From the category archives:

Equine Soundness

Shoeing Draft Horses

June 23, 2011 2 comments

  “The Butler Team” recently won the three-man draft horse shoeing competition at the Four Corners Contest in Castle Rock, Colorado. The horses were well behaved and were owned by a carriage company in Denver. (Apparently there are nine carriage companies in Denver). We drew a Shire horse with beautiful feet that stood perfectly. Everything [...]

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Horseshoes Bring Luck to the Royal Wedding

May 3, 2011 3 comments

The royal wedding in England has captured the attention and imagination of the world. As I watched, Adam Smith’s statement in The Wealth of Nations came to mind, “The chief enjoyment of riches consists in the parade of riches….” In spite of the occurrence of other significant world events, “the story book event” took precedence. [...]

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Driving and Clinching Horseshoe Nails

September 28, 2010 0 comments

Driving horseshoe nails accurately, consistently and safely is a difficult task for the beginner. Some persons have abandoned horseshoeing altogether and become barefoot advocates because of their lack of confidence and skill in this area. It’s sort of like throwing out the baby with the bath. There are times when nothing but nailing on shoes [...]

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How to Manage Foals for Soundness

May 18, 2010 2 comments

Foal limb soundness begins before a foal is born. It involves considerations of nature (genetic) and nurture (environment). Genetic factors include inherited conformation and behavioral traits from the stallion and mare. Environmental factors include physical space in the mare’s uterus, nutrition, training and disease prevention. Choosing a mating that has a good chance of producing [...]

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Learning to Learn – An Important Skill for Equine Professionals

April 29, 2010 0 comments

Learning to learn applies to every phase of life. Recently I became aware, through an article titled “Divided Attention” by David Glenn published February 28, 2010, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, that many students today are having greater difficulty learning and applying what they’re being taught due to inattention and the illusion of competence [...]

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FAQ #16 – Can you tell me what to look for when looking at the heel?

April 22, 2010 1 comment

“Doug, I attended your Horse Expo seminar this past March in Lincoln and really enjoyed your lecture.  I never thought that I would have to bring out notes from what you talked about in such a short amount of time, but we ended up having a horse go lame on us this spring.  We saw [...]

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The “Shoeless Experiment” Cripples Horses by Doug Butler

March 26, 2010 19 comments

More than one hundred years ago farriers were confronted with the same problems as farriers are facing today. The “shoeless experiment” was then proposed as a one size fits all solution by “the barefoot people.” (See page 2 of William Hunting’s, The Art of Horseshoeing, published by W. R. Jenkins in New York, in 1898). [...]

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Opportunity to see Doug Butler in person!

March 10, 2010 0 comments

If you live in the vicinity of Lincoln, Nebraska, we invite you to attend Dr. Butler’s Nebraska Horse Expo program on “Humane Hoof Care,” at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, March 13, 2010!  His 2:00 p.m. program is scheduled in the Nebraska Room of the Lancaster Event Center, Lincoln, Nebraska. And there’s more “March Gladness” to share, [...]

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New Farrier and Horse Owner Resources

March 9, 2010 0 comments

“Share a little March Gladness…” We’d be “glad” if you would check out each of our newly designed websites … www.dougbutler.com – for horseshoeing books and training DVDs www.butlerprofessionalfarrierschool.com – learn about our facility, staff, curriculum, class schedules, admission requirements, tuition www.butlerhorseshoeingschools.com – sign up today to receive weekly blogs on humane horse foot care [...]

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Celebrating “March Gladness” at Doug Butler Enterprises

March 2, 2010 0 comments

March is a special month for many reasons – from basketball teams and their March Madness to the glories of Springtime, such as new baby calves on our neighbors’ ranches, early flowers popping their heads up through the lingering snow, and pastures and yards turning green to announce the long winter is over. Yes, Spring [...]

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