Old timer at the auction showed me something about hoof angles I'll never forget

I was at a consignment auction in Kentucky about 2 years ago, bidding on some used rasps. This elderly farrier, must've been 80 if he was a day, walked over and pointed at my notes. He said "son, you're reading the angle wrong, it's not about the toe, it's about the heel." He spent 20 minutes showing me on a draft horse's hoof that was just standing there. I'd been doing this for 8 years and never saw it that way. Has anyone else had an older farrier totally change how you look at something basic?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kevin1d ago

Man that story hit close to home... I used to think hoof angles were all about measuring from the toe and calling it good. Had an old timer out in east Texas show me the same thing on a mule he was trimming. He just let the hoof rest natural and pointed at the heel, said "that's where the weight actually lands, not where you think it should be." Changed everything for me after that. Been doing it his way ever since and my shoes fit way better, horses move smoother too. Sometimes the simple stuff is what we miss the most.

colesanchez1d ago

Did that old timer mention anything about how the heels wear naturally tells you the true breakover point?