Reining horses have recently been in the national spotlight due to the documentary competition television show, The Last Cowboy on the Paramount Network. The Last Cowboy boasted over 800,000 viewers in the first few episodes. “The show followed the lives of riders competing in the high-stakes sport of horse reining. The contenders were determined to […]
These last few weeks, I have been working in the tractor in the field to make hay. Cutting fields and baling hay can be fun…when everything works properly. However, there is a lot of time devoted to dealing with “breakdowns.” A part on the baler fails, a cutter bar wears out on the swather, a […]
Shoeing horses is not just about taking care of horses. We need to take care of the owners too. Sometimes we forget that the customer is the owner and not the horse! On occasion, someone will call and say, “I want to change my career. I think I’d like to get into the farrier business […]
Trimming and shoeing a horse’s foot can be a stressful experience to the careful beginner. No one wants to intentionally harm the horse. In order to gain more confidence about trimming the hoof, a farrier must learn what is inside the foot. Just like any good mechanic understands what is under the hood of the car […]
Happy Independence Day! This is a wonderful time of year to reflect on the great heritage of our country and our craft. We are indebted to our forefathers, who dedicated their lives to independence and freedom. George Washington was the commanding general during the revolutionary war. He was greatly loved by the men he led […]
Only about 10% of snakes native to the U. S. are poisonous. Most of these are in the West and South. However, rattlesnakes are found in all the lower 48 states except Maine. Australia has the most poisonous snakes, spiders, scorpions, and jellyfish. Several hundred horses are bitten annually by poisonous snakes in the U. […]
Often farriers are asked about the rings on the horse’s foot. They have the potential of giving us twelve months of information about a horse’s health. Visible rings indicate there has been some disturbance in the metabolism of the horse affecting the keratinization of the hoof. The indentation or ring is formed sometime before it […]
Driving horseshoe nails accurately, consistently and safely is a difficult task for the beginner. Some persons have abandoned horseshoeing altogether and become barefoot advocates because of their lack of confidence and skill in this area. It’s sort of like throwing out the baby with the bath. There are times when nothing but nailing on shoes […]
We all want to help our horses to be comfortable and sound. As horse owners, farriers and veterinarians it is worth considering some things we have control over (nutrition, exercise, regular trimming and shoeing intervals) and things we have no control over (genetics, congenital defects). It is important that we recognize the things we have […]
By Doug Butler PhD, CJF, FWCF Recently, as I was searching through my extensive collection of horseshoes I came across a shoe made for Kello-Bask, a yearling Arabian colt that I shod from 1967 to 1970. At the time of his first shoeing I had just been hired to teach farrier skills to students and […]
Butler Professional Horseshoeing School
495 Table Road
Crawford, NE 69339
(800) 728-3826
jacob@dougbutler.com
If you think you want to become a farrier (or know someone who does), this book can help you make that decision. Horse owners will learn the importance of choosing a qualified farrier and how to select the “right” one.
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