As farriers, we can use farriery and different farriery techniques to aid biomechanical function. But first, we must study the foot and understand form and function.

Shoeing performance horses don’t require bells and whistles. Quite the contrary, says Lexington, Ky., farrier Bobby Menker. “Just keep it simple,” he told attendees at the Wisconsin Equine Clinic & Hospital in Ocon­omowoc, Wis. “We start at the coronary band and then try to build a base all the way down. This is what I like to build for.”

“I own my business — it doesn’t own me.” Kurt Fisk lives by this max­im. The Bend, Ore., farrier has found that he’s much happier and successful in his hoof-care practice as a result.

You need a heart-bar shoe, but you don’t have time to forge one. No problem, says International Horseshoeing Hall Of Famer Myron McLane. A heart bar doesn’t need to be hand forged to be effective. All you need is a keg shoe, a short piece of bar stock and a little elbow grease.

Farriers spend a lot of energy, effort and expertise to keep their charges’ feet in tip-top shape so that their clients can continue year-round. Some farriers have clients who opt to migrate their horses to other locations beyond their “home base” for part of the year, such as those whose clients show during the winter in Florida.

Performance horses, by the very nature of the work they are asked to do, are more prone to injuries than horses that are being used primarily for recreational riding. There are a number of studies that offer evidence that certain injuries are more likely to occur with certain disciplines, but an informal survey of several experienced farriers indicates that across disciplines, more common injuries such as sore feet and abscesses are the culprits that farriers most often have to deal with.

Is the practice of grooving beneficial when managing a quarter crack? Conventional wisdom seems to indicate that it does. However, Bed­minster, N.J., farrier Bob Pethick had doubts. So when a client, who happened to be a veterinarian, bought a Quarter Horse with a bleeding quarter crack and a displaced heel quarter on the front foot, the Hall Of Fame farrier was presented with an opportunity to experiment.