Since 1992, “Shoeing for a Living” has been a regular feature in American Farriers Journal. Close to 150 farriers have been featured, each with unique and innovative ways to run their practice. Whether it’s a forging tip, an efficient way to set up your rig or a tried and true method to trimming difficult horses, there is always something to learn from your fellow farrier. 

To celebrate AFJ’s 50th anniversary, we’ll bring you some of the most hard-hitting and practical tips for your business from previous “Shoeing for a Living” days. 

1. Treat Every Horse the Same

If there is a “trademark” to Michigan farrier Bill Ruh’s shoeing, it’s probably that he seats out the foot surface of most of the shoes he puts on horses to relieve sole pressure.

Attention to little things like that, Ruh says, are part of “a good, solid shoeing job.”

“That’s what I try for rather than any fancy shoeing,” he says.

Michigan farrier Bill Ruh values solid shoeing over “fancy” shoeing. Pat Tearney

One thing Ruh is adamant about is making sure each horse gets his full care and attention.

“A backyard horse that only gets ridden on Saturday or Sunday deserves just as good a shoeing job as an expensive show horse,” he says. “A horse is a horse.”

2. Communicate Shoeing Plans with Clients

Handling the client’s outlook on their horse’s recovery during therapeutic hoof care often can be as much work, if not more, than helping the horse.

“That’s a big aspect of our job,” Arizona farrier Travis Koons says. “I’ve learned that the best clients are the ones who you take the time to educate and inform. Sometimes it takes a lot more time than I want and a lot more time than I have. In the end, it reciprocates and becomes worth the time that I spent. It costs me less time down the road.”

It’s important to get as much information as possible from the client.

Thoroughly communicating with and educating clients is paramount for Arizona farrier Travis Koons. Jeff Cota

“Asking questions helps a lot,” Koons says. “Find out about the horse’s history of lameness and soundness; what it’s done; how old it is; and what they know about different injuries the horse might have had, even before they owned it. That history is oftentimes helpful.”

Communicating with clients in therapeutic cases means candor.

“It’s our responsibility to be honest,” Koons says. “I’ve always found that it’s best to be as brutally honest as possible. I don’t candy-coat anything.”

Yet, it also involves thinking the conversation through.

“I come up with a game plan before I start talking,” he explains. “I’ll take my time to look at the horse. While evaluating the conformation, hoof quality and issues, I’m going through that in my head. I might call out a few things about the conformation to the owner. As I’m explaining these things, I’ll be rehearsing in my head what I’m ultimately going to say about what needs to be done and what the options are.” 

3. Find Balance in Trimming

When trimming a foot for balance, farriers often are taught to find medial-lateral and anterior-posterior balance. There’s another dimension that Colorado farrier Jason Critton prioritizes.

“Diagonal balance — medial heel to lateral toe, medial toe to lateral heel — is equally as important to me because balance starts in the foot and goes all the way up through the horse’s body,” he says. “When I think of pairs, I think of right front and left hind or right hind and left front. Those are pairs to me, because that’s how the horse, as a quadruped, works.”

Critton primarily focuses on frog plane and sole plane methods when trimming. Yet, it’s the frog and sole planes that have been the most helpful for him.

Operating a multi-farrier practice helps Florida farrier James Gilchrist avoid working 100 days straight. Pat Tearney

“About 10 years ago, I heard Mike Savoldi’s lecture on yaw, pitch and roll, and how those aeronautical terms relate to balance,” Critton says. “It was like a light bulb turned on. When I applied them, I watched my feet get better and better. Issues like quarter cracks and sheared heels are rarely seen now.”

The frog plane and sole plane methods, which were developed by International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame member Michael Savoldi of Shandon, Calif., should be very close.

“If you study a frog, even when it’s overgrown, you can see the body of it and what it wants to do — both anterior-posterior and medial-lateral. As far as yaw goes, whichever way it’s wanting to point tells you a ton about the horse’s posture. It’s something that I’ve adapted over the past few years of studying the frog more and letting that guide my trimming.” 

4. Look Out for Yourself

The final horse to do at Fair Haven farm is a gelding that does not stand well for the farrier. Safety is a concern, and this is just a trim. The horse has been sedated previously for footcare.

Fortunately, one of the barn’s staff has a good rapport with this gelding and he stands well for her. Minnesota farrier Mark Thorkildson just takes his rasp to slightly trim the hooves, occasionally giving the horse a break.

Had the horse handler not been present and sedation wasn’t an option, Thorkildson wouldn’t hesitate to skip the horse. Like so many other farriers, it was a mistake of his youth to force his way through working with ill-behaved horses. The issue goes beyond his safety.

Minnesota farrier Mark Thorkildson values safety and quality hoof care over a quick trim. Jeremy McGovern

“By muscling through it and knocking some foot off, no one benefits,” he says. “Sure, you trimmed the horse and made $50, but you aren’t happy with the work you’ve done and the horse could have had better work done if you had the time.”

He finds that the best way to move beyond the point of working with bad horses is for a farrier to develop the confidence that the problem rests with the horse, and to professionally tell the owner that the situation isn’t good. You have to look out for yourself. 

5. Benefit from a Multi-Farrier Practice

Florida farrier James Gilchrist and his crew are slowly working up toward their busy season. Right now, much of their work consists of getting horses set up for the coming show season. Gilchrist says the previous year, busy meant shoeing 100 days straight, without a day off. That’s another reason Gilchrist runs a multiple-farrier service.

“We worked 100 straight days, but that doesn’t mean everyone had to,” he explains. “If one of us needs a couple of days off, we can schedule it. The work still gets done and everyone doesn’t wind up exhausted.

“I have confidence in these guys and how they work,” he says. “We’ve been working together long enough that if one of us sees something that needs to be done, we just step in and do it.”

It’s easy to see what he’s talking about. No one is standing around, and, while it’s clear that Gilchrist is in charge, it’s evident that the others know what they’re doing.

Colorado farrier Jason Critton primarily focuses on frog and sole plane methods when trimming. Jeff Cota

In a little over 2 1/2 hours, the farriers have shod five horses, all the way around. The work included some pads and a couple of sole pours. Gilchrist says one of the reasons the work goes quickly is that he has confidence in the others he works with.

“While I want to oversee and keep an eye on everything, I know that these guys can do just about anything I can do. I also know that if they run into something they’re not sure about, they’ll check with me.”

During the trip to the next barn, Gilchrist’s cell phone rings a couple of times. He says during the busy season, he’ll sometimes take 50 to 75 calls a day. Today, one of the calls is about a lost shoe. The horse involved is near the next stop, so he tells the caller he’ll send over one of the crew to take care of the problem.

He points out that this is an advantage to having a multi-farrier crew, as well as using more than one rig. As they are finishing up the last couple of horses at the coming stop, he’ll have one of his crew leave a few minutes early with one of the rigs. That farrier will stop and replace the lost shoe, then rejoin the others, who by that time will already be set up and working at the next stop.