As the official horse inspector for the parade, California farrier and Hall of Famer Ada Gates Patton starts the first day of the new year at 4 a.m. for the final inspection, which ensures all horses are compliant with current shoeing and traction guidelines.
The information, ideas and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Whether making shoes for your inventory or trying to improve for competition, practice and repetition are key. The more shoemaking you do, the higher your skill level will increase and the more efficient you will be at fitting shoes, says International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame farrier Billy Crothers.
According to Steve Kraus, Cornell University’s head of farrier services and senior lecturer, the shoe depicted was typically used on light draft horses for traction on ice about 100 years ago.
Keg shoes typically come with a crease in the ground surface, but are they worth the effort to craft into your handmade shoes? And if so, what are the keys to proper fullering?
Chad Chance, a veteran farrier in Pilot Point, Texas, 30 minutes north of Dallas, creases 95% of his shoes and says, “I’m fullering every day.”
Various horseshoe designs have been found to have had an effect on hoof loading on synthetic surfaces.1 The most common sections used here in the United Kingdom are concave and flat.
This horseshoe was found in an old barn on a Clove Valley, N.Y., farm. Nearby Pray’s Pond was used by several neighboring farm families in the years before 1940 to jointly harvest ice behind three teams of horses, according to the Winter 2008 edition of Country Courier. The harvest typically began in December and continued into January.
The history of farriery is as rich as it is ancient. It’s believed that migratory Eurasian tribes used horseshoes during the second century before the birth of Christ.
Genetics aren’t kind to cow horses and reiners. They have the heart and drive, but conformational issues and the rigors of the discipline don’t result in long careers.
The sport of polo wasn’t always a sport. The oldest game using a ball and some sort of stick on a horse, is thought to have originated thousands of years ago in ancient Persia or China.
Greg Martin, CJF, of Boerne, Texas, takes the unique approach of marketing his hoof-care practice with a Christmas parade float in Boerne and Comfort, Texas. The award-winning float boasts a variety of surprising features.
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