Years ago I had a foal born with hind feet facing inwards (i.e. soles of its hooves virtually facing each other). The vet advised having it put down as it would take ages and cost a lot of money for them to put it right. I asked Joe for a second opinion; he saw him every 3 weeks, by 18 months the horse was standing correctly on his feet - after being broken to drive at 3 he went on to be very successful in the show ring (and sound) for a further 15 years, which is a testament to Joe’s ability.

It's interesting to see that the carriage driven horse culture is still a tradition in Great Britain.

Thanks for your interesting question - for the last 25yrs I've used Joe Rowe from Southampton to shoe horses. We've had many farriers in the yard when owners insist on using their own farrier and some horses come ready-shod, so we see a variety of shoeing work. Just because someone goes to college and passes an exam in my view does not necessarily make them a "good" farrier. The secret to achieving the best results is when you love what you do - this is definitely the case with Joe Rowe.

Our horse Roly (the grey you see on many of our films) is 14 and has been shod by Joe all his life. He is often being pushed and shoved by young horses when in harness, is driven out on the roads almost every day, has never been lame and has a vet check every 3 months who says his joints are like those of a horse half his age. Even on slippery roads, going downhill, he has plenty of grip. He is hot shod with handmade shoes and strategically placed road nails.

Joe doesn’t cut hooves back hard (he leaves a bit more wall to act as shock absorber). Initially he would put a set of shoes on a horse, ask the owner to drive it up the road so he can see the “wear pattern” on the shoe. This enables him to see where to place the road nails - where they would help the horse keep his grip on the road best. In many other horses who come to our yard shod, we see road nails placed in “standard” positions, without taking into account what would be best for the horse.

These two are steady neddys not bothered or nervous lovely

What a wonderful pair of good boys they are! And what a nightmare world we have made for them. If only all those cars and lorries were driven pairs.

Thanks for your comment - clearing a bridle path behind the ears to allow the bridle to sit correctly is a good thing - on a full-maned horse the bridle can be looser than you think because it is sitting on top of a load of hair and therefore if it does get caught up, it tends to slip off! Sometimes we plait a section of hair to keep the bridle secured better if a horse has a tendency to rub his head; also in our experience horses are less likely to rub if they are kept clean.

In my opinion the reason some farriers don’t want to put road nails in correct places is because if the nail goes where the shoe is worn the most, it would make the shoe last longer, and therefore the horse wouldn’t need shoeing as often! Horses tend to slip more if their shoes are worn down smooth, so our horses see Joe Rowe regularly to ensure they are always correctly and safely shod for the work they are doing.

So well behaved and magnificent horses.

These horses have more bling than the fanciest cars on the road!

@zubairhussain5789

6 жыл бұрын

THEINFORMATIONCONTAINED

That looked like a really strong contentment swish on one horse, while in traffic in town.

The way we break horses is to give them confidence in themselves and in man, therefore when they are being driven even if something does get caught up they do not panic, which therefore allows us time to get down and sort out the problem.

Yep, the one to the right has a contented tail swish... :) So, your tarp work would be related to things as blowing bags and even putting on or removing horse blankets.

a damn handsome team sir and it looks to me they are well broke and useable.well done

Just love these videos, remarkable really, my learning curve for the holidays, thankyou Barry and Team.

Perfekt in Schritt und Tritt!

Utterly IMPRESSIVE.

Very Nice!

bravo, c'est vraiment tentant .thank you !

is the pavement of your roads different materials from what is used in the USA ? it doesn't seem to be as slippery....

@barryhook2

6 ай бұрын

It is tarmac, if that helps! Sometimes it can be a bit slippery, but all our horses are shod with road nails to help with that.

Hello Barry and Rhi, I wanted to ask how far a fit horse could pull a light cart? In the future, I wanted to drive my horse to the nearest town 12 kilometres away i.e. a round trip of 24 kilometres. Is that possible, or is that too far?

@barryhook2

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Steph, By the end of training, our horses will go to the next town and back which is 15 miles (around about 24km) no trouble, so just as long as they are fit and well, it would be perfectly possible to expect your horse to do that.

@stephmacc9992

3 жыл бұрын

@@barryhook2 Thank you guys for the quick response. I look forward to your next video.

1:12 they look like one horse

I was just wondering how come they have head collars on under their bridles is this because they're young? or for training purposes?

@barryhook2

7 жыл бұрын

We normally leave headcollars (or our neck collars) on underneath bridles just in case we needed to tie them up while we are out on a drive. For instance, we once had a brushing boot come off in the river; I had to wade in and retrieve it then put it back on, so tied the horses up to the fence so Barry could come and help me undo the horse from the carriage (so I could squeeze between him and the pole) and put it on his hind foot again, before putting him back in the pair and carrying on with the drive. We often change sides while out as well, so it helps to have somewhere to attach a leadrope to so I can secure each horse while I am altering harness etc if Barry has to get off the reins and come and assist me. Its not really anything to do with their age or the fact that they are in training; our own horses wear collars all the time, and we prefer to use collars rather than headcollars to prevent rubs. However it can be difficult getting them large enough to fit the heavy horses, hence why they still have headcollars on.

@georgarobinson4808

7 жыл бұрын

+barryhook2 oh right thank you for explaining why to me makes more sense now.

are there times when a horse would rather be teamed up with a certain horse, rather than with any random horse, or is a horse a horse of course of course..? lol.. a little humor, or lack thereof.. thank you Barry..

@barryhook2

5 жыл бұрын

Definitely. In terms of what the horse 'wants' rather than how well suited physically they are, some pairs (or teams) get along with eachother much better than others. Our aim is for them to work alongside any horse happily - although yes, they often do have their 'favourite' teammates.

@Dewdaahman

5 жыл бұрын

@@barryhook2 thank you sir for your informative response.. what you are doing is a good thing, I do look forward to your videos.. thank you again sir..

Why would you ever use Shire horses to putt a carriage?l

@edelmcloughlin4515

8 жыл бұрын

+Kenneth N. Shortlidge They are work horses, built for pulling :)

@WachdByBigBrother

8 жыл бұрын

+Kenneth N. Shortlidge Uh, it's his training cart.. The owner can hitch them to whatever later. I'm curious, why are you surprised these Shires are pulling this vehicle? Seems like a naive question. Did you not Google anything before posting?

With all respect,it may look grace and beauty, but horses were not designed to trot on tarmac or concrete roads, the coffin bones in ther feet will shater, and there is no repair, keep them on the land. a horses foot is like a tractor tyre. used on the land it will last 15 + years. on the road it may last 3 years.

@barryhook2

7 жыл бұрын

I would have to disagree there; our own schoolmaster horse Roly is 23, has been worked mainly on the road since he was 4 years old, and his coffin bones have not shattered. Horses were not designed to have a rider's weight on their back either, often born by one single front foot when landing (again often on unlevel ground) from height over a fence such as during cross country - in harness, he has only a light set of harness and his own bodyweight. Concussion is also not the only factor that can cause lameness in horses; I have seen field companions (who have never set foot on the roads in their life) with splints and tendon issues, often caused by galloping over uneven, muddy or frozen terrain in a field. What we feel is vitally important in preventing injury to horses that are worked on anywhere is a good veterinary surgeon, a good farrier, a good diet, a good fitness programme, and good training. You cannot eliminate the risk of injury from any horse sadly, be it in work or not, in a field or not, on the roads or not, but what we can do is work alongside industry experts to understand how to provide them with the best level of care throughout their working life.

@susantunbridge4612

4 жыл бұрын

Trotting on hard roads with a rider can be part of a fitness and conditioning program. It won't shatter the coffin bone at all, especially if their care is good. Look at police horses, and parade horses the Queen owns. I rescued a young Thoroughbred who had been through an abusive trainer, and went lame, so they just put him in a pasture for a few months, suffering, and belatedly discovered that his coffin bone had fractured, right up the center, and through. That was from abusive training, not from roads. Trainer used a nerve line, or war bridle on young horses, and that led to many problems. I just happened to be around, and asked what was going to happen to him, (I am no trainer btw), ended up getting him for $1.00 - a very nice horse, grandson to Seattle Slew. I got the vet right away, and Xray showed that the bone had healed, but it had healed slightly offset, by a couple of mm, the only problem foreseen was that the ridge might cause soreness in the future. I also bought the other horse the trainer injured, but that was his own so I paid $650 for him. Our extremely good vet told us that there is nothing as hard on horses as racing; he routinely had to put race horses back together with things like spiral fractures and so on. Both our rescued Tbreds are hanging out in a pasture, not being ridden, so I don't know how all that's going to go. Driving might be a good option.