"Horse-handling skill can only be obtained by experience. There is no other way to gain 'horse sense' than to be around and work with horses."
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Essential Principles of Horseshoeing:
Foundation Guide to Sound Trimming and Shoeing by Dr. Doug Butler, Jacob Butler, and Peter Butler Doug Butler Enterprises
book review by Jenny Luper
The authors have more than their fair share of "horse sense." After 85 years of experience within the farrier's craft, the Butlers first let the potential farrier know that this profession is a dangerous and sometimes litigious one. Points are raised acknowledging the hazards inherent to both the horse and farrier; however, the Butlers provide detailed instruction on how to avoid those hazards and make this a fulfilling and profitable business. Not only are the detailed hoof trimming and blacksmithing skills examined, but so are the business and people skills that one will need to be a successful farrier.
Much of the technical information is put in terms that can be easily understood. Butler links unfamiliar horse anatomy vocabulary to the human condition, making the information more recognizable and digestible to the reader. In regard to a horse's hoof, he compares the structure termed the wall to a human fingernail. Also in relation to the hoof, the structure called the frog, which "…is a pad, or cushion, a traction device, and a scent glad… corresponds to the fatty pads in the bottom of the human foot."
This text is filled with illustrations and pictures of horses, their anatomy, and proper shoeing and forging techniques. The abundant pictures provide a step by step visual guide to be used in tandem with the textual instruction. One can find examples of the ideal weight of a horse (5-6 on an industry known scoring system of 1-10), to how to determine the height of a horse by hands, "…know the measurement of hands using reference points on your own body." Additionally, QR codes are found on specific pages that one can scan to see further instruction through videos made by the author. The visual aids to each instructional point of reference within Essential Principles of Horseshoeing clearly add to the educational benefit of the reader.