Are you sitting down? Well, maybe you should be. Get comfortable, grab your favorite beverage, relax, stay a while, because I am about to reveal to you who the greatest farrier in the world is.
Did I get your attention? Perfect.
Linked to horses for the better part of my existence and toiling as a farrier, head below my posterior, for now close to 25 years, I’ve had the good fortune to work at some of the top facilities, with and for some of the top professionals in the world. Armed with well over the required 10,000 hours to master this skill, my midlife crisis (I already have a sports car, maybe two) found me torturing myself with a return to academics—for seven years and counting—including post-graduate courses, research, data analysis, and statistics.
Now, I recognize the information I’m about to share may be valuable. However, before you start running through the barn aisle, texting, tweeting, sending smoke signals, or whatever else goes on these days to communicate breaking news, I’m issuing the standard disclaimer with caveats. In all things equine, many hard and fast rules exist, including in farriery, but there are always exceptions. I cannot stress enough a horse’s behavior for shoeing. Owners and trainers share responsibility for the training of horses, including standing for the farrier. If your horse lacks patience, has physical limitations, and/or some other issue that may affect a farrier’s ability to do their job correctly, then your expectations need to be tempered and realistic.
The hoof is not a block of wood. “I get paid for what I leave on, not for what I take off,” is a line I once heard years ago, and I often reuse.
Sure, I’m biased, but I believe we can all universally agree farriery is challenging, both physically and mentally. With the ever-increasing competitiveness of the horse sports, an “off-season” has become something of the past. Mounting pressure results from horse owners’ and professionals’ desire to avoid unintended down time, including from hoof-related unsoundness. A farrier’s interventions must border on perfection, every time. If you start with a sound horse, then you should finish with one, with some hope of improving performance.
I often argue shoeing is undoubtedly the most invasive thing done to horses on a routine basis. The hoof is not a block of wood. “I get paid for what I leave on, not for what I take off,” is a line I once heard years ago, and I often reuse.
A farrier only needs to do three things to truly be the greatest (keeping in mind the disclaimer that your horse needs to allow us to do these things).
Step 1: ‘Balance’ the Foot, And Don’t Cut It Too Short
We hear the term balance constantly, and this directly relates to the hoof’s geometric shape and presentation. It is arguably the farrier’s one main objective and gold standard. A farrier’s inability to achieve and/or maintain a hoof’s balance could impact a horse’s soundness and dynamics.
But what defines a “balanced” hoof?
Most experts would universally agree that a “balanced foot” refers to its static geometric shape and presentation in relation to the rest of the horse’s body. However, geometric static hoof balance is difficult to quantify. It falls into the category of perception, which differs for everyone, influenced by visuospatial awareness and with each person’s handedness dictating which side of the brain is used to make assessments of shapes and size.
The hoof’s presentation and growth are directly influenced by conformation and other connected factors like the grazing stance (a position held for 16-plus hours a day), an injury, and/or previous farrier interventions. But a key component to achieving static geometric balance must be a farrier’s competence in realizing and maintaining bony column alignment.
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Bony column alignment occurs when the long and short pastern bones form a line with the coffin bone. Proper alignment allows for the joints and soft tissue elements of the foot and leg to function properly.
If your veterinarian is a fan of drawing lines on radiographs, they may draw a bending line (subluxation) indicating that alignment hasn’t been achieved. Additionally, in the long-toe, low-heel hoof examples, there will likely be a connected comment about negative palmar (front) or plantar (hind) angles (see image on p. 36). Palmar and plantar angles refer to the positioning of the coffin bones in the hoof. Negative coffin bone angles will have the front of the bone pointing upwards. That type of bone position, if left unchecked, may turn into a problem for affected horses. It is estimated that upwards of 70% of horses presenting with forelimb lameness likely have bony column malalignment.
A few things to keep in mind: Achieving bony column alignment is not always possible in some horses, especially in extreme cases. Flat hooves, long toes or low heels can make it impossible; a great farrier recognizes the foot’s limitations and doesn’t cut a foot too short. Cutting a horse too short will most definitely result in soreness, unsoundness, veterinary bills, possible abscess and down time. A farrier will most certainly not be in the greatest category if they rob a foot of its natural protection, weight-bearing, force-dampening, impact-resisting properties with an overly aggressive trim.
Additionally, the struggle for the perfect footing continues, and the surface dictates the hoof’s need for all the protection it can get, requiring many farriers—myself included—to affix more pads, hoping to create more space for the coffin bone’s proximity to the ground.
Step 2: If The Horse Is Shod, Don’t Stick It With A Nail
Many moons ago, I worked for the legendary Seamus Brady, former U.S. Equestrian Team farrier and a member of both the International Horseshoeing and Show Jumping (as the only farrier in the group) Halls of Fame. Seamus was arguably “the man” back in the day—many modern “tricks” and techniques (and the increasing cost of shoeing!) started with him.
But boy, he sure could successfully drive nails, even into the most difficult of feet, and that’s something usually only farriers can appreciate. However, owners certainly should too. Successfully driving nails to the “right spot” in hooves is beneficial to maintaining a foot’s integrity, especially in high performance sport horses. As a helper, I came along later in Seamus’ career, and the partnership was very potent—his brains, my brawn. Of all the gifts that I received from him, the greatest was the gift of learning how to properly drive nails.
Look, all farriers will occasionally “get” a horse with a nail. If you drive enough nails, it happens. It is accidental and an unintended consequence of myriad things related to reading the foot, which will sometimes lie. If a farrier tells you they’ve never stuck a horse, they are lying. Obviously, if you are sticking horses all the time then perhaps you should consider a different career or seek out help to figure out what you are doing wrong.
For an experienced farrier, getting a horse with a nail should almost come as a surprise, an “oh sh*t” moment, or when you are encountering a difficult foot, thin walls, and severe breakage, requiring some bravery. In those situations Seamus would say he needed the “Holy Water,” placing the nails in his mouth and then attempting to drive them. He was a character.
The trick to nailing is recognizing tell-tale signs. Every breed brings differences in wall quality, thickness and sensitivities. An experienced farrier knows what type of shoe to use and how to position it, minimizing mistakes and enabling their ability to successfully drive nails to a place in the foot where the shoe’s integrity and foot’s quality are maintained.
A great farrier should be able to successfully marry the dynamic appendage, the hoof, and the static appliance, the shoe. The shoe is not natural to the foot, and in most cases the nails are the only things keeping them on. Every farrier will have a preference and comfort level with where and how they place their nails. I won’t get into the weeds on that subject, but too high will probably cause an issue. But so will too low. It’s like Goldilocks; you need to find the “just right” spot for each horse and every foot. (And if you don’t know who Goldilocks is, Google it, kid.)
So, balanced feet? Check! Shoes? Nailed on, horse is sound and performing well? Check!
Then your farrier checks off two boxes and is one box away from being the greatest, but here is where you come in.
Step 3: You’ve Gotta Keep The Shoes On*
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Note the asterisk. Let’s not fall asleep, people. Pay attention, because this last piece of the puzzle requires your due diligence as well. This is a shared responsibility.
I’m not going to tiptoe around: If the farrier is doing his or her job right, the shoes should remain intact during all phases of performance—riding, flatwork, jumping—and even some forms of turn-out. As much as there is a science to shoeing, there will be the equal part art form, including techniques and tricks, to keeping shoes on.
Dr. Simon Curtis of British farrier fame once noted, “My shoe lost your horse,” and not the other way around. Consider this: The harsh reality of shoeing is the foot continuously works to try to get the shoe off. It’s not natural. The trick is to design and craft a shoe that works in tandem with the foot.
In fairness, farrier examples involving “Buttercup,” a theoretical horse with an elaborate shoeing prescription who is most often turned out for 10 hours a day in a 10-acre muddy paddock, and who loves to run and frolic with her three buddies, is likely a recipe for shoe pulling.
Sure, we can all agree it’s a beautiful sight, but let’s weigh everything and be sensible, reasonable and realistic with expectations. I get that you want to turn out Buttercup with her bar shoes, but let’s take every precaution possible (see image above). Folks, this is a service industry. Most of us aim to please; no one is looking to create an issue. On the contrary, most farriers are trying to avoid them.
When all parties work together as a team, properly managed and maintained horses, with reasonable durations between farrier visits—generally four to six weeks—should see a great farrier being able to keep the shoes on more often than not. If you let bar-shoe-Buttercup go 10 weeks and then text Joe Farrier, “Hey, Buttercup lost a shoe in the paddock today,” don’t be shocked when he sends you a reply that contains the Italian hand gesture Che vuoi and the words “no kidding!”
Shoeing Nuance
So, there you have it, the greatest farrier: He or she can balance a foot, nail it on without issue and, to a greater or lesser extent, when all parties are working together, keep the shoes on.
Yep, that’s all it takes. Well, maybe?
The voices in my head, including those of my colleagues, tell me there is slightly more to this shoeing thing that takes some farriers next level, and that’s where the nuance comes in. But you know what? That’s a story for next time.
Jude Florio has served as a professional farrier for over 20 years, working with top professionals across a number of different disciplines. In addition to practicing farriery full time, he is a published author, patented inventor and guest lecturer for the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies Equine Science Program, where he earned his master’s degree in science. He also holds a graduate diploma from the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College in applied equine locomotor research.
A version of this article originally appeared in the March 2024, issue of The Chronicle of the Horse. You can subscribe and get online access to a digital version and then enjoy a year of The Chronicle of the Horse and our lifestyle publication, Untacked. If you’re just following COTH online, you’re missing so much great unique content. Each print issue of the Chronicle is full of in-depth competition news, fascinating features, probing looks at issues within the sports of hunter/jumper, eventing and dressage, and stunning photography.
