Working With Professionals Part II
-Schedule your farrier's visits at 6 to 8 week intervals. This will keep the hoof healthy and give your farrier a chance to monitor how the hoof is growing.
-Educate yourself on basic horse and hoof care to prevent diseases such as laminitis (founder), white line disease, thrush, and ringbone. A great site to help you is The Horse Interactive.
-Educate yourself to know what a properly balanced foot should look like. Start looking at as many hooves as possible, and notice their shape and angles. The Farrier and Hoof Care Resource site is a great place to start
-Get to know your horse's stride and way of going.
1) Listen to your horse walk and trot on firm ground or walk on cement or pavement. You should hear a distinct and even four (walking) or two (trotting) beat rhythm, with each foot bearing equal weight for an equal amount of time.
2) Watch your horse walk and trot in a straight line toward and away from you. All legs should track in a straight line without swinging in or out.
3) Watch your horse's head as he trots in a circle around you. Look for head bobbing, or irregular, inconsistent steps.
4) Look at your horse's footprints. The rear hoof prints should track directly on top of (or slightly in front of) the front hoof prints.
Discuss any concerns you have about your horse's stride with your farrier, then be sure to carefully observe your horse's way of going after he is trimmed or shod.
The schooling required to become a licensed veterinarian almost eliminates the totally incompetent from practicing. Almost. You can protect yourself against an incompetent DVM in the same way you can protect yourself from an incompetent MD -- Ask a lot of questions and be an informed patient. If you are dealing with a non-emergency condition, study the condition and understand what your options are. It never hurts to get a second (or third) opinion. In an emergency situation you will have to trust the veterinarian who is able to respond. Have the numbers for more than one veterinarian available to call in an emergency.
Some things you need to do to work with your veterinarian:
-Educate yourself about basic horse care and feeding programs. Another great information site is Equiworld.net
-Keep your horse up to
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