Eric Gray American Farriers Association Certified Farrier

Great strides have been made in the history of the HPA

What are the credentials required to shoe or train a Horse ?

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.

Why am I standing behind this podium? 1986 began showing Walking horses that my family raised successfully showed walking horses in all divisions with and emphasis on flat shod horses, along with working sale horses 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.

Why am I standing behind this podium? 1999 moved my farrier business to middle Tn 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.

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.

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 America’s greatest treasures. 2008,2009 Participated in the Extreme Mustang Makeover

GPFA Hands-on Shoeing Clinic

Why am I standing behind this podium 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 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……..

Elvis the Super Donkey Elvis 10h miniature donkey and Banker 17.2h Appendix Quarter Horse

Max 6yo Friesian 4 weeks under saddle.

Georgia Farrier Supply Annual Clinic

I have come to love the horse for what it is, not just what it can do for me.

What are my personal beliefs? I’m 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.

How do we “fix” the industry? I don’t 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.

Sometimes the horse doesn’t win

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 didn’t have the knowledge to train horses without chemical aids had to find other ways to keep horses performing to industry standards.

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.

Who done it? Chemical soring If your names on the show sheet it doesn’t matter why the horse responded to palpation or didn’t 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

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 wasn’t the case. Their teaching weren’t widely excepted. Times have changed. How do we bring change to the Walking Horse industry with out destroying its great traditions.

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 isn’t 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.

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.

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.

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 isn’t 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.

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 don’t 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.

Pressure Soring

“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

“Blocks”, a stack of plastic pads with a rubber topper designed to apply pressure to the sole of a flat shod horse.

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.

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 doesn’t 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.

How do we determine whether we are seeing abuse or ignorance? Abuse Ignorance

This is what can happen when sole pressure goes untreated.

Result of Untreated Abscess

This photo shows accidental sole pressure from improper hoof/shoe preparation

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 ¼ of the price of other area farriers.

Neglect, Ignorance, or Abuse? Unfortunately there are ignorant horse owners in every discipline. 7 1/2” toe length

Neglect, Ignorance or Abuse?

Tendon injury + neglect = ?

This horse’s 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 man’s 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.

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.

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.

Enjoy your pumpkin pie this holiday season.