Wilbers farrier service LLC

02/21/2026

Always love the little ones I have the privilege and honor to work on, this little guy will be a great donkey to society when he gets older!

01/10/2026

01/10/2026

Wilbers farrier service will be traveling to the Wellington area to shoe a few horses February 2nd-4th if there’s anybody who would like to be added on to the route for farrier care. Experience includes shoeing upper level hunter/jumpers, fox hunters, dressage, racehorses, as well as trail horses/western disciplines. Feel free to message me and we will work you into the schedule.

10/08/2025

❄🐴🌾 Is it safe to graze horses after a hard freeze? What do I need to consider before turning them back out on pasture? Also, what defines a hard freeze?

🌡 A hard freeze refers to a frost that is severe enough to end the growing season. The National Weather Service defines a hard freeze when temperatures fall below 28ºF for a few hours. Cool-season grasses commonly found in Midwest horse pastures go into dormancy for winter and conserve their energy stores (starches and sugars) following a hard freeze.

❄️ We recommend keeping horses off pastures for at least 7 days after a hard freeze. Frost-damaged pastures are higher in nonstructural carbohydrates (starches and sugars) because plants can not use up their energy stores as efficiently. It can take plants 7 days to return to more normal nonstructural carbohydrate levels. Higher levels of nonstructural carbohydrates can lead to an increase risk for laminitis, especially in horses diagnosed with or prone to obesity, laminitis, Cushings, and Equine Metabolic Syndrome.

The decision to graze again after a hard freeze depends on the condition of your pasture. After a hard freeze, no additional regrowth of the pasture will occur, even though the pasture might appear green in color. If your cool-season grass pasture is

✅ taller than 3 to 4 inches, then grazing can resume 7 days after a hard freeze and can continue until the pasture is grazed down to 3 to 4 inches.
❌ shorter than 3 to 4 inches, then no grazing should occur after a hard freeze. Grazing below 3 inches can harm the plant and lead to poor productivity next season.

🌾 Plants rely on stored nonstructural carbohydrates in the lower 3 inches for energy. Therefore, the 3- to 4-inch minimum height recommendation is necessary to help maximize winter survival and can help predict a vigorous and healthy pasture come spring. We do recognize horses rarely graze uniformly and pastures tend to have areas of both over and under grazing. You will need to base decisions on the average appearance of your pasture

01/10/2025

08/28/2024

03/24/2024

Congratulations to West Saratoga on his win to be running in the Kentucky Derby! I’m so pleased to have been part of his journey! I’ll be cheering him on and hope that he brings home that win!

03/08/2024

Last week I had the opportunity to work on a horse heading for the Derby Trail. Keep an eye out for West Saratoga, he’s a force to be reckoned with out there!