Which toe length do we talk about? What — there is more than one? No doubt we all discuss toe length, but exactly what toe length do we mean? Most people will comment that feet are too long simply by looking at the dorsal aspect of the hoof.

“Extrinsic and intrinsic factors acting upon a body providing static and dynamic stability so that body can function without failure.”

This year marks my 55th year of shoeing horses. Techniques have changed several times throughout that career based on subjective evaluation and misleading science. We now live in the age of information (and misinformation), and those who force their opinions on our farriery practices are expanding. Throw in a measure of “how-to” by owners and veterinarians who don’t shoe horses for a living, yet feel the need to tell us how to do it anyway. Fortunately, knowledge will help weed out the stupid stuff.

Unfortunately as a community, farriers have been repeatedly force-fed information that is presented as scientific, but in fact bears little or no resemblance to good science or fact. However, there is science known about locomotion and the linear relationship between farrier techniques and altering that locomotion.