Finding a Good Farrier and Keeping One
Farriery is unregulated in the US, so certification is voluntary and means something specific. What the AFA levels actually test, what to ask, and what "footsore after" means.
Category Hoof Care & the Farrier
Your Horse Threw a Shoe: What to Do Until the Farrier Comes
Find the shoe, check the foot, decide about riding. What a lost shoe usually means, the two findings that turn it into a vet call, and why the nails matter.
Barefoot or Shod: The Honest Version
Two small studies measured what actually changes, and both name their own limitations. What the evidence supports, what it does not, and why the debate stays loud.
Hoof Growth Rates, and Why Your Cycle Isn’t Six Weeks
One published average, a grow-out time close to a year, and no source at all for how much horses vary from each other. What is measured, what is not, and what to do about it.
How Often Does a Horse Actually Need the Farrier?
Six weeks is repeated everywhere. Two extension services publish five to eight and six to twelve, and one study measured what changes inside four to six. The spread is the answer.
Abscess or Laminitis? Why Owners Genuinely Cannot Tell
Both are sudden, both raise the digital pulse, and one is life-threatening. What the two conditions share, the one pattern that separates them, and why you assume the worse.
Wet Paddock Management: The Real Cause of Recurring Thrush
If thrush comes back every winter, the field is the patient. Where ground fails first, what the published sources actually say about moisture, and what you can change.
Thrush in Horses: Why It Keeps Coming Back
Treating thrush without changing what caused it is why owners treat it three times a winter. What Merck actually attributes it to, and where treatment stops being yours.
Picking Out Feet: What You Are Actually Looking For
Picking out is a daily physical exam that happens to remove dirt. The six things to check in the ninety seconds you are down there, and the one you can smell.
Hoof Care Between Farrier Visits: What Is Actually Your Job
The farrier comes every few weeks. In between, your job is inspection, environment and records, not trimming. What to look at daily and what to escalate.