Performance horses, by the very nature of the work they are asked to do, are more prone to injuries than horses that are being used primarily for recreational riding.

There are a number of studies that offer evidence that certain injuries are more likely to occur with certain disciplines, but an informal survey of several experienced farriers indicates that across disciplines, more common injuries such as sore feet and abscesses are the culprits that farriers most often have to deal with.

That makes sense, as farriers working with performance horses often are being asked to manage these problems so that a horse can continue to compete.

“No matter the discipline, every horse gets abscesses,” points out Jeff Ridley, a farrier from Leighton, Iowa. “That’s something a farrier is going to see and has to know how to treat.”