Steve Prescott wants improved efficiency at the anvil and more time enjoying the comforts
of home.

“I want to build intricate shoes that I can build in my shop, not while a horse is standing there staring at me,” Prescott told attendees at the October 2014 American and Canadian Associations of Professional Farriers Hoofcare Essentials Clinic at Yoder Blacksmith Supplies in Fredericksburg, Ohio. “I enjoy working in my shop. I have a good coke fire at home. I’m comfortable at home.”

The Raleigh, N.C., farrier found a horseshoe-making program that not only achieves these goals, but also benefits the horse.

“The exact fit shoe-making program works wonderfully for me,” Prescott says, “but not everyone swings a hammer the same, so minor adjustments may be needed for different forging styles.”

Before getting started, you’ll need your farrier tools, a ruler, a pen or pencil and a work sheet (Figure 1) to record your measurements.

It All Starts With The Trim

The first order of business is trimming the foot.

“We want to trim the foot in accordance to what the horse is going to do,” Prescott says, “and we also want to take its leg and body into consideration.”

The owner of Pedal Bone Forge trims the foot to the highest, widest point of the frog.

“My trim is always trying to achieve a perpendicular plane of the hoof capsule with the long axis to the cannon bone,” Prescott says. “It doesn’t always work out that way, but that’s my plan.”