It still ranks as one of the Golden Rules of horseshoeing: Thou Shall Use The Smallest Nails Possible To Keep The Shoe On Until The Next Appointment.

After roughly two decades of use on humans, magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI for short, is becoming practical for equine medical care.

Pedal osteitis, an inflammation of the coffin bone usually resulting from severe bruising of the sole or consistent pressure on the bone, often reveals itself through an obvious, crescent-shaped bruise on the bottom of the foot.

Blood flows through the equine hoof, reaching almost to the surface as it delivers oxygen and other nutrients needed to keep the foot healthy.

Onlookers might ignore even the most elite show horses if the classic beauties turned into shoeing rigs by Dan Burke and Roy Bloom happen to drive up.

Be sure to look at the shoes every time you pull them off,” says Blake Brown, a Penryn Calif., farrier who worked at a veterinarian clinic for 20 years.