Farriers can get annoyed with people that they feel are unjustly criticizing their work. A horse owner may “go on the internet” for a few hours and feel at liberty to offer advice with their newfound knowledge. When a (sometimes well-meaning) non-farrier does this, it makes him or her look ignorant. A customer once said, […]
A serious affliction of horses today is laminitis and founder. When a horse has laminitis, the toe or front half of the foot is in pain because the laminae that adheres the hoof wall to the bone has become inflamed. This is a problem because the hoof wall supports the weight of the animal. The […]
Horses have a thick skin insulated by fat and thick winter hair. The horse’s integument (its hooves and skin) has an underlying dermis that contains AVAs (arterio-venous anastomoses). These vascular systems allow the body to shunt or divert blood away from its surface area periodically to keep the animal’s central core warm
The average life expectancy of a horse is around twenty-five or thirty years of age. One year of horse age is comparable to 3 years of human age. In other words a 25 year old horse would be comparable to a 75 year old human and a 30 year old horse would be comparable to a 90 year old human.
In the mid 70s, Dr. Doug Butler went to Cornell University to get an advanced degree because he wanted to further his understanding of the horse.
Happy New Year! The New Year brings with it a determination to better ourselves through goals and resolutions. Sometimes it is easy to get into a rut or do “just enough to get by.”One of the wonderful aspects of this craft is that there is always an opportunity to improve.
If you want to work with horses and the people who value them, farrier school may be the best opportunity for you. Becoming a farrier is a great career opportunity that is often overlooked in today’s horse industry. Farriers work for affluent people who have discretionary income and have the “horse habit.” There are only […]
I believe one of the main reasons we hear so much criticism of the lack of farrier skills today is due to a lack of long-term commitment to skill mastery. It seems that many people only want to put in the minimum effort needed to graduate from a farrier school or to make a living. […]
One of the most rewarding benefits to me in conducting closing interviews when our students are completing their farrier classes is to hear them say, “I understand Balance now – I never realized it was so important”! And it is important both to horses and to people. During our Farrier Focus® Conferences, we emphasized the […]
Sir Isaac Newton, one of the world’s greatest scientists who formulated many of the laws of physics, once remarked in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke, “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” He said he came up with his revolutionary ideas by thinking about […]
Butler Professional Horseshoeing School
495 Table Road
Crawford, NE 69339
(800) 728-3826
jacob@dougbutler.com
If you think you want to become a farrier (or know someone who does), this book can help you make that decision. Horse owners will learn the importance of choosing a qualified farrier and how to select the “right” one.
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