Working with an EP

[martini55]

I am pretty certain that an EP is coming out to see us a week tomorrow (next Sun). I was just wondering how people compared working with an EP to working with a farrier? Do you feel more involved with your horse's hoof care? From reading on the internet I gather that this is the case with the majority of people. Do you feel you are more knowledgeable about your horse's feet now than before? Is this because of information you have received from your EP or have you actively taken more of an interest and made the effort to educate yourself?

One of the things that strikes me as being quite common is the general lack of knowledge about feet. I for one fall into this category and was guilty of phoning the farrier out on a regular basis and fully relying on them to keep my horse's feet in good health and just accepting that they were doing a good job. Of course you have the in between dealing with minor things like thrush etc and feeding hoof supplements, but I have to admit I have only become particularly interested in feet since going barefoot. I want to learn more, become more involved and be the person who recognises whether or not my horse's feet are looking good. It's only since my horse's shoes have came off that I have questioned just how good her feet are. I am now convinced a lot more could potentially be done and this is what led me to contact an EP- for a 2nd opinion. I just have to thank the people of this forum and others who opened my eyes to possibilities other than shoes and I hope that it works for us.

So, what can I expect from an EP? What sort of things do they need to know before they can work with your horse and what will they do on their first visit?

Sorry for all the questions but I am interested to hear about peoples' experiences/opinions

 

[MelanieD]

EPs expect you to get a lot more involved and will usually give you much more specific advice than the 'try it and see how it goes' attitude you get from a lot of farriers on taking the shoes off.

They'll usually want to know about the horse's history, diet, environment on the first visit. Mine gives out a form with a score for the feet and 'homework' of what to do until the next trim, like work on particular surfaces, what surfaces to avoid, treating infection. Not sure all EPs give out a form like that though. Mine seems to really like talking about feet and will point out all the interesting features of the feet so you do learn a lot.

I'm definitely getting more involved since having a barefoot horse, I've even learnt how to balance feet and get my rasp out and interfere in between trims , but as a minimum you'll learn to recognise healthy looking feet, get shown what problems your horse has and get some homework to do. There's loads of info on the internet (just avoid strasser sites!) and there are courses you can go on if you want to become a serious hoof anorak

 

[capalldubh]

I starting using an EP just before Christmas, because I'd lost confidence in my farrier (great handling the horse, just gave some dodgy advice and then was uncontactable when things went wrong as a result).

A friend recommended her EP (who may be the one you see if you're in Fife) and she arrived, pulled the remaining 3 shoes, and talked me through the state of the feet and what she hoped we could achieve (as well as how to do it...).

She was easy to talk to and very informed about feet (which I was clueless about at the time). Since then, I've got a bit more interested and done some reading - I can now tell my digital cushion from my lateral cartilage (though I'm pretty shaky on how good the ol lateral cartilage is looking).

The horse's feet look completely different - but we did have a slow uncomfortable start (his feet were really awful). Now things are much better and I think I'm beginning to see concavity in the hinds (though I suspect it it like a mirage and will disappear if I try to point it out to anyone ).

I suppose my main observation is that the EP in my case doesn't do anything huge to the feet - mostly she emphasises that it's my job to get them growing so that she has something to trim! I prefer this - I felt a bit helpless with farriers - if there was something wrong and they chose not to come (which happened twice) I was sort of hostage to their goodwill. Now I feel a lot more in control (and I can see the feet myself, they're not hidden under shoes.

I can also see the difference between my horse's feet and pasture trims - and I like what I see so far

If there's anything more specific you'd like to know - ask away - I'm very new to this and it's been really interesting

 

[martini55]

Thank you for both your replies Melanie D, anything with the word 'Strasser' in it and I will disregard it straight away. No way would I let a strasser trimmer near my horse's feet!

capalldubh, is it Deane or Bonny that you use?

 

[Bay Mare]

I've learned SO much about feet since I've been using EPs. I'm horrified how little I knew and even more horrified when I look at photos of her shod and newly barefoot because I used to think that her feet were ok!

I'm definitely a gazillion times more involved with my EP than I ever was with a farrier. They give more advice, answer questions without treating you like an idiot (though the farrier that did Saff didn't to be fair though others have) and give a lot more support. I'm amazed at how much I've learned (and still have to learn) in such a short time.

 

[Yann]

My own experiences would suggest that it's very different. There's far more discussion and information exchanged, which can be hugely refreshing depending on what your farrier was like You'll be encouraged to become a lot more proactive with the upkeep of your horse's feet in between visits.