Don’t Try Too Hard To Get The Perfect Foot 

Amborse Gordon, a farrier who shoes near San Antonio, Texas, says one piece of advice he sometimes shares with apprentices is not to try too hard to make a foot just right.

“Sometimes an apprentice is working on a foot that’s balanced, but doesn’t look perfect,” says Gordon. “I’ll tell them, you’re looking at the foot too hard. The balance is there. You’re not going to get that horse with that conformation any better than he already is. Just back off a bit, shoe the horse for awhile and eventually, the foot will tell you if it’s right or not. It just may take a couple of shoeings.”

In Between Shoeing Stops Take An Afternoon Nap

Enjoying a 20-minute afternoon “power nap” in your shoeing rig right after lunch can enhance your trimming and shoeing productivity, says Sara Mednick, a researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences in San Diego, Calif. As a result of this research, a number of large companies are encouraging staffers to take a short afternoon nap in order to boost their creativity, perceptual ability and muscle function.

Is Going Barefoot A Financial Decision?

Thom Rosen thinks saving money is a reason some owners want to keep shoes off their horses. The Longmont, Colo., farrier finds making the decision to leave horses barefoot or putting them in hoof boots is often a financial consideration.

“With my clients, money is not an issue,” he says. “But unfortunately…