Fig. 5. A, The foot is being trimmed during the “hands on.” B, The appropriate size shoe is being applied.
Nigatu Aklilu, an Ethiopian veterinarian who is af- filiated with the veterinary school in Addis Abba. After lectures, the group had lunch and then went out into the field to shoe horses. When being shod, the animal is never taken out of
the cart. The owner holds the horse’s foot and the farrier kneels down behind it. The entire foot is trimmed with a hammer and toeing knife. The far- riers were taught the bare basics of trimming and how to remove flares from the outer hoof wall using the toeing knife (Fig. 6). Their method of nailing was so different as they place nails in the foot in a vertical direction far from the perimeter of the foot (actually on the inside of the white line); they then slant the nails and drive them partially through the sole and then exit out the hoof wall (Fig. 7). This method of nailing is not always successful, so obvi- ously, foot abscesses are epidemic. Another major
complication is that the round carpenter nails used to attach the shoes cannot be imbedded in the outer hoof wall or ‘clinched’. So when the animal trots, the nail sticking out will often strike the opposite limb causing a severe laceration. This was further complicated by the fact that these horses were so malnourished, which caused a very narrow chest, which made the animal more prone to strike the other limb. By the second day, we started to see results. The farriers would look at the foot, start to trim the heels/remove flares, and cut out shoes that actually fit the foot. The larger pieces of tire actually seemed to help the nailing process and keep the nails in the insensitive horn. The farriers com- plained that the small shoes were necessary because they had to get so many shoes out of a given tire for what they paid for the tire – so we bought some tires (20 Bir each which is equal to $2) and they were happy to cut out the proper size.
Fig. 6. Removing a hoof wall flare with a toeing knife.
Fig. 7. Abscesses are common from misplaced nails. AAEP PROCEEDINGS Vol. 61 2015 335
