Horse-shoeing

Does my horse need shoes? Can you take a look at my horse's feet, I don't think they look right? My horse doesn't seem like he's running, stopping, or turning like he should. Nearly every horse event I've attended, a question about horse-shoeing has surfaced. Many horseman would say it is very important to direct your attention and take good care of your horses feet. It is a detail that can not be over-looked, ignored, or simply let go for a little while.
My first time hanging out with a farrier is easy to remember, even though it must have been over 30 years ago. Less than 7 years old, I was amazed at the steel shoes pounded against the perfectly smooth surface of the farriers anvil. The sound of shaping the shoes gave me the same chill of a horse freshly shod, traveling across a road making the hollow yet powerful clip and CLOP echo. The nails were so uniquely slender, who wouldn't want to have that job! Maybe the reason for my amazement of this first time visit from the farrier, was that I was the next farrier to visit my home.
There were no shoeing schedules when I was growing up in rural Kansas. The horses lived on big round bales of hay (still do there) were saddled early in the morning and put back in the lot that night. Kansas pastures and feed lots served no need for shoes on a horse. The horse's feet grew, split, and splintered, got out of balance but never had a horse trip, stumble, or fall. The job was mine to do with out even asking for permission (some things don't change). Finding some kind of big file in the machine shed, I started picking up one foot at a time and rasping off toe until I could see the improvement I was looking for. I cared just as much about my horse's feet as I cared about riding him. My compassion for the horse strengthened as I met hundreds more horses with feet that needed more care than they were getting. No, that didn't make me a farrier, my horse was barefoot for 10 years until I took him to the rocky trails in east Michigan. My nerves wouldn't let me be in the barnyard when the farrier showed up to put Hobbie's first set of shoes on. Fearing that his feet were not healthy in some way from my lack of education on the subject. When I returned, and the job had been done, I asked the wrangler what the farrier said about Hobbie's feet. Nothing. Soon after that I was in farrier school adding to the CARE of every horse I would ever meet. No, that didn't make me a farrier either. Traveling around with many farriers that I looked up to over the next five years gave me more knowledge to use than school had.
Horse-sense is the main ingredient in horse-shoeing. Caring is the second. The small differences in the way your horses feet are cared for show when you start looking at winning or loosing a competition and the years you want to enjoy riding that horse. Your horse would like to tell you some small details about shoeing that make a big difference to it. Keep the foot balanced under the bone structure of the horse's leg. Try not to get tunnel vision when you look at your horse's feet and not see the legs. The length of the foot from the toe to the bulb should have the frog making up two-thirds of the length, while the point of the apex to the toe makes up one-third of the length. Your horse will enjoy the light weight feeling of it's new "nike air" shoes. Contracted heels will just sneak up and take your horses willingness away from you. Try to keep room for a coin to roll around the edge of the horse's toe on the rim of the horse shoe. Letting your farrier to give your horse the support in the heels that it needs even though you may throw more shoes when you leave the shoe trailing behind the foot as it needs to. Your horse's feet are changing through it's years, so stay on top by always paying attention to it's bottom.