Information on Farriers and Shoeing Horses

shaldna said:

I have no idea what shoeing stocks are though - is this a US thing?

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Shoeing stocks or draft horse stocks are this thing. A bit medieval looking, but they give the horse support for all that weight. Or discourage backing and rearing if somebody doesn't feel like standing still. I've no idea if they're particular to the US or not, but they're frequently used here.

I have a gelding who has fallen asleep, and on one occassion fell ontop of the farrier.

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Just. Ouch.

It's been a long time since I witnessed a farrier at work, but my most vivid memory of it was the smell. I guess it must have been hot shoeing, because I'm pretty sure it was the smell of roast hoof.

Although, now that I think about it, the farrier was working on Foxy, an abused horse that we had rescued, and his hooves were badly overgrown and cracked, so Mr Farrier might have been doing something out of the ordinary when he created that smell.

It took months before poor Foxy's feet came right. There are a lot of people in the world who should not be allowed to keep horses.