@Ian I've had this lad since he was a 2yo and if I remember rightly things came to a head when he was 8. Obviously my understanding of these issues now is much more than it was, but my knowledge about say navicular, or sidebone, or ringbone is much less as I haven't had first hand experience of them and so haven't asked for the explanations or done the reading up and I think that is probably true of most owners - we may have fairly good knowledge about things we've dealt with but we don't have the wider base of knowledge that we expect from a farrier or vet. I think if you're looking for a way to get an idea of how much owners know you'll be wasting your time because it varies so much and I think, a bit like horses, you have to treat us all as individuals rather than make assumptions about knowledge.
I have a farrier who is very good at giving full explanations and discussing options and why they may help or are unlikely to be effective. Why at times he was using a wide web shoe for support and at others a french rolled one to alleviate pressure on the wall (I think it was the wall, it was years ago now and lots has changed since then), why we took a different approach with him than with my ID who had PPID caused laminitis, why heel height was as critical as toe length - x-rays before trim and after were amazing, it looked like months of difference not 20 minutes, and that was despite starting with a foot that without x-rays looked well balanced. He also worked very closely with the vet so he would time trims and shoes to x-ray visits by the vet so he could work to what the situation was at that moment, adjust, x-ray again and if need be alter slightly more. It was all fascinating despite being on a knife's edge of losing him. And that's the other reason I need time and to be in the right place to go into detailed discussions, even so long after the fact it takes me right back to the panic and makes me want to wrap him up in cotton wool for fear of breaking him and with all the Covid crap going on at the moment I really don't need to wind myself up even more. Also I'm not prepared to debate his treatment and management with people who've never seen him or his x-rays, what we did worked for him and continues to do so and that's despite x-rays that were initially so bad that another vet saw them and assumed he'd been pts, wasn't convinced it was worth trying and could hardly believe he'd trotted up sound and forward across a rough yard a few minutes before they'd been taken. What we did worked for him and as far as I'm concerned that's an end to it. He's managed on a routine that works for him in terms of feed, exercise, and turnout. He's shod on a cycle that keeps his feet within balance levels that he tolerates and I know what to look for as warning signs that he may be growing hoof a bit faster at certain times of the year and alter his shoeing cycle accordingly because that fraction of length at the toe alters a lot for him, as does his heel getting a little too high.
A word of caution, my tolerance for people like a particular barefoot trimmer who comes to our yard is almost non-existent. His client mentioned I had a pony with a history of laminitis so he came over to me and said since he had a bit of time if I brought him in he'd whip his shoes off him as no laminitic should be shod. I politely said thanks for the thought but I was quite happy with how he was with his shoes on and had no intention of removing them, at which point he started on that I was killing him, clearly didn't care about him and shouldn't have a horse. To which I pointed out no true professional would want to make so drastic a change to an animal he hadn't seen and hadn't seen the x-rays for and asked what his actual qualification was. Well that soon got rid of him, and I have to say having seen the trim he does on the horse he does at the yard I suspect his qualifications are non-existent - a very real risk with barefoot trimmers and why I wish there was a regualatory body and qualifications similar to that farriers are subject to.
