The only time I've seen people lay a horse down for the farrier was for mustangs in holding lots (tranqued, tied down, then hooves trimmed/vaccinated, let up) and a lot of people used to throw mules for hoof care. My grandma has a photo of her dad and the hired man putting shoes on the mules. They were rigged with a running W, hog-tied once down, hooves trimmed, shod, then let up. This was about 1930 in the photos. The mules didn't look overly stressed by the ordeal, and there must have been a reason--- the family had draft horses, harness racers, and a few mules for farmwork during the hot, humid parts of summer, so they were used to handling all sorts of horses and nothing else needed to be thrown for care. Grandma's diary entries in the mid-20's speak of some 'army mules' that had been purchased, so likely the same ones, and it's probable that the mules were just bad with their feet all around and this was easier on everyone involved.
One farrier in our area used to use a tilt table for horses that caused problems. They were lead up next to the truck with the table stood on end, tied to it with a strap around the neck and barrel, then the table was tilted, the animal laid on its side, legs tied, and trimmed. This guy could do horses in a few minutes with no fuss, and usually after a few times with the table, a problem horse would stand pretty well because he realized that it wasn't a big deal to have his hooves trimmed. I don't know what happened to him; he's likely retired or passed away by now, but he was quite popular for people who had problem horses or large numbers of unhandled colts who needed a trim without having to have a rodeo or rope anyone to get the job done.
As for farriers--- it's not the farrier's job to train the horse to stand. That should be done ahead of time. You can't really blame a farrier for getting frustrated with a horse that won't stand-- after all, that's time he could spend being paid, and if he's hurt by a horse yanking away, that's income lost. Farriers usually have no patience for horses that won't stand well, nor should they have to. They'll reprimand once or twice, then out comes either the twitch, drugs, or scotch hobble. I won't let a farrier get heavy-handed with my horses, and have certainly sent more than one packing for doing so when it wasn't warranted, but I will also not allow a horse to endanger a farrier or be bad with his feet. If the horse is a problem, even if it's just that day, I'll put him back in a stall and work on him later. Then the farrier isn't inconvenienced, the horse isn't traumatized, and we're all happy.
Some old-school farriers will throw a set of hobbles on the forelegs and scotch hobble one hind leg, then turn the horse loose to 'fight it out' while he works on other horses if one is being a pill. Usually by the time the rest are done, the problem child will stand well-enough to get his trim. Others will tie up one front foot and let them fight themselves until they realize they won't get the foot back, then do the other front, then scotch up one rear at a time. I used to ride my horses up to the neighbors when the farrier was in-- he'd tie up her unhandled yearlings like this and let them fight it out in the round pen while he worked on mine, then by the time mine were done, the colts had pretty much given up the fight and could be trimmed. The owner had no problem with this, and he charged 'combat pay' to her, but it was done nearly every time. By the time they'd been tied a few times, those young horses were reasonably good with their feet and it was no longer an issue. Ideal? No. But it got the job done with no injury to anyone. It's possible your horse was hobbled and then fell on a hard surface-- if the horse fights and goes down onto his knees on a hard surface, he'll beat himself up pretty well. There's NO REASON to tie up a leg, scotch hobble, or hobble break any horse in an area without soft footing. That's just lack of care. If it must be done, do it on soft ground so the horse doesn't hurt himself. And there's really no reason to do it for a horse that is good about being handled.