“It is ironical that the better a horse is shod, the greater the chances are of his losing a shoe. A Farrier’s number one priority can either be to keep a shoe on at all costs or to shoe the horse for balance, support, and long-term soundness.

    These two goals never coincide; it is one or the other. A good shoeing job does not consist of a close fit around the entire edge of the hoof with very little shoe visible and eight heavy nails with long clinches holding the shoe on very securely.

    A shoe that is fit full with proper support will have more steel exposed at the quarters and heels, which may make it more likely to be stepped on.” Author unknown 

    Those of you that know me and my shoeing may say I wrote the above statement but, in fact I did not. My instructor, in college, introduced this statement to me.  He lived by this in his shoeing and so do I. When you start looking at the mechanics of the horse’s limb and how to properly support the body of the horse, the shoe is not as tight as can be.

    A shoeing that offers proper support has room for heel expansion.  Some time the horse need inside or outside support. All of this support is one more thing for the horse to catch the shoe and pull it off.  It is a shame that a lot of horse owners don’t give a farrier a chance to shoe a horse properly. Most farriers in time can get a shoe as perfect as possible for the horse, but if you don’t try to shoe as perfect as you think you can at first the horse is the one suffering.

    I shoe for maximum support when I think I can. It doesn’t always work but each time the shoe comes off I can learn what I can do and cannot do with the shoeing. I compromise with the horse. Say a horse needs outside support on the horses hind legs, which is common. I leave maximum support, the horse pulls it. I would then lesson the support till me and the horse can agree on a compromise. This takes time. Especially for a horse the farrier doesn’t know. 

    Most people only care about the here and now. They don’t see or care about the long term. They want the shoe to stay on and that’s it. There is no consideration for the horse; it’s all about the person and their needs. I think this is just a product of our society. The here and now syndrome!! When working with a machine it is easier because a machine only moves a certain way. Animals are free and have a mind of their own. If they want the shoe off, they will take it off. I will talk about this more in another blog. 

    Not to mention not too many of these people have never seen a hoof ripped off a horse with a shoe still on. It can happen, you may keep a shoe on the hoof but the hoof can be ripped off the horse with the shoe still on it. If you don’t rip off the hoof you can still bend a shoe branch and cause Lameness. I personally would rather a shoe come off and I can still ride the horse then a shoe stay on and a lame horse for a week or more. This is just my feelings. To each their own.  This blog isn’t to say to keep a shoe on is bad thing but this is about proper shoeing isn’t easy and sometimes a farrier needs time to figure your horse out.   

    I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog. Please fill free to comment, tweet, facebook, etc. This information is for all. I only ask that you make sure that the author me Gene Fletcher is put on all the copies. Thank you and if you have suggestions on topics please fill free to contact me.