Had my anvil stand collapse mid-shoe yesterday. Horse was not impressed.

I was just getting ready to nail on a front shoe on a big draft cross when the whole stand just gave way. Lucky the horse didn't spook. Turns out a bolt I had holding a leg together had sheared off sometime in the last week. I managed to get the shoe off and calm the horse down, but it took me an hour to rebuild the stand with a backup I had in the truck. Has anyone else had a piece of gear fail on them at the worst possible time?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa_grant1mo ago

Nah, sounds like you just need to maintain your gear better honestly.

karenw231mo ago

That's rough, I've had a forge burner act up right when I needed it most. But I'll gently push back - even the best maintained gear can have a bolt shear without warning. My experience is that you can check things weekly and still miss a hairline crack or a bolt that's been stressed over time. It's not always about maintenance, sometimes it's just bad luck with how metal fatigue works. You can't catch everything with a visual check, especially if the bolt's hidden behind other parts. Sounds like you handled it well though, keeping the horse calm and having that backup stand ready. Sometimes that's all you can really do.