Farriers are lucky to have a wide variety of skills, tools and materials to take care of horses’ feet. When that new client calls, we sometimes need all three to do the job. I’ve always tried to stay on top of information that can help me do the right thing for my customers in all three areas.

I shoe hunters and jumpers and work with steel and aluminum every day. When I had a chance to try the new titanium shoes in the market, I wanted to see for myself how they compared to what I knew from experience and had heard about titanium in the past. What could titanium shoes do for my work now? Were these new shoes any different than what I knew or heard about titanium? Was this something that I could use?

Trying To Help Troubled Feet

The shoes I tried were a standard wide web style called the Rider-Ti from Champion Titanium Horseshoe Co. The pattern was suitable and the nail holes well placed for what I needed so I put a pair of No. 2s on one of my client’s horse.

Shoeing this hunter requires extra care, because the hoof condition is pretty soft and shelly, but the owners want a light aluminum shoe on the fronts. My thinking was I could help the situation because the titanium shoes were light, but sturdy. They could hold the foot together, because titanium should retain shape and support when the shoes flex under stress.

Working…