W A Lawrence: Accredited Farrier

About

Area Serviced – Based at Morayfield, I will travel a radius from there, distance depending on the number of horses to do in the area. Generally, Brisbane Northern and Western suburbs, Sunshine Coast and Hinterland… even Southern suburbs if enough to do.

Hot/Cold Shoeing – Hot shoeing is my preferred modality as it gives superior results in the vast majority of cases, cold shoeing however is appropriate in some cases.

Accreditation – Certificate of Farriery #19709

Experience – Since 1986, All equestrian disciplines, racehorses, western and general pleasure horses.

Questions? I welcome your questions and feedback and am happy to explain any aspect of my work. It is your horse I’m working on and you have a right to ask questions and discuss his needs.

Philosophy – Many farriers, enthusiastic about the trade, concentrate on their forging skills; the ability the fabricate any manner of specialized appliance suited to a variety of pathologies. Though this is an extremely important set of skills, the ability to trim and balance the relatively healthy hoof and match with an appropriate standard shoe to maintain soundness and avoid pathology is far more important. Well executed basic shoeing over the long term negates the need for remedial shoeing in the vast majority of cases. This is my focus – shoeing for optimum soundness via proper hoof balance and footwear appropriate for the horses athletic needs.

It is also happens to be less expensive.

That said, I am well versed in remedial shoeing and able and willing to work with your vet if necessary.

Horsemanship – Farriers, as a group, tend to have a reputation as being grumpy and impatient, perhaps prone to giving your horse a belt with the rasp. I believe this is counterproductive and prefer use my horsemanship skills to develop a relationship with the horse. Getting a horse to be a well behaved for life is rarely achieved by shouting and violence. Though I expect horses to be reasonably trained to hold their feet for me, I will work with the horse that is less than perfect and look for improvement as time goes by.

Barefoot/Unshod - The barefoot movement is not a bad development in the hoof care world. There is no reason that if a horse can do everything required of it sound and comfortable barefoot, that it should be shod. However I do object to what I call ‘militant barefootery’, that is the notion that ALL horses should be barefoot in all circumstances. Some horses cannot be both barefoot AND useful for the intended activity. However for those people who wish to keep their horses barefoot, I gear my trimming towards the needs of the individual, rather than some theoretical ideal.