As the old saying goes, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. When we apply that proverbial saying to farriery, we find that it certainly applies to shoeing horses, as well.

When a horse presents with a problem that a farrier must address, each case is an individual journey with multiple paths to a destination.

Of course, the best-case scenario for any destination is a complete recovery from the injury or pathology. Unfortunately, we understand that some paths aren’t always as straight forward. These are cases in which the injury or pathology must be managed for a prolonged period of time and in some situations, it will be for the life of the horse — as we will see in this installment.

Key Factors

Over the next several issues of American Farriers Journal, we will detail different shoeing applications and various options for how to achieve the…