New Shoes for Cloud
Brent Jury is a farrier [a blacksmith who makes shoes for horses]. He has come to see Mary-Ellen's pony, Cloud. Cloud needs new shoes. Cloud's hooves have grown too long. Brent trims them with cutters and a hoof knife, then smooths them off with a rasp. This doesn't hurt Cloud. It's just like cutting and filing your toe nails.
Cloud takes size five shoes. Brent puts a set of them into the forge to heat up. When the shoes are red hot, he takes one out and hammers it into shape. Now he tries the shoe on Cloud for size. It is still hot, so it burns a shape into Cloud's hoof. This will help to keep the shoe in place. Brent cools the shoe in a bucket of water then hammers it on to Cloud's hoof. The nails go through the holes in the shoe and out through the side of the hoof.
Next, he twists off the sharp ends of the nails and hammers them flat. One hoof done, three to go. Soon, Cloud will be able to walk on the hard roads without hurting her feet.