The first time I ever saw a horse shod, the farrier was my college roommate, John Hart. This was back in the early 1970s. John, who was a couple of years younger than me, had taken a spring term off from Ohio's Bowling Green State University, where we were students, to go to horseshoeing school in Oklahoma.

Some farriers are finding the 3-day ban on the use of drugs and medications is becoming a more serious issue when working with high-level horses. This is particularly true of those that that need immediate hoof repairs to keep competing. And a big question is whether we'll see a trickle-down effect at more shows that will impact shoers.