Just wanted to say thank you.  For 4 years
I tried  different trimmers to fix my flat footed tinder footed Morgans. They had always had great feet until we moved to Northern. Calif. 
  I finally gave up and started doing them myself.   In one year with the generosity of Lavinia  and Pete Ramsey's knowledge and willingness to share; my horses feet are beautiful.  My vet even ask who was going them. But more importantly they are moving out as they should with no tenderness. 
Love the pea gravel.  Cuts down the Dust. Makes cleaning stalls so much nicer.  When it rains it drains nicely so there is no mud.!
(Hubby put a layer of compacted base with a slight slope underneath)
  I am in my 60s, I just file a little every week,  mainly backing up the toes ramping the heels.   Just got so happy when Dusty shed some sole to reveal a nice concave hoof.  He now has collateral grooves with some depth!
Thank you Lavinia. And all of you who post, I learn so much from you all.

Hi Lori,
This is an inspring post. Do you have pictures of your horse's hooves? I'm just stepping off the cliff to start doing my own horses and I'm so afraid I'll do it wrong. But I just CAN'T deal with what the farriers have done to my horses. Any advice would be so appreicated.
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Collaeyn, Monty, Shark, and Duke
Sewell, NJ
June 2020
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/files/Collaeyn%20and%20Monty
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=248978   (Monty pics)
https://ecir.groups.io/g/CaseHistory/album?id=250635   (Shark pics)

Thank you both for the post on trimming.  I too am starting to trim my 20 year old Morgan.  For the most part feel I have had good trimmers (maybe I also closed my eyes and trusted more than I  should have) but they can't live at the barn and I need to know more than I do. I have gone to very good clinics but have never taken the reins.  I keep thinking -remember you can't put back what you take off-that is a good guiding principle.  Just trying to do a little each day.  Visually I just struggle with what I see and what I read-that interpretation.  I do have a good trimmer that I am partnering with and we are on the same page re: IR/Dr. Kellon/etc/diet etc.,
Very grateful of all that this group does-    
Marianne

Knowledge is power. You're bound to make some mistakes - everyone does - but feet grow back, much more quickly than you might believe. Generally, the problem tends to be that you don't do enough, rather than doing too much.

The best thing about doing your own horses is that you can work on them in small increments, just like nature would. That is the ideal way for hooves to be kept at their best but when you have a pro doing the work, that just isn't logistically (or financially) feasible.

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Lavinia

Moderator/ECIR Support

Yes!!!  Me too!!!  I've worked so hard to get Smokey healthy and just am not getting the right trimming.  I'm ready to learn.