Like many other farriers, Mike Dawson of Las Vegas, Nev., has modified a few tools to make his shoeing go better.

When the duo of Burney Chapman and George Platt popularized the use of heart bar shoes for foundered and laminitic horses in the late 1960s, it set off a firestorm of innovations and design-styles for therapeutic horseshoes that reinvigorated the hoof-care industry.

Ambrose Gordon, a farrier from Kerrville, Texas, located just outside of San Antonio, regularly does therapeutic shoeing work with veterinarian and boarded equine surgeon David Dutton from Hill Country Equine Clinic in Borney, Tex.

The development, evolution and versatility of today’s adhesive products have made farriers’ lives easier. Repair procedures that used to be extremely time consuming such as rebuilding severely damaged feet, hoof-wall rebuilds due to pulled shoes, quarter cracks, glue-ons, etc., can now be relatively fast-moving jobs.

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated the United States’ Gulf Region, one of the less publicized stories involving animal rescue and voluntary aid revolved around an incredible joint effort of a number of farriers, veterinarians and veterinary students in Louisiana.

Despite the advancements in today’s adhesives, acrylics and other types of materials that can be used to build up and repair damaged feet, there are still a wide variety of other options out there that can help fill a farrier’s specific needs.

When you say “hoof boots” to someone in the horse industry, you’ll get varying reactions depending upon who you’re talking to.