Watching a Tennessee Walking Horse go through his paces can be confusing. The horse leans back into his haunches, driving off them powerfully, while his forelimbs stretch out ahead, churning the air and pin wheeling ahead of the rider.
Our “Shoeing For A Living Days” rarely start at noon. But a couple of cancellations at the Podiatry Shop at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., where I’d been scheduled to spend the day, led to a phone message at my hotel suggesting I wait until then to make my appearance.
How often can one ride with a farrier for a workday and never see him put on a single shoe? Not very often! But days like that are not unusual for Tom Curl, the farrier based in Vero Beach, Fla., who spends about half his working time patching quarter cracks instead of putting on shoes. Indeed, he travels to take care of a single foot on many horses, and many others are hauled to him for the same treatment.
The air is cool in the Appalachian Mountains on this late May Virginia morning, but the weather has been dry and there’s a promise of higher temperatures later in the day. Farrier J.C. Maloyed and his partner, Travis Thompson, are eager to get their day of “Shoeing For A Living” started — hoping to get the majority of their horses done before the day gets too uncomfortable.
Andrew Varela is starting a little later than he normally does and his day of “Shoeing For A Living” will be a light one, limited to working on horses at just one stop.
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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Kawell develops and produces copper alloy horseshoes and inserts, giving horses the care that they need to fight issues associated with white line disease, seedy toe and thrush.
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