Kalen R Cruz's Farrier Service

Places to evacuate to if you have horses!

"I don't know any other way to lead but by example." ~Don Shula~ Here is Tim Cox Fine Art's "A HELPING HAND". Check http://www.timcox.com//reproductio/product...s/a-helping-hand (sold out) or call 505-632-8080. The 2017 calendars are here now! http://www.timcox.com/collections/calendars Have you received your Tim Cox Fine Art 2016-17 GATHERING STORM CATALOG in the mail yet? No worries, you can get a sneak preview right here: http://www.timcox.com/pages/2016-17-catalog See a whole range of pricing from as little as $40 for a print in one of our neat little CATALOGS? They are FREE! Sign up here: http://www.timcox.com/pages/contact-us with Deb Sourav and Randy Snyder.

I'd like to debunk a common myth and something I have to explain quite a bit in my travels. Lots of farriers have done a much better job with visual aids but I'...ve been waiting to do one of my own. Let's talk about "leaving the heels" on a horse in order to "stand him up." These pictures in order of appearance are; the untrimmed foot, the trimmed foot and the shod foot. The final picture is an example of how the heels of a foot migrate forward on a growing hoof. I imagine you'll agree with me that the second and third pictures look MUCH more "stood up" and an acceptable angle for this horses conformation. The first picture looks terribly flat and too low of angle. An owner is apt to say "please leave his heels, I want him stood up." This is the part where I'm going to change your mind. Heels grow forward, towards the toe and the toe grows forward as well. If the heels are not taken back to a wide, strong base and the toe taken back with it, the foot will always appear stretched and low. Even worse, the heels could crush, the back half of the foot will become sore, navicular issues may arise and tendons may be stretched to their limit and eventual damage. We do not "stand him up" by leaving heel. We "stand him up" by bringing the foot back. On the final picture my red line indicates where the untrimmed heel has migrated. If left to its devices this heel will crush and essentially break under the pressure of the horse as well as cause him to rock back since the point of balance is pushed unnaturally far forward and not under the mass of his weight and the pressure of his foot falls. My green line indicates where his heel was trimmed to. Quite a difference. In my educated guess and by looking at the pictures, I would say that change improved his angles substantially. Trimmed heels are strong heels that support every part of the hoof, leg and tendons.

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To the police in Dallas and everywhere else in our great country thank you for your service, this is how I roll!

Unusual Horses: Gypsy http://bit.ly/1QLFbQd

Scooters favorite thing to do after it rains. He did this three times! Scooter is a rescue pony that was a few days from death when we got him. He is doing great now! ~Glenn, Horses in the Morning Radio Show

Ride em' Cowboy!!