As a result of this neglect, some of these horses are permanently crippled. H orses range in their natural habitats without the encumbrance of a plough, rider or carriage. The sandy soils were far kinder to horse's hooves than roads. The domesticated horse needed some sort of protection from this excessive wear. An average time between treatment is six to eight weeks.
Hoof wall tends to grow faster in warm and moist times of the year.
Colder, drier climates slow growth and may then lengthen the time between treatments. M ost farriers use a combination of hot shoeing and cold shoeing to service their varied clientele. Hot shoers use a forge and anvil to hot shape shoes to fit the foot and to forge clips and other modifications. The use of a forge also allows the farrier to do hot fittings. This is when the farrier will set the leveled hot shoe on the hoof and sear out any minute high spots allowing for a perfect union between the shoe and the foot.