It is one of the basic cornerstones of farriery: invest the time with the horse to watch it before picking up its feet. Each farrier has their own system, withsome commonality to their approaches. But is the necessary time being spent with each horse, and is the process with each horse consistent?

Hedswli, Switzerland, farrier Stefan Wehrli says it is imperative that the horse must be thoroughly examined by the farrier before working with it. But it isn’t good enough simply to watch a horse move. You need a consistent, repeatable and objective method for your horse analysis. Wehrli has a structured process for examination of the horse before he shoes it. He shared this approach at the September 2018 Northeast Association of Equine Practitioners Symposium in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Step 1: Gait Analysis

Farriers often have access to advanced diagnostic results. These are helpful under the right circumstances, but Wehrli doesn’t like to see radiographs of the horse before he conducts his own examination. Instead he wants…