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My old way of setting a shoe was costing me an extra 15 minutes per horse
For years I'd just eyeball the fit after shaping, then nail it on and hope for the best. Last month I started using a simple trick I saw an older farrier do at a clinic in Lexington. He'd hold the shaped shoe up to the trimmed hoof and mark the exact nail hole spots with a piece of chalk before he even picked up his hammer. I tried it on a tough draft cross last week. Instead of my usual back-and-forth adjusting, I had the shoe set and clinched in under ten minutes flat. The chalk marks gave me a perfect guide, so every nail went in right where it should on the first try. It sounds small, but over a day with six horses, that's over an hour saved. Has anyone else picked up a simple trick like this that cut down their time on a basic job?
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sammartinez2d ago
Saw a guy at the Ohio clinic use a hoof pick to scratch a quick line on the sole where the shoe should sit. No more guessing if it's centered.
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the_viola2d ago
Wow, I've used sidewalk chalk for that same trick!
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