c/farriers

Shoutout to the farrier at a clinic in Denver who showed me how to balance a hind shoe in under 2 minutes flat

He used a simple cross-peen hammer and a stump anvil, no fancy jig, and now I'm wondering if anyone else has tried that method or if it's just a regional thing?

Warning: wasted $300 on cheap rasps from an online bargain site

I figured I would save some money and bought a 6-pack of rasps for $300 from some discount website. They looked fine in the pictures but after one hoof they were dull as a butter knife. I tried to sharpen them myself and they just chipped and flaked. By the end of the week I had to toss 4 of them because they were completely useless. I ended up buying my usual Nicholson rasps and finishing the job in half the time. Anyone else get burned by those cheap bulk deals online?

Been hot shoeing for 20 years and just realized I was burning the sole the whole time

An old timer watched me one afternoon and asked why my nails kept backing out, then pointed to the smoke coming off the sole. Does everyone learn that at some point or was I just slow on the uptake?

Used to hate aluminum shoes until I tried them on a wet track

I was always a steel shoe guy for like 15 years. But last spring I had a client with a thoroughbred who kept slipping on the grass track at Churchill Downs. An old timer named Pete finally convinced me to try aluminum event shoes on her and I swear she stopped slipping completely by the next week. Anybody else stubbornly stick with one metal and then regret not switching sooner?

That one client who told me his horse was 'just fine' then got mad when I pointed out the abscess

Had a guy in Lexington last fall swear up and down his mare was walking normal. I watched her from 20 feet away and saw she was dead lame on the right front. He argued with me for five minutes before I showed him the heat coming off her hoof. Anybody else deal with owners who think they know better than what their horse is clearly showing?

Wasted $400 on those fancy resin hoof casts last spring

I fell for the hype from that big equine supply catalog and bought a whole kit of those pre-formed resin hoof casts for laminitis cases. First horse I tried them on, the cast cracked within 48 hours because I didn't prep the hoof wall right. I should have just stuck with my regular 2-part acrylic and fiberglass mesh that cost me $60 total. Has anyone else had better luck with those resin casts or am I not the only one who got burned?

I remember when a set of keg shoes cost $35 and lasted two trims

Stopped by an old supplier's yard last week and saw the price list. $85 for a basic set of keg shoes now. Back in 2005 I could get the same pair for $35 and they'd hold up for two full resets on a heavy draft. What changed besides the obvious inflation? I figure it's the overseas competition and fewer folks learning the forge trade. You guys still using keg shoes or did you switch to something else for the heavy horses?

Tried a wider toe clip on a tricky horse last Thursday and got weird results

I had this one horse that kept losing shoes on the left front, no matter what I did. So I decided to try a wider toe clip to give it more stability, thinking that was the obvious fix. Well, the shoe held on great but the horse started tripping like crazy on that foot for about 3 days. Turns out the extra clip changed how the hoof broke over at the toe, and it threw off his whole stride. I ended up going back to a standard clip but set it a little farther back from the toe, and that solved both problems. Has anyone else had a clip placement backfire like that on a specific gait issue?

Tried forge welding with a gas forge instead of coal and got a clean weld first try

Always thought gas forges ran too hot and washed out the steel, but I borrowed a buddy's Forgemaster 200 down in Oklahoma and tacked a broken hoof rasp back together. The weld took clean with no cold shuts and saved me 40 minutes of fiddling with the coke fire. Has anyone else switched and just kept going back to the gas setup?

Found a trick to keep my rasps from clogging up so fast

I used to spend forever cleaning packed-in hoof material off my rasps mid-job, especially on wet hooves. Then an older farrier at a clinic in Oregon told me to spray them with a little WD-40 before starting. Tried it last week on a tough draft horse and my rasp stayed clear through all 4 feet. Has anyone else tried a lubricant like that or got another method that works?

Rough call today - had to choose between a quick patch job and the full proper reset

Got called out to a barn this morning where a draft cross had thrown a front shoe bad... really bad. Owner wanted me to just patch it with some epoxy and reset it in place. Said she needed the horse sound for a trail ride tomorrow. But after pulling the shoe I could see the wall was chipped pretty deep and the sole was bruised. I told her I had to take the shoe off, trim clean, and reset with a full new shoe or nothing. She wasn't happy but I did it anyway. Took me about 45 minutes start to finish... and of course the horse stood fine. Anyone else ever have to push back on a request like that and wonder if you made the right call?

TIL that using a dull rasp on a muddy hoof just makes a total mess of the whole job

Tried to save time by skipping the sharpening on a wet Thursday morning in Columbus and ended up spending 20 extra minutes cleaning out packed gunk and re-doing the whole hoof because the rasp just slid right off, has anyone else had a bad day on a wet horse?

Wasted $150 on a set of fancy pulling nippers that bent on the third shoe

Bought those high-end titanium nippers from a brand I won't name, third shoe and the jaw just gave out. Tried to warranty them and got ghosted by their customer service. Anyone else have luck with the old-school Diamond brand ones?

Finally changed my mind about aluminum shoes after a bad case study

I used to swear by steel shoes for everything, no exceptions. But last month I read a case study from a vet clinic in Kentucky that tracked 40 horses over 6 months. Turns out aluminum shoes reduced concussion-related soreness by 30% in horses on hard-packed trails. I found the data in a farrier science journal my buddy subscribed to. That stat surprised me enough to try them on a client's trail horse. Have any of you seen similar results with aluminum on certain terrain?

A client in Columbus told me my nails were too short and it bugged me for weeks

I used to keep shoes tight with short nails because I thought it gave better hold, but he showed me how it was actually pulling the hoof wall down. Switched to longer nails with a slight angle on the clinch and now shoes stay put way longer with less damage. Has anyone else gotten pushback on their nailing technique from an old timer?

My old anvil stand gave out halfway through a shoeing job

It happened last Tuesday on a farm outside of Bend. The stand was a homemade steel tripod I've had for about eight years. One leg just folded right under the horn when I was setting a clip, sent the whole thing tipping. I had to stop the job, prop the anvil on a stump to finish. Looking at it after, the weld on that leg was cracked all the way through. What's a good, solid stand you guys are using now that won't quit on you?

Heard a guy at the Ohio Farrier's Convention say he never uses a buffer on shoes

He was talking about how a hand-finished shoe gives a better seat and that buffers just make things too smooth and slick. I've been thinking about it all week, and I think he's onto something, especially for those hard-working draft horses up in Amish country. Has anyone tried ditching the buffer for a full shoeing job and seen a difference?

My old boss told me to always use a hoof stand for every trim, but I'm not so sure anymore.

He was a great farrier from Tulsa and said it was the only way to keep your back safe. I listened for a long time, but last fall I had a really spooky young horse that just would not stand for it. I tried trimming with the hoof between my knees like some guys do, and honestly, I felt like I had way more control. My back was fine, and the horse settled right down. Maybe it's just me, but I think the 'always use a stand' rule isn't right for every animal. How do you guys handle a horse that's scared of the stand?

Shoutout to the guy who told me to ditch the old rasp for a fresh one every 50 horses

I used to run my rasps into the ground. Figured I was saving money, right? Would use the same one until it was basically smooth. Then at a clinic in Boise, this older farrier watched me work and just said, 'You're fighting that tool for no reason.' He told me to mark the date on a new one and swap it after 50 horses, no matter what. I started doing it. The difference is night and day. My prep is cleaner, my finish is faster, and my arm doesn't feel like it's going to fall off by the end of the day. It costs a bit more, sure, but the time and effort I save is worth way more than the price of a new rasp. Anyone else have a hard rule like that for swapping out basic tools?

My old forge blower gave out right in the middle of a set of shoes last week

I was working on a draft horse in the shop, had the fire going good, and the motor just quit. No warning, just a loud pop and then nothing. It was a unit I bought used about five years ago, so I guess its time was up. Had to finish the shaping cold, which took forever and the fit wasn't perfect. I ended up ordering a new Dayton blower that same night, cost me over $300. It got here fast, but losing that time on a paying job still stings. What do you all do for a backup when your main gear fails like that? I'm thinking I need a spare blower on the shelf.

Vent: A simple hoof crack repair turned into a two hour job

Had a client's draft horse with a small vertical crack near the toe. Figured it would be a quick clean and patch. The crack ran way deeper than it looked, almost to the laminae. Ended up having to do a full bar shoe with clips for stabilization. Took the whole morning. Anyone else get blindsided by a crack like that?

After three years of side-eyeing the whole 'mustang roll' technique for trimming, a stubborn quarter horse in Bend finally made me see its worth.

I was convinced it was just a flashy social media move until that horse, who'd fight any normal stand, stood perfectly still for a full trim after we did the roll first, so has anyone else had a specific horse completely change their mind on a method?

Can we talk about the client who wanted a 'quick trim' on a foundered horse

I was at a barn in Springfield last fall, and the owner pointed to a pony with a severe club foot and said, 'He's just a little off, can you just rasp it down a bit?' I explained the situation needed a vet and a full rehab plan, not just a trim. How do you even start that conversation without sounding like you're just trying to upsell?

Heard a new farrier say he only learned to hot fit from a video

I was at the feed store in Lexington last week and overheard a young guy telling the clerk he'd never seen a forge in person. He said his whole training was online, including a video on hot fitting. It got me thinking about my own start, back when you learned by holding the hoof steady for a guy who'd been at it for 30 years. The feel of the heat and the smell of the hoof are things a screen just can't show. For those of you who learned the old way, how do you make sure those hands-on skills get passed down now?

Tried a different rasp on a draft horse with flat feet, and the owner said it was the first time he'd seen the horse stand still for a full trim.