INTERNSHIP AT FORGING AHEAD - Report # 1 by Alan Baker RN BSN MBA
INTERNSHIP AT FORGING AHEAD - Report # 1By Alan J. Baker RN BSN MBA
I was asked by Jean Meneley, the former president of the Nevada Professional Farrier's Association (NPFA), to write an article about my experiences as a new intern at Forging Ahead in Round Hill, Virginia. Let me begin by giving you a little background about myself. I've been riding, or working horses and cattle most of my life: packing mules into the Sierra Nevada mountains, ten years on the rodeo circuit riding saddle bronc and bareback broncs, and competing in the intercollegiate riding circuit for two different colleges. I train Mustangs and work extensively with people who adopt them. Over the last several years, I've gotten involved in competitive team roping...although there isn't a lot of that happening in Virginia! Professionally, I've been in the field of nursing for more than two decades, with the majority of that time being spent as a trauma emergency room nurse, while the balance was as a director/executive director holding a Bachelor’s degree and dual Masters Degrees. After 24 years, I decided it was time to pursue my dream of combining my love of horses with my medical background to become a farrier specializing in acute/chronic equine care.
This past June I began my internship at Forging Ahead (FA) which is owned and operated by Paul Goodness, a Certified Journeyman Farrier with the American Farrier’s Association. Based in Round Hill, Virginia FA is a unique multi-farrier group offering home farm service and two ship-in locations: one in Round Hill at Paul's shop and one in Leesburg at the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center (EMC). FA's clients range from Olympic competitors to backyard ponies and they proudly care for each one exactly the same.
The process of getting into the FA internship started back on December 20, 2013, the day I graduated from Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School. I found their advertisement in the mentor/mentee section of the American Association of Professional Farriers online website. The FA internship is a very coveted position and difficult to get into. It took me six months of phone calls, emails, and reference letters to be accepted. My heartfelt thanks goes to so many amazing people that took time out of their busy schedules to write those letters and make those phone calls. I want to especially thank the wonderful people at FA that were right there to answer all my questions and concerns.
In this first article I will be presenting one of the typical daily shoe modifications done at FA. This is a 10 year old bay gelding brought in for Paul Goodness at the FA shop by Julie Hagen of Bascule Farm in Poolesville, MD. He's competing in the US Pony Club Nationals this July. His right front has a positive reaction to the hoof tester all around the hoof. Most of this horse’s problem is in his foot which is where we will place our focus. A local veterinarian blocked his right front heel with some success, and then took out the toe and numbed it with significant success.
To begin with we used a 1 Kerckhaert aluminum shoe with clips. A hand grinder was used to concave the shoe to prevent any toe sole pressure from occurring, and the nail holes were pitched so that Paul could get proper leverage of the nails. A flat pad was then fitted to the shoe which had multiple holes drilled into it for the application of equithane after it was nailed on.
Photo 1 - Toe protection was then increased too by adding a 1/2 inch thick custom cut piece of soft foam.
Photo 2 - The sole surface was concaved so there would be no pressure and the toe was rolled across the radius due to an unknown condition that was making the foot sore. The shoe was then nailed in place and EQUITHANE added to support the heel.
Photo 3 - A combination of Equilox 1, and 2 was mixed together with black tint and added to the medial quarter to reinforce the area where wall was missing.
Photo 4 - With close monitoring and continuous treatment this horse has been sound and progressing nicely.