Farrier Takeaways

• Metal shoes have been nailed on to horses’ feet for approximately 2,000 years, but the modern day “ready-made” horseshoe has only been around for less than 1/10 of that time.
• Henry Burden, a Scottish engineer at the Troy Iron & Nail Factory in Troy, N.Y., invented the first machine to mass produce horseshoes in 1835.
• After World War I, cars, trucks and tractors replaced a multitude of horses; but then the “Baby Boom” generation and a prosperous economy created a new, widespread use of horses for recreation.
• By 2000, there were more than 20 times the number of horseshoe, nail, tool, equipment, and supply companies than were present in 1975.