It's called horseshoeing, not footshoeing, says Jim Keith, explaining why he rejects the traditional approach of aligning the hoof-pastern axis as the starting point for bringing a hoof into balance.

There are a number of horses I have cared for that have the same apparent foot condition. These are horses with chronic laminitis that have a dropped sole where the hoof wall — as it grows out — does not grow straight down, but flares out at the ground level or higher up the hoof wall.

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.

With the Sandia Mountains looming overhead, members of the American Farrier’s Association gathered along the banks of the Rio Grande River in Albuquerque, N.M., for their annual convention from Feb. 27 to March 3.