As a farrier, you’re considered the hoof-care expert by your clients. That also means they look to you to teach them at least a little bit about hoof care. This makes sense in many ways.

Sharing your knowledge of hoof care with your clients gives you an opportunity to stress the benefits of regular appointments, teaching horses to stand for the farrier and periodically picking out and cleaning hooves. It also helps establish you as the “go-to” source on the subject and makes it less likely that a client will fall for the next shoeing fad or hoof-care guru they encounter in a barn or on the Internet.

Most importantly, sharing your knowledge about the hoof will result in better hoof care for the horse — which should be the ultimate goal to begin with.

In the field, we’ve found many farriers who take the job of educating horse owners very seriously. Popular methods include:

• Using hoof and limb models.
• Carrying dry erase boards and colored markers for drawing hoof diagrams (some farriers have even mounted one of these on the wall or door of a shoeing trailer or rig.
• Using felt markers to actually draw on the hoof and sole.
• Carrying textbooks, particularly those that include detailed anatomical charts. Anatomical charts as well as charts that explain the trimming and shoeing process are available through a number of suppliers.
• Videos and digital photographs that can be easily played back or displayed on a laptop computer. Digital photos stored on a laptop are also useful for showing a client “before” and “after” views to illustrate the progress a particular trim or treatment is having on a horse. 

We asked three well-known horseshoeing school instructors to share their thoughts on doing a better job of teaching clients about hoof care.

Using a felt marker to draw on a horse’s sole or hoof wall can help you more clearly demonstrate a procedure to a client.

Q. What is most important for owners to understand about hoof care and their role in it?

A.  The client needs to be a good historian. Farriers see their horse once every other month. The client sees their horse daily. The client needs to note any changes and be prepared to answer questions with detail.

— Bob Smith

Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School, Plymouth, Calif.

A.  A horse owner is going to have access to the horse on a daily basis while a farrier is not. Owners that have a broader base of understanding know when to call their farrier, and when it is only a normal state of the foot. Owners are also in charge of diet and environment, a couple of major factors in the condition of a foot.

— Chris Gregory

Heartland Horseshoeing School, Lamar, Mo.

A.  They need to know what is normal for their horse and how to recognize problems in the early stages.

— Steve Kraus

Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, N.Y.

Q. How do you avoid “overloading” a novice horse owner with too much information?

Most horse owners are appreciative when a farrier takes the time to explain the basics of hoof care, as well as the rationale behind a particular trim or shoeing choice.

A.  First and foremost, do not get into detailed conversations with a horse owner until they have confidence in you and your work. Do not try to impress the client with a technical conversation until they have assessed you and you have assessed them. Speak to your level of understanding as well as their level of understanding.

— Bob Smith

A.  I have an advantage here since I have been an educator of novice farriers for 20 years. I make it as user friendly as possible, and use a lot of drawings if there is enough interest. It is important to be able to discern between real interest and making conversation.

— Chris Gregory

A.  Your job is to keep a healthy hoof on a horse and guide the owner toward appropriate hoof care in between visits. Unless there is a specific problem, less is more. Be specific about how weather, flies and seasonal changes affect horse hooves. When there is a specific health issue, educate the owner about that.

— Steve Kraus

Q. Are there any teaching tools you find helpful?

A.Allie Hayes’s Hoof Science freeze-dried specimens are the most useful tools you can have in your truck for client education.

— Bob Smith

A.I like to use the pictures in my textbook. Beside that, having a notebook and colored pencils is helpful. Bone models are good to have if the owner is really interested.

— Chris Gregory

A.If there is a local hoof-care event, invite clients to it. Direct them to credible books or websites.

— Steve Kraus