Some farriers wear the fact that they aren’t computer savvy like a badge of honor.

But like it or not, shoers in this day and age are going to be dealing with the Internet and the World Wide Web — even if they never put their fingers on a keyboard or place their palm over a computer mouse.

Talking about quarter cracks, equine veterinarian and farrier Stephen O’Grady says, “There are a lot of different causes. Some we don’t fully understand.

The development, evolution and versatility of today’s adhesive products have made farriers’ lives easier. Repair procedures that used to be extremely time consuming such as rebuilding severely damaged feet, hoof-wall rebuilds due to pulled shoes, quarter cracks, glue-ons, etc., can now be relatively fast-moving jobs.

It might surprise you, but approaching the Saddlebred foot can be intimidating to many farriers. There’s a lot to think about and frankly, more players to answer to.

THE IMPORTANCE OF early detection of a quarter crack cannot be overemphasized.