The No. 1 reason bar shoes are used is to give the horse support. But, a bar shoe isn’t going to hurt a horse that’s perfectly sound and may even prevent serious problems down the road.

Bar Shoes Are Big Money

Every farrier most likely carries several sizes of bar shoes in his or her truck. At the very least, the farrier probably carries the proper bar stock to forge a straight or an egg bar shoe.

With the bar shoe being a specialty shoe, the cost of application is considerably more than just a “normal” shoeing. This is due to higher material costs and the amount of time put into the shoe, especially if it’s hand made. 

That’s why I use an open bar shoe before determining if bar shoes are the course of action I want to take. An open bar is a much more cost-effective way to see if a bar shoe is really going to produce the results needed for the horse.

If the customer leaves the decision to use a bar shoe up to me, I often use this method for one…