The slide is the most recognized maneuver in reining, yet there’s much more to the sport than making dirt fly. Keeping that in mind, the farrier must shoe the reiner for all of the maneuvers, all the while playing a pivotal role in keeping the reiner in the show ring.

Reining is demanding of the horse. When these equine athletes compete, they are shown and ridden heavily. In fact, by the time a reiner is 5 or 6 years old, it’s closing in on the end of its career. Collinsville, Texas, farrier Danny Anderson, who has been shoeing for more than 3 decades, is very familiar with the reining world and tends to some of the top athletes in the sport.

“A 5- or 6-year-old horse has been shown hundreds of times by that point,” he told attendees at the mid-May clinic hosted by Well-Shod in Amarillo, Texas. Delta Mustad Hoofcare Center sponsored the event. “Most of the time, those horses are already on a regular regimen of getting their hocks injected every 4 to 6 months.”