When scrolling through his social media timeline, Jim Quick can’t help but notice the increasing reliance on gadgets and gimmicks in hoof care. The result is farriers are unnecessarily complicating horseshoeing and straying from their most important job — balancing the horse.

“I have a fair number of lame horses that are brought to my shop a week after they’ve been shod,” says the Niwot, Colo., farrier. “Most of them have bells and whistles on their feet. When I tear all of that off, I find that the horse is out of balance. Nine out of 10 of these horses can be balanced and shod with a plain set of horseshoes and they leave a lot sounder than when they arrived. Farriers would do well to keep it simple and stick to the basics.”

Reflecting on his introduction to farriery, Quick remembers how easy it is to lose focus of the importance of the basics.

“When I first saw how to…