While arrests were made earlier this spring of Maryville, Tenn., horse trainer Larry Joe Wheelon and two co-workers suspected of violating the Tennessee law against animal cruelty, an early June arrest was made of a farrier for his role in the disgraceful practice of soring. This represents the first time a farrier has been arrested in conjunction with ongoing state and federal soring investigations.

I'm sure most farriers have read the 8-line poem, "For Want of a Nail," which is printed below in its entirety. But few farriers may have heard the 1923 Chicago gangster quotation, as reported in the Chicago Tribune... "For the presence of a horseshoe, Nails was lost." The bizarre 1932 incident involved Chicago gangster Samuel "Nails" Morton, so named because of his "superior qualities in gang fights." A so-called Chicago florist, Morton had been acquitted in the murder of a pair of Chicago police officers in 1922.

With the hoof-care season about to hit full stride, many farriers have already raised their trimming and shoeing prices for the coming year. And if you haven't already done so, now's a good time to think about the impact higher supply costs can have on the need for boosting your prices.