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Rant: Thought hot-forging was just for show horses until I tried it on a heavy draft last month
Been shoeing for 8 years and always did cold forging for everything. Figured hot was just extra steps for people trying to look fancy. Then this Percheron came in with some serious quarter cracks and the owner insisted on hot. Had a guy at the local feed store talk me through it, showed me his setup. Tried it on that draft, metal fitted way better, no gaps, crack's healing faster than I expected. Now I got a small forge in the shed. Any of you guys use hot for your bigger horses regularly?
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holly_sanchez7528d ago
Kept my forge from rusting by sealing it with lard when not in use.
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margaret_kim1328d ago
Figured out if you rig a simple charcoal starter chimney over the forge, it cuts the heat-up time by a solid ten minutes. That draft needs the extra heat to get the metal to flow right into those cracks, and cold just won't do it. I keep a bucket of sand nearby too, lets you slow cool the shoe if you need to adjust it later without losing the fit.
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