There has never been an appliance among farriers’ options that has been the answer for any single issue in every situation. Likewise, no two farriers’ approach to hoof care has been exactly the same. You will encounter farriers of differing levels of experiences, education, preferences for modalities, interests in disciplines or business practices. Veterinarians need to take an individual approach with the farrier, just as with the horse.

To illustrate how these differences can manifest during a specific case, we presented a case report to three farriers of differing clientele, levels of experience and service areas. We asked for their impressions, stressing what questions they would have for a veterinarian. Thank you to veterinarian and farrier Craig Lesser of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., for providing this case summary.

This article isn’t an attempt to show how you should shoe horses with a similar affliction. Instead, it shows veterinarians should make themselves available to the farrier for discussion and provide as much material as possible on the cases they work on together. This will result in greater success for both practitioners on these cases.

The Case Report

This case involved a 12-year-old Thoroughbred gelding used as a 3-day event horse. The owner complained of the horse exhibiting chronic, progressive soreness in the right forefoot. The report notes were shared with the farriers (with the descriptions left as entered by Lesser).

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