Hall of Fame farrier Dave Farley was working for the large animal hospital at Ohio State University when he first realized the profound impact that point of view can have on evaluating the equine limb.

“One of the tools we had was a fluoroscope,” he says, noting that it had a fluorescent screen and was used for viewing X-ray images without taking or developing X-ray photographs. “It was unbelievable because it would rotate all the way around the horse’s limb.”

Up until that point, Farley had worked mostly with radiographs, which are one dimensional. Although they are a necessary diagnostic tool, they are not the “end-all-do-all,” says the Coshocton, Ohio, and Wellington, Fla., farrier.

The ability to look at the horse in multiple dimensions should be part of the farrier’s skill set as a hoof-care expert. Over the years, Farley and fellow Hall of Fame inductee, Drummond, Wis., farrier Roy Bloom, developed some guidelines for the proper way to look at the horse to help it perform its best. Farley shared these “12 Points of Reference for Evaluating the Equine Limb” at Centaur Forge in Burlington, Wis., during a fall clinic sponsored by Farrier Product Distribution.

12 Points

1. The…