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Harry Spinks Farrier Ltd

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Harry Spinks Farrier Ltd

A therapeutic and performance based farrier practice located in Dorset UK

23/07/2025

The controversy of the wedge continues 🤷‍♂️😂 this horse was shod a whilst ago and in it we are using a leather wedge pad ground down on one side to creat a spiral lift as the horse grew higher outside then inside which created a large hoof imbalance and subsequent lameness.

21/07/2025

Along with we helped sponsor the goodie bags for mini mini camp last Sunday. It was great to see all of the kids having fun on and off their pony’s!

Pictures of Elsie living her best life 😂🤷‍♂️

18/07/2025

Let’s talk about shoeing and trimming cycles!

❓Did you know that the hoof grows visibly about of balance at around the 3 1/2 week point?

For some reason the thought process is that the horse can go for six weeks or longer on a set of shoes or without being trimmed. Now this may be the case in some cold (and I mean Canadian winter cold) climates), in most places this is two much.

🐎 As a general rule we like to shoe/trim the horses in our care on a four or five week basis.

Because as mentioned above, if the hoof grows out of balance in 3 1/2 weeks then we want to be able to address those in balances as quickly as possible, this means that in the long run your horse will have better feet (as not going back to ground zero at every shoeing/trimming), and subsequently (🤞) less vet bills as well.

👌 Also along similar lines, with 60% - 75% of all lameness originating from the hoof capsule, having regular hoof care will mean that you farrier is able to check your horses hooves regularly and hopefully help top any problems before they happen.

14/07/2025

I used to hate wedges as I didn’t really understand how they worked and when ever I fitted them they seemed to crush heels even further.

After having a chat with a good friend of mine a few years ago though my opinion changed and now they are a part of my arsenal.

I have found that the key to getting the best out of a wedge pad and to encourage better overall foot growth is to make sure you have a big enough shoe to start with and then make sure your toe is taken down as much as possible. If the shoe is to short, the wedge won’t work at all and will in fact have a detrimental affect on the hoof and limb.

After that select the wedge that is appropriate for the horse. Number of degrees that you need (the more degrees the long and wider the shoe needs to be), type of pad (be it leather, synthetic, full, rim or half) and then way packing you need under it.

You can get some great results from wedges you just need to make sure that they are being used correctly.

11/07/2025

With the ground being so hard at the moment we are finding that more horses are enjoying have different pads and packing combinations to take the shock out of the impact phase of the stride.

📸 The three photos above show three of the different pads that we use on a regular basis to help the horses in our care.

1. A leather pad combined with a heart bar shoe and 20shore impression material

2. A full frog support pad combined with a 25 shore impression material

3. A 1/2 mesh pad with 25 shore impression material.

Different packing material also includes magic cushion and soft pack pour in material which all have their different properties which we will explain in a different post.

📞 If you feel that your horses would benefit from our services then please give the office a shout on 07375 962207 and Emily will be able to assist you.

08/07/2025

Not many people have been awarded the Order of the British Empire and out of those few I believe only couple of them are farriers!

A few weeks ago I have the privilege of having a conversation with David Nicholls AWCF BEM about his recent achievement and life as a farrier. It was a very informative chat and subsequently it has been published in the magazine.

David is an amazing man and an inspiration to the industry.

01/07/2025

These are the same shoe (a Vulcan Blinkinsop), but fitted in two different ways.

1️⃣ The first is fitted with the lateral side reduced to help a horse that toes in and due to her conformation grows higher on the outside then on the inside and this shoe helps to compensate for this.

2️⃣ The second shoe is a salad bowl shoe and fitted to an elderly horse to add a bit more foot depth whilst allowing easy break-over on a pair of flat feet.

Shoeing horses isn’t about slapping a set of shoes on, it’s about taking the time to examine the horse so that you can make any changes that are needed to help it.

29/06/2025

This painting hangs on our wall at home and is of my wife’s great uncle in his forge and it’s safe to say that not a lot has changed overall in the farrier world!

On side note we have some exciting paintings to share from one of our amazing clients in the next week or so when I get them back from the framers, which we are looking forward to showing everyone.

22/06/2025

Different horses require different things to help them stay sound. From bar shoes, to clogs, pads and packing, normal shoes and of course barefoot (and everything in between!)

🐎Just like us we all have different conformation types, live in different environments and have different needs, well the horse is the same.

🦶I love keeping horses bare foot, but just like us some, horse (and an awful lot of people) cannot cope with being barefoot for a prolonged period of time. This can be due to ‘needing to get used to it,’ or it can be because they just can’t cope bare foot.

As farrier’s we have a unique position in the horse world to see a lot of different cases and give advice on different feet and horse types.

⛔️Please don’t get stuck in thinking that anyone thing is best for your horse, be it some form of shoe or barefoot. If you are taking advice from some one please one who is not biased in this respect and remember when taking advice from people online see what they have to sell you as that will change the type of advice that they give!

16/06/2025

We had a great day yesterday sponsoring the showjumping. No lost shoes (although I was in incognito mode 😂), and the girls also had a great time!

Address

Blandford Forum

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 6pm
Tuesday	8am - 6pm
Wednesday	8am - 6pm
Thursday	8am - 6pm
Friday	8am - 6pm

Telephone

+447375962207

Website

https://linktr.ee/Harryspinksfarrier

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Our Story

Harry is a proactive, professional, skilled and caring farrier located just outside of Blandford Forum, Dorset, in the south of England. Harry works on all types of horses from your child’s pony to Olympic level and specialises in therapeutic and performance related cases. Harry has also worked internationally by invitation as a clinician and enjoys sharing his knowledge and experience with the wider equine community.

Having a fully equipped mobile work shop means that Harry can work on any problem that is encountered; whether it is a crack repair or a laminitic attack, these can all be dealt with using a comprehensive range of knowledge and equipment.

Harry started his farrier apprenticeship in 2010 with Ben Benson AWCF, Harry subsequently passed his Diploma of the Worshipful Company of Farriers (DipWCF) in November 2014. Harry also met his wife, Emily, in 2010. She supported him through his training and remains the back bone of his business, working hard behind the scenes. Emily and his daughter, Vivian, keep him very busy when not shoeing.

As well as spending hours of his time reading and researching new methods, Harry also attends as many CPD events as he possibly can throughout the year. Harry has a very keen interest in shoeing the whole horse and taking into account any conformational deviations that can be helped through proper foot care. Another particular interest of Harry’s is helping laminitic horses, from using the standard heart bar through to any number of modern methods that are currently in development. Working with the owner and home team and overcoming the challenging obstacles that can be in place for this type of condition is a very rewarding process.