I’ve lost count of the number of times when owners have explained that their horse has to be shod with bar shoes, rolled toes, egg bars, wedged heels or a similar type of shoe.

The Calgary Mail-In Exercise, now going into its sixth year, continues to grow as an educational forging event, attracting new entrants from around the globe who are eager to improve their own forging skills as well as to share in the valuable farrier tools and supplies provided by the farrier industry companies that support this effort.

Jim Ferrie ranks among the world’s best possible sources for advice about bar shoes. He’s earned his way into the International Horseshoeing Hall Of Fame during his more than 30 years as a farrier, and he specializes in therapeutic shoeing while working in Newmilns, Ayrshire, Scotland.