Skills in modifying shoes will not only improve your ability to help horses, but Fults, Ill., farrier Paul Skaggs says that using these skills decreases your expenses. In this lecture, he’ll share how using these five simple shoe modifications will help decrease inventory and increase profit margins. But it makes more than good business sense. Honing your skill with these basic tips will help those horses with specific needs addressed by these modifications. It doesn’t matter if you are just starting out or a seasoned farrier in need of a refresher, this session will help you.

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Earlier in his career, Paul Skaggs cold shod every horse. After developing his practice and committing to shoeing full-time, he focuses on improving his skills at the forge and anvil with his horses. In this continuation of his first lecture, Skaggs gets into the actual numbers behind shoe modifications and their impact on your business. Doing the math on these modifications to maximize profit margins by minimizing overhead.

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Todd Allen is a farrier based in Vandergrift, Pa. In this session, Allen reviews techniques that have benefitted him in this practice.

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Glue is a widely used solution for a variety of hoof-care problems. Stuart Muir of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., finds there is much that the everyday practitioner needs to consider. In this presentation, he will cover shoe selection, determining when you use which method depending on the foot type, modifications, tips and case studies. He will examine both direct and indirect methods.

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Bob Smith is a Hall Of Fame farrier and owner of the Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School in Plymouth, Calif. In this session, Smith reviews a few shoeing modifications that are crucial for every farrier.

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High-speed fluoroscopy kinematography is a novel technique in gait analysis. With the relative newness of this technology, we’re just beginning to scratch the surface on what we can learn. Leipzig University researcher Jenny Hagen will outline this innovative tool, the methods for using it and link to equine podiatry. She’ll also forecast the possibilities with it, while also keeping everything grounded by outlining the limitations of this tool.

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Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital vet Scott Morrison has been in practice for more than 25 years. In that time, he’s earned keen insight on footcare strategies to work based on addressing principles of footcare. In this fast-paced session, he’ll run through shoeing the normal horse to dealing with many pathology types. Spending just a couple minutes per topic, the Hall Of Famer will briefly discuss the origin of a problem and the dos and don’ts when managing it.

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In this session, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., veterinarian and farrier Mark Silverman will discuss the basics and mechanics of repairing the hoof wall. Silverman will pull samples from his California clinic and how he and the resident farrier approach the application. A severe case study will demonstrate the need for understanding this footcare application.

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Advanced imaging techniques like magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound and computerized tomography scans are powerful diagnostic tools. But each has a distinctly different function. Renate Weller will survey each of these tools and explain their role in diagnosing problems within the foot and limb. She will use illustrative case histories to help explain the use of advanced imaging for managing foot lamenesses.

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You have knife sharpening all figured out, right? Guess again. No matter what brand knife you use or how often you sharpen it, you’ll look at knives differently after seeing this talk. Argyle, Wis., farrier and knifesmith Matt Maurer will completely dissect the sharpening process, giving insight with microscopic detail.

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Dr. Patricia Bona discusses evaluation of myofascial restrictions due to various issues. You'll learn how to recognize the altered posture caused by “conditions” of plantar fasciitis, rotator cuff syndrome and tennis elbow in horses to help restore good posture from the feet up and the top down. Bona also will share her thoughts on how the whole horse team can collaborate on these matters.

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