Met an old timer in Kentucky who could read a horse's mood just from its feet

I was out in Lexington a few years back, helping a buddy at a barn, and this older farrier named Walt showed up for a few trims. He didn't even say much at first, just walked up to each horse and ran his hand down their leg before touching any tools. At one point he pointed at a mare's front hoof and told me she was nervous because the heel was chipping on one side and that meant she'd been stomping at flies wrong. I asked how he knew it wasn't just bad shoeing and he just laughed and said the hoof tells you everything if you shut up long enough to look. Then he showed me how the sole had these little stress cracks that lined up with her off days. It stuck with me because I spent so much time on angles and nails but never thought about reading the animal first. Has anyone else had a moment like that where someone pointed out something you'd been missing for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathan54511d ago

That bit about the heel chipping from stomping at flies really hit home. Had an old cowboy show me the same kind of thing with a gelding's back hooves once, and it changed how I look at every horse I work with.

brooke7111d ago

I read a book once by a guy named Les Sellnow about horse hooves, and he talked about how the frog and the white line can tell you weeks of stress history. After reading that, I started paying more attention to the sole and heel area myself. It's amazing how the hoof holds onto evidence of bad days, like a diary in the horn. Walt sounds like he had that knowledge in his hands, not just in his head.