Is there a reason why a farrier would decide to "rasp down" a normal foot too look more like a club foot?

I just picked up a nice WB, who has a club foot - he is sound and moves very nicely. He is presently in size 3s (he is exactly 71" at the withers - at age 3.5 years). However, when my farrier came to tack his shoe on, he noticed that (1) he needed to be in a size 4 and (2) that his "good" feet were literally shaved/rasped down to look closer to his club foot.

Can you think of a reason why the farrier would do this? I have all of the current x-rays and there isn't anything remarkable in there, just this oddity in his farrier care.

Any suggestions?

Often times you will find that unusual, and even inhumane things have been done to the feet to get a horse through the sale barn or sold. Some people will do whatever they need to for the sale without regard to the long term soundness of the horse. By rasping the normal hoof as described, the horse was made to look as if the feet were a pair, when in fact they are not. If the horse is not now lame, just keep doing a good job until the feet grow out. You might want to use Farriers Formula to speed up the growth rate a bit.

A local veterinarian, Dr. Jan Young, formulated a product similar to Farrier's Formula, but supposedly formulated for Arizona called Hoof Rite. Do you know if it is comparable or should I stick with Farrier's Formula?

You know, I decided that Farrier's Formula probably has more clinical trials behind it, so I ordered it and hopefully it will be delivered by early next week.

I am still curious about your opinion on the Hoof Rite and whether it might be more effective based on the fact I am in Arizona.

I am well acquatained with Dr. Jan Young, and have the utmost respect for her. However, I do not know about her product. We have used Farriers Formula on many crippled horses in our care, and feed it to 4 of our personal horses. It is the best supplement that we have ever used. Since I know for certain about Farriers Formula, I would have no problems suggesting it, but would not be able to comment on a product that I have not had experience with.

I really can't give an opinion other than what is stated above. Dr. Young is highly respected, but I don't have any experience with her product. I have had tremendous amounts of experience with Farriers Formula, and it has worked wonders for several serious problem horses we have tried it on. We also feed it personally to 4 of our horses, which says more perhaps than anything else.