DECISIONS. DECISIONS. When it’s time to weld a horseshoe, farriers have more than one option for getting the job done. And for most shoes, oxyacetylene torch welding and the various types of electric arc welding will all produce a strong weld.

ON JULY 12, a small group of elite farriers from around the world will gather on a stage in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, each standing in front of his nation’s flag.

PROBABLY NO OTHER TOOL in horseshoeing can generate such widely differing opinions as hoof testers.

AS ALUMINUM SHOES rise in popularity and find their way onto more horses, it becomes more likely that farriers will eventually find themselves needing to modify one of these keg shoes with a bit of welding.

IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE that the rig Mike Rogers recently displayed at the first annual International Hoof-Care Summit in Cincinnati is actually a 1996 Chevrolet pickup with 75,000 miles behind it.

START A DISCUSSION about the finer points of shoeing healthy hooves these days, and the talk will probably turn to balance, or maybe symmetry, or even shod versus barefoot feet.