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Fine-Tuning Keg Shoes
Quality keg shoes can make a farrier's life a lot easier. They're well made, competitively priced and available in a broad range of sizes and shapes to fit the hooves of just about any horse. With a little help, of course.
Add A Little Extra
The ability to modify keg shoes to meet the needs of a particular horse has become a key skill for the professional farrier to master.
Danny Ward of Martinsville, Va., an American Farrier's Association (AFA) Certified Journeyman Farrier and a member of the International Horseshoeing Hall Of Fame, describes how he cold-shapes a front pattern keg shoe when the shoe doesn't quite fit the foot.
General Advice
Ward warns against overworking keg shoes, which he says will usually be "pretty close" to properly fitting most horses.
"We've got the hammer, we've got the anvil and we've got to hit 'em," says Ward, describing what he believes is a common trait of many farriers. "I'll find some shoes fit pretty good, but I've got to go hit 'em anyway, because I've got all the tools."
There are problems with that, he says.
"Once you've overworked a shoe, than it's three or four times harder to get it back where you want it," he says. "It's better to do a little bit, check it, then go back and do it a little more if you have to."
Shaping The Shoe
Stay away from the toe. Think of the center of the toe as being at the 12 o'clock position, and center hammer blows at 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock to move the branches. If you do, Ward says the toe will be close to where it needs to be without modification in most instances.
Limit your hammer blows. Ward suggests striking the shoe four times, twice at 11
o'clock, then twice at the 1 o'clock position.
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| When working to tighten the heels of a keg shoe, Danny Ward centers his hammer blows at the end of the crease, again alternating blows on either branch of the shoe |
If you strike the shoe on one side, strike it an equal number of times on the other, if the hoof is uniform.
When adjusting the heels, work from the end of the crease back toward the heel. Place the end of the crease right on the turning cam on an anvil. Again, if you hit one side of the shoe, hit the other.
Leveling The Shoe
After shaping the shoes, level them. Ward says that's a must.
"Anytime you hit a shoe with a hammer, you're going to have to pay attention to whether the shoe is level," he says. "They're going to twist on you a little bit."
When leveling, Ward suggests working along the inside branch of the shoe with the flat side of the hammer.
While leveling, keep as much of the shoe flat on the anvil as you can. "Anytime you level a shoe, cold or hot, you're going to have it a little high in spots," says Ward. "Those spots are going to stress a foot a little bit."
Mind The Nail Holes
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| After shaping a keg shoe on your anvil, it is extremely important to level it properly. |
While many keg shoes have well-placed nail holes, hammering on the shoes will usually result in some change in those holes.
Clean out the holes with a pritchel. Ward suggests working from the ground side since the holes and pritchel are both tapered to match in that direction.
Chipping a little piece of iron out of the first two nail holes to make it easier to fit the shoe accurately. In fact, some farriers maintain this is the most critical thing you can do in modifying shoes.
