[TheForge] Blacksmith YAK about "do you shoe horses?"

[John Husvar]

Kevin Donahoe wrote:
> I think the path to world peace would indeed be a shorter one if everyone
> would simply be honest with themselves.  After having taken Psych 201 'bout
> 25 years ago and being married to a woman that reads every self-help bood
> there is... I feel I am uniquely qualified to report my observations having
> to do with the phenomena of "Farrier Denial" .  

Ain't no denial here, bubelah!

Some (mumble, mumble) years ago I would do the occasional reset for my 
wife's horse, in between visits by the real farrier. I quickly learned 
three things:

1) A so-called "light" horse weighs 900 to 1200 pounds.

2) That "light" horse can carry half or more of his weight all day 
without noticeably injurious strain.

3) That "light" horse has a brain the size of a walnut.

All of which led me to three conclusions. To wit:

1) The horse is bigger than me.

2) The horse is stronger than me.

3) The horse is (arguably) smarter than me. (Who buys whose feed anyway? 
Horsey gets a lot of mileage out of that walnut!)

It didn't take me long, or many sore-backed nights, to decide farriery 
was an art best left to the professionals, who are deserving of my 
complete respect. That's a young'un's game that turns young'un's into 
old'uns -- real quick! :)