Editor’s Note: This article summarizes the special early-morning (45-minute optional) Devotional held at the 2025 International Hoof-Care Summit in Kansas City, led by Jason Critton, the owner of C-Cross Farrier Services, a 9-farrier business in Sedalia, Colo. What follows are his words, as well as scripture verses and comments from other participants. American Farriers Journal Editor-in-Chief Jeff Cota told me about it the night before and I had to get out of bed early to see it for myself. The session uniquely met “one where they are” and was a timely and rewarding part of my entire Summit experience. Jeff told Lee Olsen, Steve Stanley, Jason Critton, Mike Wharton and the other stalwarts that they can count on the time and space for their gathering at every Summit moving forward. – Mike Lessiter, president, American Farriers Journal.

Mark Hickcox (foreground) as Jason Critton looks on.

From my perspective, our biggest job as farriers is to manage distortion. If we can manage distortion in a horse's foot, we can give them the best chance of success – for a long life and a competitive career. 

As farriers, that's our role. And as Christians, it's the same. We're going to face a lot of distortion that comes up in life. And our ability to recognize distortion in our lives is no different than our ability to recognize distortion in a horse's foot. If we can't see it, we can't help it.

But the more we tune to God and allow Him to shine light on our darkness, the more our sin and our distortion becomes evident. And once we do that, He guides us and directs us to not only manage it, but to change and turn away from it.

There are analogies between distortion in horses’ feet and the distortion in our lives. There are 5 major causes of distortion, and their Christian-teaching corollary below:

1. Unbalance Trimming - Living Life Out of Balance
2. Conformational Deviations - Our Genetic Predisposition
3. Environment - Where We Spend Our Time
4. Length of Cycle - Time Spent With God
5. Horse’s Posture - Posture Before God

The first is unbalanced trimming. Living life out of balance creates a lot of distortion. Second is conformational deviations. Where we come from and our genetic predisposition has a huge effect on who we are as people. Third is the environment. Where we spend our time does a lot for who we're going to become. Fourth is the length of the shoeing cycle. The time we spend with God is paramount in who we are as people. The last one is posture. Horses change their posture, and we need to change our posture, too.

1. Unbalanced Trimming – Living Life Out of Balance

What is balance? "Balance is when we trim and shoe a foot so that the least amount of distortion occurs over the course of an appropriate cycle," says Jim Keith.

What does the Bible say about balance? See Ecclesiastes 3:1-15. 

"Everything has its time. To everything, there's a season, a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, a time to pluck what is planted. A time to kill, a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones. A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to gain and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to sew. A time to keep silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. And a time of war and a time of peace.

"What profit has a worker from that in which he labors? He has seen the God-given task in which the sons of men are occupied. He has made everything beautiful in His time. Also, He has put eternity into their hearts except that no one can find out the work that God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them to rejoice and to do good in their lives. It is also that every man should eat, drink, and enjoy the good of his labor. It is the gift of God.

"I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it and nothing can be taken from it. God does it that men should fear before Him, that which He has already has been, and that it is to be has already been, and God requires an account of what is passed.

Context by Mike Wharton: “There's a tremendous amount of information in these verses. I look at the things in our lives that we need to take out; there are things in our lives that we need to put away. One of the examples is moving from a large farm in Pennsylvania to a home in Wellington, Fla. We had to downsize and give up things that we think that we need, but we didn't. We got along just fine without it. I just retired a couple months ago, and the downsizing involved my tools, the truck, the trailer, the clients. Things that I thought that I could never give up, I gave up, and hopefully the Lord uses me in some way in my retirement years to honor Him. I encourage you to do the same.”

Mike Wharton

Summary: One of the hardest things as farriers is figuring out what defines balance. Balance is just a moment in time. You can have a foot perfectly in balance by every radiograph, but it's just one moment in time. And after that, it will get out of balance again.

One of the reasons it is so hard for us to live life in balance is that we have so many bosses. Most people have one boss. I probably have 100 bosses. I’ve got to answer to the owner, to the trainer, to the vet, etc. That's hard as farriers, and we get off track, out of balance because we're so committed to what we do; we allow that to own us. We allow our businesses to own us and take over. And that's why the divorce rate among farriers is astronomical. It's sad.

Also, do you know that the number-one prescribed drug in America today is antidepressants? We’re so torn-up inside because we live life out of balance. That’s the first point in distortion; I'd encourage you to seek balance in your own life.

Ask what balance looks like for you. For me, balance is totally different now. I have a young family and I want to put as much time there as I can because it's going to be a short little while before they'll be gone, and it's going to change again.

2. Conformational Deviations –- Our Genetic Predisposition

Next is conformational deviations and our genetic predisposition. According to Dr. Simon Curtis, "Growth plates of the distal radius close between 24-30 months, and the distal tibia around 24 months. Once the growth plates have closed, the best hope a horse has is for us to manage the distortion that's going to occur." 

So what does the Bible say about genetic distortion? See Deuteronomy 5:8-10.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."

Context from Mark Hickcox: “The thing that jumped out at me in this is what Jason has said about 100 bosses. Think about all the idols we have, and it can be anything that gets in the way of your relationship with God. And it's usually, for me personally; it’s just self. There's so much in our world that we make so important but which is really just a speck. Another thing is the generational aspect. Think about how that works inside your house also and things that happened or could happen to your family.”

Jason Critton

Summary: Once the horse is of age, what they have for confirmation is what they have. And due to the unequal loading, they're going to always distort. A lot of us are the same way; our genetics and how we were raised. I have a lot of alcoholism in my family. My dad died at the age of 61 from cirrhosis of the liver. My mom, to this day, is an alcoholic, and it's destroyed their lives in so many ways. And so I grew up with that. I grew up with that propensity and predisposition, and I was always so scared that if I ever started drinking, would I ever be able to stop? 

But even more important, I look at what I’ll be passing on to my kids. I grew up insecure and even to this day, it’s caused me to do all kinds of things that were not healthy. I fight against that. So, I've spent a good portion of my life trying to prove myself. We grew up poor, and even through high school when seeing wealth, I used to think I had to have that myself.

But what I didn't realize when I was young is that while I grew up in a 12-by-70 pink trailer house, there was so much love that filled that house. I grew up with my grandparents, and it took a long time for me to realize that I had so much more than all my friends. But even to this day, I must fight against my insecurities.

I can still work myself to death. I’m a workaholic by nature because I’ve always felt like I had to prove myself, that I wasn’t enough and that I should do more. 

What a horrible way to go through life. It just cripples you in so many ways. I see my tendency to be that way, and the last thing I want to do is pass that on to my kids. I want them to know that they're fearfully and wonderfully made in the eyes of Jesus and that they don't need to be insecure. They can go through life, not proud but knowing that they have a father in Heaven who’s going to guide them and He will make them whole. There's nothing they can do to achieve that. There's nothing we can do to make ourselves whole apart from Jesus. He's the only hope we’ve got.

3. Environment – Where We Spend Our Time

The environment that a horse lives in plays a huge role in the amount of distortion that can occur in its feet. We all know that; that isn’t news. I thought I was a pretty decent horseshoer; I can keep feet together. But the first summer of shoeing in Florida, I was concerned at how terrible the feet looked. I'd be embarrassed for any one of you to look at them. I just couldn't believe how bad they could get, so fast. It was because of the environment.

We are the same way. If you're living in an unhealthy environment, you're surrounding yourself with people who pay no mind to Christ, and if they're living in the world, you're going to live that way, too. My grandpa used to say, "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future. " It’s true. 

These days, he’d probably say, “Show me your search engine and what you’re looking at on your phone, and I’ll show you your future.”

What does the Bible say about our environment? See Hebrews 10:22-25.

"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with a full assurance that faith brings, having our heart sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Not giving up meeting together is somewhere in the habit of doing that, but encouraging one another and all the more is that you see the day approaching."

Context from Dusty Franklin: “What I got out of this verse is the crossroads that I'm at right now. I've been in this industry a long time, and I've had the opportunity to speak all over the world. And I look back going through this process now, and realize I failed a lot of people on a message that I could’ve been giving all the time. So, spread what you're learning, see things through His eyes. Moving forward, that’s what I see and what I want to do in the future.”

Dusty Franklin

Summary: That’s our biggest disease in the farrier industry, Craig Trnka says it all the time, that we are isolationists. It's easy for us to show up, go to work, shoe horses and go home. We live in a very small world, or we can. As Christians, when we don't have accountability in our lives, we can risk convincing ourselves that we are doing just fine when in reality we are dying inside. Just like when we're out shoeing horses, we can convince ourselves that we're doing a good job as long as we never have anybody else critique our work. And as Christians, we can convince ourselves that we're all right; that we aren’t as bad as that guy next to me or down the barn aisle. But deep down, we know that's not true.

4. Length of Cycle – Time Spent with God

Distortion in a horse's feet will commence as soon as farrier intervention commences. Therefore, the longer the trimming/shoeing cycle goes, the greater the distortion will be. We all see that and that’s why we must stay on a short cycle. The shorter the trimming and shoeing cycle, the better.

It's no different for us. If we have long gaps where we don't connect with God, if we're not getting into the Word, the longer those gaps are and the more distorted we become. In nautical terms, if you're 1 degree off when sailing across the ocean, you’ll end up on another continent. And just 1 degree off over time can make all the difference in our lives as well. We must keep our compass pointing North so to speak.

The Bible is active, it's alive, it's living and breathing. It's God. That's how He speaks to us these days. When we read the Bible, the Bible reads us. And that's why you can read the same verse 27 times over the course of your life and get something different from it every single time – because it's alive and active. But if we're not engaging and not opening the Word on a regular basis, then how will God speak to us?

He can answer your prayers and He can guide you that way, but the way He guides us most is through His word, so it's important that we dive into it. I can get busy or rather, lazy. And I won't get up in time to give God the time that He deserves. When I start my day without Him, I often get to the end of the day and feel like I missed it. The more that happens, the more walls get built up around us.

What does the bible say? See Romans 12:1-2

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will."

Summary: Every day we must work at the renewing of our minds. There are so many things that come at us, I can't imagine it's ever been harder to keep your mind and your heart in alignment with God because we have so much information coming at us all the time. We're always on our phones, the radio is always on, there’s all this background noise. There's all this technology around us and we can either use it to build us up or tear us down. There is so much opportunity to listen to Christian music, use Bible apps or even listen to Christian podcasts to feed yourself spiritually. If we don’t find ways to spend time with God and re-center ourselves then life’s distractions will eventually become our distortion.

5. Horse’s Posture – Our Posture Before God

As horses mature and develop in their training, they adapt to the pressures placed on them. This pressure often causes pain in the horse's body, so the horse must adapt its posture to find comfort. This adaptation to pain causes unequal loading and results in further distortion.

We are all broken people, whether we admit it or not. Every one of us is in desperate need of a savior. So, will we go through life and adapt this posture like a horse does? 

I see it all the time, especially in aged and competitive horses. A horse looks like it’s sickle-hocked, and you take X-rays and he's got a negative PA, and you’ll see what a bad posture the horse has developed. But then you make some adjustments, the vet gets involved and the pain cycle ends and, all of a sudden, the horse isn't sickle hocked. He's just been compensating from being really sore. He's adapted himself to relieve the pain and we are all prone to do the same thing.

Sam Hogan

We go through life and we get banged up and bruised. As horseshoers, we're tough people and we're not likely to share our feelings. It's easy for us to be hard-hearted because we're go-getters; we're going to just “make it happen.”

But God also wants to make it happen for us, He wants us to surrender. He wants our heart. So what do we do? We are all in the same boat, we must surrender and cry out 'Come, Lord Jesus.'" It's that simple. "Come, Lord Jesus." But often, we can't get past our pain. And life does that. It just builds up and we can’t seem to break the pain cycle.

If we're not careful, it puts us in bondage. We're chained to our pain, and we're not free. We're not living the freedom of Christ because we've got so much garbage that we're dragging along with us. It's like what Mr. Wharton was saying about moving. We’ve got to downsize. We need to get rid of the junk that we don't need.

What does the bible say? See Philippians 2:12-18

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence — continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.”

Summary: I married young at age 23 to my college sweetheart. I grew up in the Mormon culture in Utah. It’s common to marry young in that culture. I got married young but after a couple of years of marriage, it didn't work out. And it absolutely crushed me.

I remember reading the Book of Job. It was probably the first time in my life when I felt like I could not get enough of God's Word. I could not get enough truth in me because there were so many lies and so much brokenness. I had to move past that. I had to figure out how to move on and not let the divorce define me. It took 1½ years to get to where I felt like I could get up and put my mind elsewhere. It had consumed my thoughts for too long.

There was a divorce help group at church to give you tools and help you navigate through it. It was the last place I ever wanted to be. I finally showed up for it.

I'll never forget the first meeting. There were people there who had been divorced for 15 years and they were still in as much turmoil as if it was the very first day; like they never moved past it. God started doing a work in me that needed to be done my whole life.

When I was 9 months old, my mom was 22. She had 3 kids, was addicted to meth, and both her and my dad were alcoholics. She dropped my two older sisters and I off at my grandparents' one weekend, and I didn't see her again until I was 13. 

So my whole adolescence, I convinced myself that I didn't need a mom. I had great grandparents and other people in my life. I didn't need a mom.

But as I got older, there was this big void in my life. Everybody needs a mom. That’s the way God created us. I didn't realize until I'd gone through a divorce that this separation was so huge in my life. My mom left, and then I went through a divorce I didn't want, I felt that no matter what I did, they just leave. 

That was a big deal and God worked hard on me through that whole process. I

It got to a point 2½ years later, that God asked me to find my mom. I hadn't spoken to her in years. I went to find her and forgive her for the decisions that she made when I was 9 months old.

It took a lot to get to that point. I had to call one of my sisters to find out where she lived. The first day, I drove by the house and I couldn't get out of the truck. I couldn't go to the front door.

But the next day, God gave me enough courage where I pulled up and I walked up to the door. I knew I had to get there before noon because she probably wouldn't be sober enough later to have a conversation. I knocked on the door and she answered – but had no idea who I was.

Join in On the Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Devotional for Farriers

Colorado farrier Jason Critton CJF, TE, AWCF is involved with a group of the farriers that meets Thursday mornings via Zoom conference calls. The group is called ‘Iron Sharpens Iron.’ 

This group of men meets weekly, and he says the group has “gotten past the surface to understand what's really going on in each other’s lives. You might be broken and facing absolute turmoil in your life, and we aren’t designed to live by an answer of “I’m good” when it isn’t. We're designed to live in community. Scripture talks about having somebody in your life who will hold you accountable.

If you don't have that, I would encourage you, men, to join our group. We see each other week in and week out, and I'm in a deeper relationship with all those men than I would ever be without it. And it's been a huge blessing to my life.”

Join the Men’s Thursday Morning Farrier Bible Devotionals at the link here https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86471108907

And I said, "Mom, it's me, your son." We got to talking and I went in and we sat down. I told her, “I finally got to a point in life to realize that what you did when we were young was the best thing you could've done. You weren't in a position to raise a family, and you passed us off to the people you thought could do the best job. And I want to thank you for that. And I forgive you for that."

It was like I took off a 100-pound backpack, set it down and walked away. I'd never felt that kind of freedom in my entire life. I was 25 years old and up to that point had felt “unforgiveness,” that I didn’t need a mom, and was I defined by that.

When I finally got to that moment, I felt like my life could go from there. It also did the same thing for my mom because she'd spent her whole life in guilt. She didn't want to do that, but she knew that was all she could do. It was her only option at that time. And so both of us at that moment found freedom.

That’s a big deal, and maybe some of you have that sort of baggage in your life. Unforgiveness is a cancer that is holding you back. I would encourage you to surrender that to God because He wants you to live a free life. He doesn't want you to be in bondage.

Even on a small scale, we have all kinds of things in our lives that we hold onto, whether it's a relationship with a friend that was broken or a sin in your life. All kinds of things hold us back from being free and allowing God to move us and navigate our lives, to guide us through what lies before us.

Don't hold on to that stuff. Don't hold on to any of that. If today's the day that you surrender, praise Jesus. And if you're in this room this morning and you don't know Him, I'd be happy to visit with you and pray with you. 

You can go through life and be the world's greatest horseshoer with all the accolades, the letters after our name, shoeing the best horses, maybe even winning a world championship, but at the end of the day, you'll feel empty inside. No accomplishments are going to replace that big hole that God created inside you. There's only one thing that can fill it, and it's Jesus Christ and Him alone. I encourage you to seek and surrender to the Lord and allow him to open your eyes to the distortion that is holding you back from living the life He desires for you to live.