I had been away from shoeing for a few years and wanted to build a practice in a new area we had moved to.

Let's say you're performing your daily shoeing work and you're at a location where it's tough to pull your rig close enough to where you're working. And let's say that you need to do some minor fitting adjustments to a shoe that you're just about to put on a hoof. Do you really want to set the hoof down, come out from under the horse, walk all the way to your rig, make the required shaping adjustments with a few hammer blows and then walk back to the horse and hope it fits?

The American Farriers Association dedicated a big part of its 33rd annual convention to honoring a visitor from overseas, as guest of honor and legendary Scottish farrier Edward Martin returned to the event for the first time in several years.