Among many of the challenges a farrier must deal with are sheared heels. Scott Morrison, the veterinarian and farrier who leads the Podiatry Department at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, Lexington, Ky., says this problem is usually the result of less than ideal conformation. Usually the horse toes in or out, putting more stress on one side of the hoof wall (and heel) than the other. When a horse develops sheared heels, the stressed heel becomes jammed upward, the hoof symmetry is distorted and one heel is bearing most of the weight.

How do you know which type of therapeutic shoe to use in any particular case?

Spontaneous quarter cracks a hoof problem than often causes pain and lameness — are actually anything but spontaneous, according to Hans H. Castelijns, a veterinarian and farrier of Spanish origin, who now practices in Italy.

Q: Am I the only person who struggles with clips — especially side clips. I have no problem drawing the material without distorting the nail holes, but after I am done drawing out the material, I am left with an extremely straight branch or a “mule shoe.” Does anybody know how to avoid this dilemma?

What do you recommend to farriers for managing subsolar abscessing?

Very little research has been done in relationship to the hereditary nature of foot problems in the horse.

The guidance of good radiographs is invaluable in providing the vital information for formulating a shoeing prescription to realign the displaced phalanx.