I’ve never heard a farrier look at the horse after working with it and say, “Good enough.” Maybe some have thought it, but never said it aloud. To me, “good enough” means somewhere between the lowest threshold of acceptable, but never attaining perfection.

Likewise, I’ve never had a farrier tell me that the work they just did — or ever have done — was perfect. There is always something, no matter how minute, that farriers think could be better. Perfection is unattainable when results are measured over the shoeing cycle, not just the day it was trimmed or shod. No matter how you feel on the day you worked with the horse, measuring in the rearview mirror weeks later is the toughest evaluator.

Regarding the perfect shoeing job, I remember hearing farrier Steve Sermersheim, director of Midwest Equine at the University of Illinois, say that he has yet to achieve the perfect shoeing job, but he’s always striving for it.

“If I ever do, I’ll take an ad out during the Super Bowl showing the pictures,” he adds.

The elusive perfect job remains the goal for many farriers every time they pick up a foot, so what is the balance between “good enough” and “perfect?”

Pursue Excellence, Not Perfection

Craig Groeschel doesn’t see “good enough” as a bad thing. As senior pastor of Life Church, an evangelical multi-site church, he challenges us to reevaluate the investment we make in our work. Groeschel…