LAST week I attended a Wekman Horseshoe Clinic with Jonathan Nunn AWFC, hosted by master farrier and Irish farrier team member, James Woods, to learn more about modern farriery and the role horse owners have to play in the care of their horse’s feet.
Over 50 farriers were in attendance to learn from Nunn who has almost 30 years’ farriery experience, he is a Worshipful Company of Farriers judge/Eexaminer and is a competitor on the world stage. Jonathan also works alongside the veterinary specialists at Pool House equine Clinic.
Nunn opened the session by stating that: “A lot has changed in farriery over the last number of years and the rate of change is continuing rapidly. Many more farriers are having to become familiar with reading veterinary diagnostic reports such as MRIs and X-ray. Farriers are now expected to help treat an exact ligament from a veterinary diagnosis - that’s the way farriery is going. This progress has seen many farriers becoming more involved in veterinary research.”
“We need to analyse more deeply what we do, I’m still learning,” Nunn continued. The significant impact training and competition surfaces have on soundness was also discussed. Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) has published the world’s most extensive and up-to-date study into the effect of surfaces on the orthopaedic health of sport horses and racehorses. The research paper is titled The Equine Surfaces White Paper (ESWP). This paper states that the horse-hoof-ground interaction is influenced by the structure and material properties of the contacting surface of the foot. This includes the way the hoof is balanced, choice of shoes or no shoes, the type of shoe, the current condition of the shoe, current hoof growth, and the type, number and configuration of screw-in shoe studs or caulks.
As riding and sports horses are expected to compete on a variety of surfaces and under different conditions, these choices are important. They help the horse perform to the best of its ability. Nunn gave an example of concave shoes, which are used for traction, combined with a horse training and competing on sticky, fibre, sand surfaces. He said that: “This is not an ideal combination and horses tend not to go as well.”
It is important for the farrier to see a horse walking before tending to the horses feet and to do this on different surfaces, Nunn commented that: “A horse could be sound on concrete and lame on a surface.”
KEY POINTS FOR OWNERS