bar shoes

[guest]

Please could you tell me if it is normal practice for farriers to apply only one bar shoe at a time? Also what is current farriery thinking on flares, should it be removed and why or should it be left and why?

[admin]

Dear Guest,

Bar shoes are special shoes applied in special circumstances. It depends entirely on the situation as whether one bar shoe is needed or whether more than one is needed, but if there is a problem with one foot only then it may well be that only that foot needs a bar shoe.

Removing flare is a matter of judgement. In principle it is best to remove it as when the flaring hoof bears weight it may become even more distorted. However you cannot always be too radical about it as you do not want to weaken the hoof wall too much and you may need to leave enough wall to nail to.

I hope this helps,

Best wishes,

Martin.

[guest]

But surely one bar shoe will unbalance a horse?

What if the farrier believes that the flare should be left because thats just the shape of the horses foot?

[admin]

A bar shoe is just a normal shoe with a bar across the heels.

One bar shoe may unbalance a horse, or it may balance an unbalanced horse, or it may make no significant difference to the horses way of going, you cannot generalise.

If a farrier takes the view that a certain amount of flare is acceptable for a particular horse then that is a valid view, he should know.

Every horse is different.

What is the problem with your horse?