Eric Gray American Farriers Association Certified Farrier
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Great strides have been made in the history of the HPA
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What are the credentials required to shoe or train a Horse
?
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Answer Individual wanting to become a Trainer or Farrier must
be financially stable enough to afford $20 worth of business cards,
and have a cell phone.
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Why am I standing behind this podium? 1986 began showing
Walking horses that my family raised. 1986-1998 successfully showed
walking horses in all divisions with and emphasis on flat shod
horses, along with working sale horses. 1995-1999 Apprenticed with
several of the leading farriers in the Walking horse industry 1998
Became one of the youngest farriers ever certified by the American
Farriers Association.
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Why am I standing behind this podium? 1999 moved my farrier
business to middle Tn. 1999-2006 shod pleasure & performance
show Walking horses full-time, for barns in TN, KY, GA, NC, FL, AL,
MO, CA, OH, SC, & TX Shod over 20 World Champion padded Walking
horses Shod over 100 World Champion flat-shod Walking & Spotted
horses.
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Why am I standing behind this podium? I have never had a horse
I shod found non- compliant of a shoeing violation. I have shod
Champion Dressage Horses, Rocky Mountain horses, Spotted Saddle,
Paso Fino, TWH, Breeder Racking, National Racking, Saddlebreds, and
an IBHA all-around WC Was the official farrier for the SSHBEA
Championship horse show from 2001 till 2004.
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Why am I standing behind this podium? 1998,1999,2007 Served as
Secretary for the Ga. Professional Farriers Association Have
conducted numerous hoof care & horsemanship workshops for the
GPFA, TSC, Purina Mills, several local equestrian clubs and various
local businesses. 2008, 2009 Organized the GA Mustang Day event
introducing over 300 people to one of Americas greatest treasures.
2008,2009 Participated in the Extreme Mustang Makeover
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GPFA Hands-on Shoeing Clinic
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Why am I standing behind this podium. 2006 began training at
Blackthorn Farms L.L.C. using basic horsemanship principles on the
20+ family owned Walking horses. Began to sell down the families
heard and engulfed myself in the principles of natural
horsemanship. Becoming involved in Dennis Reis Universal
Horsemanship system. 2008 sold horse training gift certificates to
fund a month long clinic with the Legendary Ray hunt, this would
turn out to be his last. Since 2008 we have started over 50 horses
of 15 different breeds including all the major smooth gaited breeds
as well as Friesians, Arabians, Quarter Horses, Miniature Horses,
Hanoverians, Oldenburg, Paints, Drafts, Mustangs And..
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Elvis the Super Donkey Elvis 10h miniature donkey and Banker
17.2h Appendix Quarter Horse
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Max 6yo Friesian 4 weeks under saddle.
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Georgia Farrier Supply Annual Clinic
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I have come to love the horse for what it is, not just what it
can do for me.
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What are my personal beliefs? Im here because I love the
walking horse for what it was and what it could be. I want to see
the walking horse show industry make the changes necessary to grow
and prosper. Intentional pressure shoeing has to end.
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How do we fix the industry? I dont have a clue how to do it in
a way that would benefit the horse & make everyone happy. I
hope to present a few puzzle pieces and that someone wiser than me
can use them to benefit the industry in a positive manner. I do
think that there needs to be wide spread education on horsemanship,
as it applies to show horses, offered to the trainers of
performance horses.
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Sometimes the horse doesnt win
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What brought modern day pressure shoeing/soring back into play
2004 The Sniffer is introduced to the middle TN show circuit. Some
trainers who have openly condemned pressure shoeing up to this time
are now looking for ways to stay competitive and employed. Trainers
that didnt have the knowledge to train horses without chemical aids
had to find other ways to keep horses performing to industry
standards.
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The chain of responsibility Chemical soring Trainer is assumed
directly responsible for the way a horse is presented in the
inspection station. The trainer and owner share responsibility for
a horse found to be non- compliant or sore in the pastern region,
no need for intent to be proven, suspension/fine imposed. Pressure
Shoeing/Soring If a horse is found to be sore in their hooves,
intent to do harm to the horse must be established to suspend or
fine a trainer. Proving who was the last person to work on the
horses hooves can be near impossible.
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Who done it? Chemical soring If your names on the show sheet it
doesnt matter why the horse responded to palpation or didnt lead.
The horse is found in violation and the name on the show sheet gets
the ticket. Pressure shoeing/soring Before a suspension can be
administered the cause for the hoof lameness must be determined.
This horse is sore because? A: The horse is intentionally pressure
sore. B: The farrier was careless C: The horse has a lameness issue
beyond the control of the trainer
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Any weekend of the year you can attend a Natural Horsemanship
clinic or demonstration in any region of the U.S. When Tom Dorrence
and Ray Hunt started giving clinics this wasnt the case. Their
teaching werent widely excepted. Times have changed. How do we
bring change to the Walking Horse industry with out destroying its
great traditions.
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None of the main stream walking horse associations offer
continuing education for horse trainers about training methods.
They do clinics to show them what is a non-compliant horse The
techniques used to train/shoe walking horses are based on
traditions that are handed down from one generation to the next.
There isnt a book, video, or horsemanship system that has been put
on the market in the last 30 years that is aimed at the performance
walking horse industry.
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Pressure Shoeing The art of intentionally applying sole
pressure to a horses hooves for the purpose of gait alteration. Can
be done leaving the sole longer than the hoof wall, or not properly
relieving the sole AKA sole pressure. Can be done by using a
foreign body placed between the hoof and the shoe/pad to apply
pressure the sole or frog of the hoof.
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Pressure Shoeing Certain types of pressure shoeing are
undetectable with x-rays. Certain types of hoof packing that are
meant to be therapeutic can be used cause intentional pressure.
Using a piece of dried hoof trimmings as a foreign object can be
nearly impossible to detect even if the shoes are pulled.
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The red line represents a foreign object placed between the
nail pad and the package. With a hard hoof packing such as EDSS
Blue, a therapeutic packing sold for the treatment of laminitis, in
place a foreign object that isnt directly in contact with the hoof
can be used to warp the hoof pad and cause sole pressure. If the
foreign object is made out of the same plastic as pads themselves,
it cant be detected by x-ray.
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Pressure Soring The use of a removable mechanical device that
is used to cause intentional sole pressure. These devices can be
used days in advance and dont necessarily have to be in place when
the horse arrives to the show grounds. Even if the horse was to
have the device in place while at the show grounds. It would be
removed before the horse was presented for inspection. Can also be
accomplished by intentionally road foundering the horse.
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Pressure Soring
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Bolts a steel plate with a bolt placed through the middle
allowing the amount of pressure placed on a sole to be adjusted.
Side view
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Blocks, a stack of plastic pads with a rubber topper designed
to apply pressure to the sole of a flat shod horse.
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Result of a horse being stood on blocks repeatedly. Notice the
blown abcess in the toe area from mechanical founder caused by a
foreign object being used to put pressure on the horses sole.
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This photo shows excessive nails used to hold the pads
together, article claims it was done to add extra weight. 100 #8
nails weigh approx 6 oz. The HPA doesnt put a limit on the amount
of weight that can be attached to the ground surface of the pads,
just that it must not come in direct contact with the ground.
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How do we determine whether we are seeing abuse or ignorance?
Abuse Ignorance
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This is what can happen when sole pressure goes untreated.
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Result of Untreated Abscess
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This photo shows accidental sole pressure from improper
hoof/shoe preparation
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The result of improper trimming and/or shoe fit. This horse,
quarter horse used for trails, suffered from the results of poor
shoeing. This was done by a young inexperienced farrier that was
shoeing horses for of the price of other area farriers.
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Neglect, Ignorance, or Abuse? Unfortunately there are ignorant
horse owners in every discipline. 7 1/2 toe length
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Neglect, Ignorance or Abuse?
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Tendon injury + neglect = ?
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This horses hooves were being cared for by a local barefoot
professional. Please understand I use the barefoot trim in my
arsenal of shoeing tools. I included this slide to show that anyone
can take a picture and trash another mans theories. Consider this;
the gun never shot anyone without the help of a human, but no
legislation has made it necessary to wait 7 days before making a
baby.
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Change is in your hands. Work with your national local
organizations to cause a positive effect for our breed. Encourage
trainers to get more horsemanship education. Check a trainers
credentials before putting a horse in training. Educate yourself.
Know the facts.
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I hope you found this presentation more enjoyable than my
children did. Thank you for allowing me to be part of the 2010
Sound Horse Conference.
