Tag: Information

As a horse owner, rider, and remedial massage therapist (for humans and equines), I get to observe first hand the physical demands that are part and parcel of the farrier’s profession. Farriery can be extremely taxing to muscles and joints, not to mention the odd injury sustained by a pull from a horse when you’re in an awkward position!

This article is available as a PDF for printing.

What’s a fair price to shoe a horse?

How much does it actually cost in labour and materials?

Obviously there isn’t a single correct answer – it depends on a lot of things. But you can get a good idea using a number of known ‘parameters’ (or assumptions!)

The entire shoe is hand finished to remove sharp edges.

The nail holes match E head nails accurately such that the nails stay tight in the shoe - try this simple test - remove the shoe after it has been worn for 2-3 weeks - the nail will still be tight - they will not fall out and they're hard to pull out. The nails match the shoes and the benefit is that the shoes will stay where they have been fitted and not become loose.

Natural Balance Shoeing (NBS) uses shoes which bring back or shorten the fulcrum or break-over point towards the centre of the hoof and allows the horse to break over more easily than with conventional shoeing.