A quality hoof knife isn’t a hard-to-find commodity for most farriers. In fact, an impressive number of knives made by a variety of manufacturers are available for purchase in supply shops and from online retailers — making them more accessible than ever

One tool most farriers won’t see for sale by these retailers, however, is the hoof knife, or “pujavante,” used by Mexican farrier Jesus “Chuy” Jiménez. The 24-year-old lives in Tepetloaxtoc, a city in the state of Morelos, about 2 hours south of Mexico City.  A fourth-generation farrier, Jiménez was introduced to horseshoeing at just 13 years old when he was recruited to help his father in the family business. Although an unenthusiastic helper as a teen, over time Jiménez grew to love the work and went on to attend a number of clinics in Mexico and the United States.

For the past 5 years, he has been trimming, nailing, clenching and working hard to progress in his farriery knowledge and skill. Most recently, he traveled to Minnesota where he earned his American Farrier’s Association (AFA) Certified Farrier (CF) designation, and has since passed the horse and shoe exams for the Certified Tradesman Farrier (CTF), but still needs to pass the written.

The hoof knife Jiménez uses is a modified Spanish tool that his blacksmithing great-grandfather fabricated about 80 years ago, but it still serves the family of horseshoers well today. The anatomy is simple, consisting of a handle and blade that are connected by a piece of ¼-inch…