Farriers and Horse stuff

These are a custom order. The pair is made from one rasp. each spur is one piece. This is my 6th pair and I think I am gaining on it. My next pair will have a forged shank. The rowel is blued with heat. It is a nice touch when new, but will wear off. Matt

Yo, guys! Watch out a video about making a horseshoe) I'm not a pro blacksmith, so don't wait work without mistakes, but still I hope you'll enjoy watching it

I have made bits for horses in the past, and just used mild steel. I think I remembered some manufactures referring to their bits as sweet iron, and someone claimed that stainless tasted bad??? Just wondering if someone with some actual experience in this area might be able to chime in. I have AS36, some 1018, wrought iron, some 300 series stainless, as well as 440C, plus some others;-) If I make and sell a fancy bit I would rather not have it rusting, but I can oil the snot out of it, I was going to have to do that to the arms anyway...

Quick flux question. Awhile back I bought out a retired farrier. in with the items I got were two different fluxes, red and blue and he mentioned one was for the borium rods I got, but I cannot remember which one it was.

I was talking to a friend of mine this morning about selling some of my tools through his farrier supply store and he suggested that I make a few pairs of hot fits. Having never been a professional shoer and only cold shaped shoes, I’m not sure how hot these get. Is S7 over kill for these? Will S7 as an impact steel be too brittle, once drawn out, to grip a shoe without breaking?

Ok folks, here we go. My wife is managing a theraputic riding stable and is haveing problems with the walls separating and giving a very loose indication of white line disease. Vets confirmed or indicated it is not. At present the farrier leaves the sole untouched when trimming, no cupping and the bars full. The horses are bare foot 99 percent of the time. 45 years ago my training as a farrier said to clean and cup the sole and clean up the bars. Anybody have any ideas on how to handle this? Thanks Seldom (Dick Renker)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXehODHcv58

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjIfMytyG0Y

I figure there's a few folks on here who know a bit (or more!) about farrier work. I have a bunch of used horseshoes given to me by a friend. I'd like to make her a few things in appreciation for all the free stock! She has horses (obviously) and I thought a hoof pick from a horseshoe might be kind of neat. I've seen several demos online, and looked at a bunch of pics for design ideas. Something that seems to vary is the point on the pick. Some appear to be very dull and rounded, some look like they could puncture a car tire, some are wide and flat while some are round like knitting needles. To the folks that have/work with horses, what is your preferred style…

Here are my first couple hoof picks I made for some friends, great beginner projects!

I have had a customer request a stressed metal horse shoe. As I understand she is looking for the dark scale hammer marks and for the metal to be weathered. So far what I have done is take a ballpein to the shoe to texture it, and then heated the whole thing as hot as my propane Forge could go and quenched it. From there I used a wire wheel to clean off the loose scale. I sent a picture to the customer and they want it to look even more weathered. What method am I missing to give the shoe a more stressed and weathered look? Acid bath perhaps?

Hi! We're looking for some information regarding buggy and sleigh patterns. My husband's grandfather was the last working blacksmith in Peshtigo, WI. We're currently cleaning out the family farm, getting it ready for sale. We have many, many antique wooden sleigh and buggy pattern pieces. Wondering if there's a market for these, as well as possible pricing & where to sell them. Pictures attached. Will appreciate your feedback. In addition we've got some tools. Thanks for your time

As I've moved away from smithing and more into gear making I got a request that ought to get me back into the forge. I was asked to make at least 1 set of spurs. I talked to a former gear maker at a ranch rodeo tonight and he said to use 4140 for bands and shanks, he however never really got into the spur making and has been "out" of business for a few years. Are there any gear makers here and what steel do they use? What do I need to know before I dive in this winter?

I’m building a set of spurs for a local guy and made a stupid mistake on one of the shanks. Wen I was cutting the towel slots I tried to speed tings up by drilling out as much as I could and got one of the holes way out of line( the rest were cut with a hacksaw). This may be a moot point if he wants them left silver but if he wants them blued I’m wondering how much that spot will show up if I fill the divot in with the tig or mig welder and grind it back smooth. It’s not huge but if I leave it it will be noticeable. I’m not averse to making a new shank but would rather not if I can avoid it

Hi all , a friend of mine who belongs to a local online horse riders group asked me to ask this question What are you paying for your track / dressage / weekend hack shoeing ? Seems there is big price range not only in different states of Australia , but in different parts of each state as well ( he did tell me the prices , but old timers has set in & I cant remember them ) Would also be interested in seeing the prices that are being charged around the rest of the world as well Dale Russell

Magnet to hold nails on chaps, so the nails are handy during shoeing.

Since being on another thread about starting out with Farrier work.. It dawned on me about what it is like shoeing Solo for your first time.. I remember it like it was yesterday though it happened over 25years ago.. Wow, LOL.. I remember my legs were shaking and my bosses voice just kept running through my head.. Get under that horse *&&^*().. Bend them legs.. Get in there.. and he'd push my back down and stuff me under the horse.. for 3 months he took my hoof stand away and told me " this will learn ya.." It did.. Anyhow, It had been 3 years of 12-20 horses a day of pulling shoes, trimming feet, making shoes and putting them bac…

Transylvanian farriers nipper rest.

This issue is something near to my heart. The British are progressive enough to award "Best Shod" honors to the Horseshoer doing the best job at their most prestigious horse shows. I'd like nothing better than to see something like this get started in this country. Congratulations to Paul Varnam for his excellent job and thanks to Fran Jurga for the write up. Thread I'm posting will have last several years of this competition. What you all think? How many would welcome this for USA? http://horseshoersforum.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/393-burghley-horse-trials/ George

A very nice story from my good friend Fran Jurga: https://hoofcare.blogspot.com/2017/08/day-forge-caved-world-champion-boxer-bob-fitzsimmons-fighting-blacksmith.html#more Anybody out there have one of his signature horseshoes?

Hey everyone, Well I got about 1 1/2 months of experience and just been kinda researching which type of blacksmithing I'd enjoy the most. I buy my coal from a farrier supply company and saw all the business cards for farrier and figured there must be a huge demand for farriers. It sounds very interesting but my thing is I've never so much as rode a horse. Are farriers mostly horse lovers that got into blacksmithing and not a new blacksmith that got into farrier work because of blacksmithing? I also enjoy "attempting" to forge tongs. Maybe that might be a route.

found this in a local scrapyard in with a load of used shoes, looks like a poorly made modern copy of some sort of medieval stirrup can anyone tell me anything about it

Are horses left or right footed, much like people being left or right handed? Or do they even care?

can anybody give me any information about this bit such as origin, value etcetera