okay so something about shoeing.....I have been thinking lately about nails. when I first started shoeing we were taught and practiced using all 8 nail holes. And I was told if I had to leave out a nail or two it should be the toe nails. the heel nails were considered essential for hloding a shoe on. This also could have been because I was shoeing using horses that were rode in the Rocky Mountain region. Now the "fad" is to use 6 nails and avoid the heel nails....go figure. I am actually shoeing like that. But lately, I've loosened up my way of thinking/doing and use whatever nails the hoof can handle.
Seems like I always have to have a new thought/idea/challenge to think about and apply while I shoe. And for the last month or so it has been nails. Placement, size, type,height,quantity, etc . Alot rides on the nails, yet I really hold firm to the belief that a good shoeing job begins with the trim. The number and placement in which holes are incidental to how well the hoof was trimmed and the shoe balanced. This summer I have found myself going back to the old-way and if the foot can take them I am putting in 8 nails , though I think some of the western performance horses have such small feet I can't always accomplish this.
So here is an old poem about the importance of the nail.
For the want of a nail the shoe was
lost
For
the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For
the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For
the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For
the want of a battle the kingdom was lost- -
And all for
want of a horseshoe-nail.
Benjamin
Franklin
