The farrier's role in healing

When he starts work at his clinic in Connewarre, Conor O’Regan never knows precisely how the day will unfold. O’Regan is in demand as a remedial and therapeutic farrier. He completed his apprenticeship in the UK and has worked in England and Australia.

His fascination with farriery began at school – more by default than design.

“Mum caught me bunking off school one day and, as punishment, made me go out with her farrier to watch him work. She was the only horsey person in the family, and it was meant to teach me a lesson – if you don’t work hard at school, you’ll end up with a manual labour job like this!” says O’Regan.

“But the plan backfired for Mum because I was fascinated and decided farriery was the job for me.

I’ve always been artistic, and working with horses’ feet is almost like working on a piece of art, because every horse and every foot is individual.”O’Regan completed his four-and-a-half-year apprenticeship in England and brought his skills to Australia in 2017. As well as running his own practice, he spends part of his working week at Werribee Equine Centre and is the person many people in the equine industry go to for answers when their horse develops a raft of challenging foot-related issues.

Bruises, abscesses, cracks, sidebone, ringbone and benign tumours that grow inside the hoof capsule are some of the issues requiring more complex farriery skills.

Managing and treating these conditions effectively and promptly is vital for the health, comfort and performance of the horse.

“For example, a gelding with a severe case of canker in one hind foot was referred to me. He was lame with a chronic infection of the frog and sole that caused the growth of white, cauliflower-like tissue with a foul odour,” O’Regan explains.

“Working closely with a vet, we used a combined therapeutic plan which included debridement to remove the dead tissue, a hospital plate to protect the hoof, but which still allowed access for treatment, and I used sterile maggots to selectively eat away the
abnormal canker tissue.

“Within weeks, the maggots had fully debrided the infected areas, and we then focused on supporting the hoof regrowth with regular trims and shoeing. After several months, the hoof was fully healed and the horse returned to work.”

It’s just one example of how targeted, collaborative farriery can restore comfort and save a horse’s career.

Farriery has evolved, advancing and introducing new materials, diagnostic techniques, and treatments that enhance equine health.

However, the key to remedial farriery being as effective as possible is a close working relationship between the treating vet and the farrier.

“The horses that require treatment need a team. For example, if a horse comes in with lameness, the vet does an investigation. They will do nerve blocks and X-rays if needed to isolate where the lameness is coming from,” says O’Regan.

“Once they identify an issue, they talk to me and we look at the X-rays together and form the best solution for that specific problem. My focus is pretty much from the knee down, and anything
above that is the domain of the vet. Having people from different professions and with a different focus examining a horse leads to the best outcomes.”

Dr Paula Williams, a member of the Equine Veterinary Association and an equine veterinarian at WestVets in Brisbane, agrees that transparent and strong collaboration between a vet and a skilled farrier is in the best interests of the horse being treated for complex foot issues.

“Remedial farriery is a specialised area – it’s far beyond basic trimming and shoeing."“Farriers have specific training and veterinarians have training in imaging and diagnosing conditions, and when you combine their skills and knowledge, the results can be very effective.”

Bred for speed, the feet of thoroughbreds are typically thinner with a long toe, low heel and flat sole. As athletes, these horses are also more prone to bruising of the sole, hoof cracks and tendon and ligament strains.

“These guys move at a fast pace, and most of their life is spent in the canter or the gallop, so you see a lot of forging where the toe of the hind shoe strikes the toe of the front shoe. Splints, a hard swelling on the inside leg, or bone spavin, when young horses do a lot of work on hard ground or treadmills, are also common issues. At certain times of the year, horses also need treatment for laminitis caused by stress or too much sugar,” says O’Regan.

“I’ve also seen a horse where half of its hoof capsule died due to trauma, and the foot contracted – it appeared almost like it had been left out in the sun for too long. We had to work to replicate the missing hoof to rebuild and reshoe – in essence, creating half a prosthetic foot. The horse felt no pain and was still able to move comfortably.”
One significant development in remedial farriery is the introduction of 3D pads, wedge-shaped pads that help correct the foot’s angle.
“A lot of thoroughbreds tend to have collapsed heels and long toes that can throw off their balance and cause issues in the muscles, tendons and ligaments. This can be corrected with a 3D pad that can raise them between 3 and 5 degrees behind and lift heels off the ground, which corrects the alignment of the hoof and pastern bones,” explains O’Regan.

“The pads have little holes in the bottom, so as the horse moves, the material yields through the pressure to redistribute weight – it’s like putting tennis shoes on a horse!”

Digital imaging has also been a welcome introduction when diagnosing conditions like ringbone, a form of osteoarthritis affecting the pastern or coffin joints. Images help vets and farriers analyse whether the ringbone is true or false and whether it will affect a joint. Imaging can also give an accurate picture of sole depth and identify areas of pressure.

Gait analysis equipment and foot sensors can also help pinpoint lameness within 0.1mm.

“Using technology like that, we can make even the most marginal gains that can have a huge impact for high performance horses,” says O’Regan.

“When you see a horse that other people haven’t been able to help and you can fix the problem and the horse is sound, comfortable and can function, that’s hugely rewarding.”