At no other time in the history of horseshoeing have farriers had more hoof-care options than they do right now. What they can’t buy, talented farriers can custom build at the forge and anvil, or create from their own ingenuity using modern materials. As a result, it is tempting to look to shoes as the be-all-end-all answer to hoof-care problems. Blanchardville, Wis., farrier Martin Roche prefers to look to the horse.

Roche, who splits his time among boarding barns, individual clients, Lodi Veterinary Care clinic and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, College of Veterinary Medicine, has been a farrier for 25-plus years. He obtained his early horseshoeing education — and the philosophy that guides him to this day — from his mentor and…