Tried a barefoot trim on a horse with chronic laminitis and it actually worked better than I expected

I've been a farrier for about 8 years now and always went straight to shoes for laminitis cases. Last spring I had a client in Boise whose mare kept pulling shoes anyway. Owner asked me to try barefoot with some heavy rasping and a bevel. Three months later that horse is sounder than she was with shoes. Made me question a lot of what I learned at school. Any other farriers had a case where going against the standard protocol paid off?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_rowan1mo ago

Jumped on a similar case about two years back, a rescue pony with founder so bad I figured he'd be lame forever. Owner was dead set against shoes, said she'd rather put him down than keep fighting with them. Did a really aggressive barefoot trim with a ton of heel relief and a mustang roll, and that little dude is now sound enough to do light trail rides. It totally shook my whole belief system, you know? Like, here I am thinking I know the science, and then a horse comes along and proves the textbook is just a suggestion. Makes you wonder how many other "rules" we follow are just old habits that nobody's bothered to question yet.

vera1951mo ago

Dude talk about a plot twist, right? I swear half of what they teach in school is just tradition dressed up as science. Glad it worked out for you, sometimes the horse knows better than the textbook.

rileygarcia1mo ago

Wait, is that actually true for a lot of people? I used to totally roll my eyes at that kind of stuff, like "just read the textbook and you'll be fine." But then I had this history teacher who was super into the standard version of events, and I found an old letter from a regular soldier that told a totally different story. Made me realize the textbook is just one person's version of the truth, not the whole picture. Kinda humbling honestly.