Had to choose between a hot shoe and a cold shoe for a crazy draft horse in Cheyenne

This massive Percheron came in with a cracked hoof wall, and the owner needed a fix fast. I could either try a hot shoe to shape it perfectly, or go with a cold shoe to save time. I picked the hot shoe, thinking I could get a better fit. The horse was fine until he caught a whiff of the burning hoof smell and decided my anvil looked like a toy. He nudged it over, and my new shoe went flying into a water trough. Ended up doing a cold shoe anyway after fishing it out. Anyone have a good method for keeping curious giants away from the forge?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencerward1d ago

Sounds like a wild day, but was the horse ever in real danger?

grant.parker1d ago

Man, that's the kind of chaos that makes you question all your life choices right there. Fishing a hot shoe out of a trough is a special kind of defeat. For the curious ones, I've had some luck just setting up a temporary plywood wall between the work area and the horse, gives them one less thing to fixate on.