Australia Farrier Fun

Got back from a 3-week wonderful trip to Australia in April. Absolutely had a blast; and two-thirds of the time was around a horse or horse event of one sort or the other. And, of course, when you are in the countryside of any country and there are any amounts of horses you will probably run into a horseshoer. I mean we are like a weed, springing up all over the place.
One of the encounters centered around a Stockman Challenge where one horse and rider participated in a cow challenge, whip cracking contest, a bareback obstacle course, packing event, cross country jump course, AND you guessed it, a judged shoeing segment. Of course, like most everything in Australia it is the same,….but different. Most everyone was using toe clipped shoes both front (same) and back (different, at least to me). I think since most of the horses have soft feet from humid conditions, etc clips helped and no one competing used a forge, thus the toe clip gives the added hold yet was easier to apply compared to side clips, especially without a forge. However, the gentlemen judging the event gave a hot shoeing demonstration after the competition and fielded questions. I so enjoyed watching and learning.
At a ranch roping clinic my husband and a friend from Colorado gave while over there, I met even a few more shoers. One participant, Dick, had an interesting theory and method for shoeing horses with flares. After visiting with him about it a couple of times I think I pictured what he was saying. I decided one of my own horses with bad flaring toes producing a low angle hoof syndrome would be a good candidate to try Dick’s method. Basically it is “shoeing to” the white line and not removing (dressing) the top hoof wall. He assured me it will appear ragged looking, but by not removing the outside wall he said you won’t be destroying the matrix of the hoof thus keeping it strong and able it to begin to grow back in line with the white line where the shoe support and breakover is occurring. Well, something like that. Anyway, I am not going to fire myself, and I will still keep to sound principles in order to keep my horse from going lame; and I’ll just see if this method will help. That is if I understood him.
Oh well, I may just need to go back to Australia for more pointers. I also trimmed two horses while over there. Does all this mean I can write-off the trip on my taxes?!?