THE REAL WINNERS from the International Hoof-Care Summit weren’t to be found in the classrooms and exhibit galleries of the Cincinnati Convention Center, or in the plush hallways of the Hilton Netherlands Plaza Hotel.

WHY SHOULD A farrier choose to arc weld rather than use a gas welder?

Craig McMillen of Nettleton, Miss., embodies all of the ideals behind the annual Mail-In Forging Exercise. He believes a good farrier should be able to forge a shoe.

It's nothing fancy. It’s not going to win you any awards or get your face on the cover of a magazine, but shoeing and trimming a horse with proper physiologic principles will make you a better farrier and, more importantly, keep your horses’ feet healthy, according to Dr. Stephen O’Grady.