Who knows best?

This post is something I've been debating on writing for a while. I don't like dissing people, but I think we as horse owners need to be able to make informed decisions about the welfare of our equines. Last month my regular farrier didn't show up when I expected him to, and a friend from another province was visiting and since she is a barefoot trimmer, I asked her to do my horses. What should have been a simple trim for each horse became a rehabilitation project; I won't go into details but none of my horses had the kind of feet they should have had after a year in the care of a professional barefoot hoof care provider. I am very grateful for my friend for the education she gave me, but since she lives very far away, the end result is that I have decided to learn to trim my own horses.There is a book or two that I will be getting to help me, and I get a lot of support and advice both from my friend and from Mrs. Mom- who I consider a friend, even though we haven't met!- and I'm finding that it isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Of course, I can't do a lot in one session, but I plug away at it. The money I'm saving on farrier fees will go into educating myself.  The following photos show Beamer's feet in May before my friend trimmed him, and just the other day, after I gave him another maintenance trim.

They are a work in progress, and I still have so much to learn. The point of this post is to encourage people to get involved in the care of their horses feet, don't just blindly trust that your farrier is doing the best thing for your horse just because he's a professional. I'm sure many of you are more educated on this than I am, but you are never too old to learn.