The farrier performs the shoeing by holding the horse's leg on a stand or between his legs. He removes the old shoe by inserting the socket between it and the hoof and hitting it with the hammer, lifting it, and then removes it with the pliers. With the hoof knife he removes the excess horny layer on the plantar edge, digging into the grooves of the hoof and removing dirt. With the pliers he removes the outer layer of the nail. The hoof is then leveled with the rasp, smoothing the surfaces so as to make them as uniform as possible. Then, the new shoe is applied making it fit perfectly to the hoof and fixed with the nails, hitting them with the hammer. The farrier uses the forked side of the hammer head to bend the nail that comes out of the hoof and cuts it with the pliers. Finally, with the rasp he smooths the outer wall of the hoof, removing any irregularities.