Because the horse trails are so rocky here, it’s important to make sure that the horses’ hooves are well protected; so the next part of our day as cowboys was to learn how to shoe a horse (the one on the left is for the front; the one on the right is for the rear).

The first order of business is to clean the dirt and crud out of the horse’s hooves. Dale, who is used to digging in manure in her garden, volunteered.

The next step is to trim the hoove; kind of like cutting your nails, if you use a giant knife and mallet to do so, anyway.

Then, file the hoove to fit…

…apply the horseshoe and nail it in…

…and, as our French friends would say, “Voila!”