Watch a professional farrier shape a
horseshoe to fit a horse's hoof, and you'll think you're witnessing
some kind of magic. Whether shaping a shoe hot or cold, the farrier
holds the shoe on the anvil and hits it a couple of whacks here and
there, and presto—the horseshoe is the same shape as the hoof.
It's not magic. It's knowing how and where to hit the shoe to get the
response you want from your work. Now I'm going to tell you how to work
a shoe cold, because it is the most common method used by (How do I
say this without offending anyone?) non-professional horseshoers. Professionals
use hot shoeing.
After you trim the hoof (see Hoof Trimming Tools and How to Use Them),
but without rounding off the outside edge of the hoof wall, select a
factory-made shoe of appropriate size. To check the fit, choose a shoe
you think is the right size, pick up the trimmed foot, put the center
of the toe of the shoe to the center of the toe at the ground surface
of the hoof. Move the shoe from one outside hoof wall to the other and
see if the shoe covers the hoof wall. The shoe must be long enough to
cover the hoof wall, but not more than 1/4" longer than the hoof wall
on the front. A little longer on the rear is all right.
To help develop your eye for hoof shape, trace the outside of the hoof
onto a piece of cardboard, or measure the widest part of the hoof and
the heels, and make the shoe to those measurements.
Even though the shoe you are shaping is cold, hold it with tongs. The
vibration from hitting a shoe with a hammer can be painful to your bare
hand. The tongs also serve to keep your thumb and fingers away from
the hammer, which sometimes has a mind of its own.
If the shoe is narrower than the hoof at the toe, you will need to open
the shoe at the toe. Holding the shoe with the tongs, place the shoe
over the horn of the anvil, toe up. Slide the shoe back on the horn
to the widest part of the shoe. With the hammer, hit the shoe as squarely
as you can in the middle of the toe. As the shoe opens up, move the
shoe back on the horn and hit it again. If you need more width than
you can get from the horn, move the shoe to the anvil's heel. When you
think the shoe has opened up enough, check it for flatness. You can
check it by looking across the shoe or by placing the shoe on the face
of the anvil to see if it rocks or lies flat.
If the shoe is not flat—let's say one heel sticks up—do not try to hit
the heel down. It will not bend and the shoe may take off like a spring.
Instead turn the shoe over and look for a bridge in the shoe between
the toe and the bent heel. Holding the shoe with your tongs, use your
hammer to smack that little bridge flat against the face of the anvil.
Always hit the bridge and not the spring, or you will spend a lot of
time looking for shoes in all the wrong places.
After again checking the shoe for flatness, take it back to the hoof
and see how much you messed it up. If the toe fits well, but the branches
are too wide, go back to the anvil. Using the tongs to hold the shoe,
put the shoe over the horn of the anvil, pull the shoe toward you so
it rests on the horn at about the first or second nail hole in the shoe.
Hit the shoe with the hammer below this point. As you hit the shoe lift
it on the horn to the next nail hole and hit it again. Keep going until
you get to the heel of the shoe, then roll the shoe toward yourself
and hit it again and again. Now check the shoe for flatness. If it needs
flattening, you know what do.
Work the shoe's other branch the same way. When bending a branch on
the horn, keep the tongs directly across the shoe from the spot you
want to hit with the hammer.
Take the shoe back to the horse and try the fit. If it fits, nail that
shoe to the foot. If it doesn't fit—let's say it's too wide—use your
tongs to hold the shoe on its edge, vertical to the anvil's face, and
hit the top branch of the shoe with your hammer. This action will narrow
up the shoe.
If the shoe is too narrow, widen it by holding the shoe with your tongs
over the horn and hitting the toe with your hammer. Another method is
to hold the shoe with your tongs vertically over the face of the anvil
with one heel on top of the anvil and the other heel over the far edge
on the side of the anvil. Hit the toe of the shoe with your hammer.
Check the shoe for flatness after making each adjustment.
If the horse's hoof is straight on one side, or to make the toe of the
shoe more pointed for a rear foot, move along to the anvil's heel. Holding
the shoe with your tongs place the branch of the shoe that needs straightening
on the top of the anvil, with the other branch under the heel of the
anvil. Place the part of the shoe that needs straightening on the flat
and hit the shoe with your hammer.
The number of times you need to hit a shoe with your hammer depends
on the size of your hammer, the size of your arm, and the size of your
determination.
Always shape the shoe to the foot; never nail on a shoe and then rasp
the hoof to the shape of the shoe.
Any way you look at it, shaping a horseshoe to fit a horse's hoof is
not magic. It just takes practice.
