Not all hooves are created equal. If they were, shoeing would be an easy skill to master, everyone would do it and it would not pay nearly what it does. Luckily, every hoof has a story to tell and — as farriers — we need to learn how to read that story and write a happy ending to it.

There’s an abundance, if yet not very helpful, literature on the Web and elsewhere on so-called “club foot” in horses.

Dandi had been lame on and off for 3 years. He was over 30 years old, but his exact age was unknown (at least to me). I was called in on this case at the suggestion of the farrier who was working at the barn where Dandi was stabled, near Pearl City, Ill.