That old horseman who showed me a better way to pull a shoe

I was working a barn outside of Lexington about 10 years back, and this older guy, must have been 75, walked over while I was struggling with a stuck front shoe on a big Percheron. He just stood there quiet for a minute, then said "You're fighting the hoof, not working with it." He grabbed my hammer and showed me this one specific angle to tap the clip that broke it loose in about 3 seconds flat. I still think about that moment every time I hit a shoe that doesn't want to come off. Has anyone else had a trick like that passed down from an old timer that totally changed your approach?

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king.aaron4mo ago

A buddy of mine down in Versailles had a similar thing happen with an old farrier named Roy. He was struggling to get a back shoe off a mare that was getting antsy, and Roy just walked over and tapped the outside heel with the hammer twice, real light. The shoe popped right off, and Roy said "She's telling you where she's sore, you just got to listen to the metal talk back." My friend still does that little double tap to this day, says it saves him more time than anything else he learned.

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jones.blake4mo ago

You ever tried just letting the hoof settle before you start tapping? That pause gives you a read on where the pressure is.

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