Everyday Shoeing

One from the other day. Most of my actual shoeing work is on Tennessee Walking Horses so my "everyday work" is a little different than most. 12-3/4" of 3/8" x 3/4" with MX50's.


New horse in the barn, please mind the thrush. I don't make this specific shoe very often, in this case the decision had to do with her way of going and a jammed medial heel quarter. I second guessed myself when I marked the toe hedged 1/8" and ended up with the shoe a little racked.

I build almost everything at the horse.

What other shoes do you get to make joey

I get to build a lot of weird stuff. Lots of lateral extensions and odd punched shoes to optimize placement. Next time around this mare will legged up for the next division and I'm gonna try a roadster from 3/8" x 1" if she's still around then. I took some pictures of some heavy shoes I made for a horse going to nationals next month.

How about some nightmare fuel guys? 16-1/2" of 1/2" x 1-1/2"

Sorry for the cruddy picture, it was dark and not cooperating with the flash.

Yes, one of the few times I will grinder-smith. By the time I have a pair of these turned punched and shaped I'm pretty well out of "F's". I took this horse on lame, with quarter cracks in both front feet with over an inch of jamming in both medial heels.

These shoes are a bitch to finish. I used to run my buffer over them when I'm done, not sure why I quit doing that.

*flame suit on*

From this morning.

I had to choose between power and shade, I chose shade. I would have ordinarily cut the medial heel down 3/8" or so but no power and I was afraid I'd start a grass fire if I tried to hot cut it so I leaves it, I don't think the horse really minds anyway.

i dont understand that style of fitting , any shoe i fit wide like that would be bevelled to conform with the angle of the hoofwall to prevent the shoe from getting trod on


ote="Joey Aczon, post: 30167, member: 6168"]How about some nightmare fuel guys? 16-1/2" of 1/2" x 1-1/2"

Sorry for the cruddy picture, it was dark and not cooperating with the flash.

Yes, one of the few times I will grinder-smith. By the time I have a pair of these turned punched and shaped I'm pretty well out of "F's". I took this horse on lame, with quarter cracks in both front feet with over an inch of jamming in both medial heels.

These shoes are a bitch to finish. I used to run my buffer over them when I'm done, not sure why I quit doing that.

*flame suit on*[/quote]

I'm personally not a huge fan of this style either, but it's highly sought after in the TWH community, I happen to be good at it and it pays well. It's effectively the end result of show association shoeing restrictions that were made up by a bunch of people that have no clue about shoeing, anatomy, or functionality. With this much hoof (appx 4") you have to fit this wide to flow properly through the heel with a large enough base to avoid the heels contracting. If this we're an Arab or Saddlebred we'd likely have a shorter foot with pads making up for length, and the pads would be beveled from the foot to the shoe. As such...

It's shoeing Chris, but not as we know it...

This is not a style of shoeing that exits over here and therefore not one that we are taught. It obviously serves a purpose and I honestly could not shoe a horse like that, but I can appreciate the skill required to produce a job like that, even if I don't approve of the product...

i understand that Joey , when padded, the pads are bevelled , my point is the shoe posted without pads just leaves a square edged platform begging to be trod on

99 times out of 100 if its pulled off its done by a hind foot. These horses never do lateral work so the risk of being pulled off by getting the side of the shoe stepped on is really low. Also, those two holes drilled in shoe just before the caulks are used to attach a metal strap around the foot to help keep the shoe on, I took pictures without the bands so you could see the work. With the band in place these almost never come off, even 6 months later. (Ask me how I know)

As far as removal, these are nailed up with Delta City 7 nails. The shoe is punched so the nail heads sit slightly raised from the ground surface of the shoe. I cut the clinches, and give the nailheads a couple whacks with the cutter as well, then remove the nails individually with my pull offs.

It's a different world from us in the UK as (as far as I'm aware) we have no Tennessee walking horses. For example, a standard trim for this horse to function as we require would probably result in a dorsal angle something like this:



and we would fit the shoe accordingly however, whilst the horse would perform the way we want it to do, it would stop performing the way you want it to.
It just shows the diversity of shoeing styles that farriery encompasses and the range of skills of farriers around the world.
Whether it is honourable or ethical to force a horse to walk like the German SS is a debate for another forum...

See the visitors in this picture?



I have only seen two or three cases of maggots in the foot in the last seven years, but I have had four cases in the last four weeks. I came across this one today.
I'm guessing that it must be something to do with this summer's climactic conditions.

I've only found maggots in over due draft show horses. I always figured I was the only one picking up those feet every 3-4 months anyway...

I found some in a draft foot that had canker. The horse was tranked and I was under a bit of strain to hold the hind leg up and when I saw the sole of the foot moving around I thought I was having an aneurysm bursting behind my eye or something. The Vet said he wished we could leave them in there to clean up the dead tissue.

No, not padded Ray. In fact I don't have a single horse on my books with pads.
All of these horses are well cared for.