Just about any equine veterinarian who specializes in hoof care or farriers who do a lot of therapeutic shoeing will tell you the thing they most rely on to do their work isn’t found in a toolbox, mounted on a shoeing rig or installed in a workshop or veterinary clinic.

When it comes to protecting both yourself and the horse you’re working on, there are some serious safety issues to consider when selecting the toolbox that best fits your practice. To protect their backs and to get early warning signals that the horse behind them may be ready to make a dangerous move, more farriers are looking closer at the advantages of using a taller toolbox equipped with wheels.

Mentoring is a topic that gets a lot of play in business schools and publications. But it’s nothing new in the horseshoeing world — even if a “ride along” is a lot less formal than the programs you’ll read about in textbooks.