When dissatisfied with the work of a farrier, one horse owner told us, she likes to “hit the nail on the head and get the air cleared. It isn’t always pretty, but it’s a necessary evil.”

It could get even uglier, when you, the next farrier on the scene, get pulled in by this or any other horse owner looking for an opinion. You bend over the feet of the problem horse, find what you believe to be truly bad shoeing, then look up into the eyes of a glaring, expectant owner.

What do you say?

Do you offer a polite but meek, “Geez, it’s really hard to say how this happened.”

Or do you find the farrier guilty as accused, verbally blast him right out of his rig and start counting the dollars soon to come your way from his former client? This would be justifiable, wouldn’t it, based on his sub-par work and, more importantly, the genuine benefits the horse would receive from your better care? 

That’s what American Farriers Journal wanted to know, so we posed this question to subscribers of the e-mailed “Shoeing Tip Of The Week.” A trainer, veterinarian or horse owner asks you to look at a lame horse and after a careful examination, you conclude that the problem is caused by the way the horse has been shod or trimmed by another farrier. How do you handle this situation?

Farriers Weigh In

Matt Carava, a farrier in Arcadia, Calif., draws a hard line with a self-imposed rule: “I always resist critiquing another farrier’s work. I will evaluate a horse only if I’ve been hired to do the shoeing,” he says. Besides, he notes, “When anyone critiques another farrier’s work without that person being present to provide all the facts, it really can’t be fair.”

Fairness to the previous farrier was a common theme among the responses.

“It’s difficult for me to critique another farrier’s work because I was not the fly on the wall when that horse was worked on. I have no idea how the horse behaved or what kind of foot the horse had at that time,” says a shoer Kim Hillegas, Ormond Beach, Fla.

Farrier John Beinecke of Burlington, Wis., feels likewise. “If I am seeing the horse for the first time, I would not know what problems the previous farrier had to face,” he says.

Monica Hoff, a Green Bay, Wis., farrier, says, “When commenting on another farrier’s work, I never say that the work caused any problem. A lot of factors contribute to lameness and soundness problems. I simply say that I would do some things differently with regard to the shoeing. Then I explain my recommendations.”

When put on the spot, some farriers concede the uncertainties about the cause and treatment of equine foot problems. 

Jim Johnson of Will Point, Texas, says, “I would give my opinion about how I would try and correct the problem. I would also make it clear that many times these shoeing methods are trial and error and that I would like the opportunity to visit with their farrier and keep him involved.”

Different Strokes

Because of the uncertainties of any particular case, some latitude should be given when judging the work of another farrier, according to Walter Kreeger, a teacher at Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale, Ark. “Farriery is part science and part art,” he says. “I have come to the conclusion that as long as the basic principles of the scientific parts have been complied with, we should allow the previous farrier to exhibit a little art.”

Farriers can simply acknowledge the differences between them as one way to sidestep accusations about absent farriers from horse owners. 

“If they ask if the problem was created by the former farrier, I will say that the farrier before me does not see things the way that I do, so let’s see if the way I see them helps this horse,” says Martin Kenny, a farrier in Carthage, N.C. “The objective here is to get away from blaming the guy ahead of you. The owner is more than happy to do that without my help.” 

Farrier Tim Dodd of Broadview Heights, Ohio, works the differences between farriers into a lighter approach to deflect the accusations of horse owners. He tells them, “Well, this isn’t the way I would have done this horse, but that’s why they make so many of us (farriers).” 

He suggests caring for the animal and later seeking out the previous farrier to determine if he or she was coerced into the bad shoeing job by a horse owner, trainer or other “expert.” If not, he says, the two farriers can discuss the ins and outs of the horse’s condition and treatment. 

Look Ahead, Not Back

Many respondents suggest steering discussions with horse owners toward the treatment ahead rather than the poor care of the past.

“When I am presented with this situation, which is pretty often, since my practice tends to be figuring out obscure causes for lameness, I try to address the problem, not who created it,” Kenny says.

“As an example, I will say, ‘The thing that I see we need to do is give this horse more support than what he has at this time,’ or ‘I think that if we remove some more foot here, it will help get this horse to better use this limb the way he was designed to do.’”

Also advocating that approach, Carava says, “If after examining a horse I find a problem with the previous shoeing that I feel is causing lameness, I try looking ahead by suggesting a shoeing change. I will say, for example, ‘Let’s try bigger shoes,’ or ‘I’m going to use a smaller nail,’ or ‘I think he will go better if I can balance him out.’ That way we can quickly get the horse back on the road to soundness.”