What kind of shoes do you prefer to put on barrel horses? Polo, rimmed all around, flat, etc.?

Plastic shoes – hate ‘em. Pain in the butt. Not worth it. How's that for blunt? They cause more problems than they're worth. I will say it depends on which plastic shoes you're talking about here. A lot of times plastic is too flexible and dirt gets underneath them. So when the horse step down it pushes dirt or even small rocks into their souls which can cause an abscess. Plastic shoes allow the hoof wall to flex too much breaking it down. They just don't hold the hoof together well enough for my tastes.

Barrel horses – The problem with polo and barrel shoes is they don't last very long. They wear down too fast, don't hold up so guess what? I hate ‘em. It just so happens that my wife runs barrels and does games. The problem where we are up here in the Midwest is that we're always running on different ground. Black dirt, clay, sand, etc. With that in mind, I prefer St. Croix Lite Rims on all four. It gives the horse the proper traction they need. A horse doesn't get traction from the rim itself. It's that the rim packs full of dirt so the horse is running dirt on dirt instead of a smooth flat shoe or solid metal on dirt. That's where the horse gets the extra grip. Some people down south like flat shoes on the rear hooves, but they're also running on consistent ground. Really almost always indoors on the same dirt so they hold up well.

Hope this helps!

Reinerslider Asks:
I have an easier question. Any tips on a good, hoof healthy way to clean hooves up for a show? My horse has light hooves and they need to be white in the ring. The easiest way for me has been sanding by hand and scrubbing with an SOS pad that's similar but a little softer than steel wool. I've asked my farrier and he thinks it's okay, but prefers I stay away from power sanders. Any suggestions for cleaning up a horse's hooves without stripping them or making them unhealthy? Anything I should do after the show? I can't imagine it's a good thing to be doing too frequently, but at the same time farriers file them lightly with a rasp so maybe it's really not all that bad. These are the things I think about as I sand.

Well, no pain no gain. Some horses don't like the power sanders. From my standpoint, I'd talk to other people that show. I don't do a lot of polishing here, but a power sander won't hurt the hoof wall as long as the hoof is healthy. Sometimes when horses are outside, their feet are dry and cracked. If this is the case a power sander is not a good choice. You can sand by hand and then in between shows go back to coating the hoof regularly with good old corn oil.



















I don't really think it's that much work sanding by hand. Whatever works the best for you works for me. You're really not taking off that much. Once you sand in show season you're really just touching up to keep everything smooth. That's not going to hurt anything. Again, though, really look at your horse's hooves. If they're brittle and tough to begin with I wouldn't use a power sander. In fact if they're in really tough shape, I might not do anything for any show. The horse comes first, ALWAYS.

Comments  

Posted On

Jun 20, 2008

Posted By

pifee

Blunt is good. Thank you, this did help. You hear so many different things about shoes that you just never know. Like you said you never know what type of ground you are going to run on around here. Now that we got that part out of the way , how do you feel about running barefoot? You read articles on how barefoot is better, so fill me in on your thoughts. I always worry about traction, being able to grip (if that is the right word).

Posted On

Jun 21, 2008

Posted By

packzilla

Dave, you sure have been giving alot of good info, thanks much!!! For a trail horse, what are the pros and cons of barefoot vs shoes?

Posted On

Jun 22, 2008

Posted By

Spiritsgirl

This is very interesting. I keep learning something new everytime you speak

Posted On

Jun 24, 2008

Posted By

pifee

Hi Dave, I have another question for you. I know that when you have shoes on to long the hoof will grow over that shoe. Once the foot has got to that point and you have your farrier come out should you have a wider shoe put on? Does this help with the out growth of the foot? If you let it go to long won't the foot still grow over the shoe?

Posted On

Aug 06, 2008

Posted By

robbijo

I have a horse that got hurt badly around from the knee down to his corenary band, he lost at least 1/2 his hoof on the inside and then came up with ringbone due to the injury. He just turned 10 and I hate seeing him wasting away. I've used thereputic gel pads and they helped and now just bought a set of Boa boots. What do you think of these boots if any experience with them and anything else I can do to get some time out of him.

Posted On

Sep 14, 2008

Posted By

Roby

Hi Dave, I have a daughter who is a senior in high school and is going into the Equine field for college, she has some mentorship classes this year and was wondering if there are any farrier school in the area where she can do her mentorship?

Posted On

May 23, 2009

Posted By

iowa_farmgirl_08

hi dave, i myself am going to ferrier school this summer at the oklahoma shoing school. i guess my question is more in the way of economics than it is ferrier work... how is the market out there for ferrier"s i mean, here in iowa most of the guys don't shoe anymore so we have to take ours to the amish. i didn't know if things were different other places in the country.

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