Thursday, July 09, 2009

English Farrier Stephen Beane Wins Calgary's World Championship Title

by Fran Jurga | 9 July 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog
Farrier Steven Beane of North Yorkshire, England, won the World Championship at Calgary this week.
English farrier Steven Beane outdueled his countryman Darren Bazin in 2009’s final of the Calgary Stampede’s 30th anniversary World Championship Blacksmiths’ Competition. Steven earned his first career global title in the process after two previous close calls under the Stampede Big Top. Beane, who was the Calgary runner-up, or reserve champion, in 2005 and ’06, took home first prize of $10,000, a limited-edition bronze trophy, and a handcrafted gold-and-silver Stampede championship buckle. Beane had trailed Bazin, a two-time WCBC winner, by seven points entering Sunday’s five-man final, but stoked up a fantastic finish, finishing with 153 points to Bazin’s 141. England’s Derek Gardner was third with 118 points; Welshman Grant Moon was fourth with 109 points; and Canada’s Iain Ritchie finished fifth at 88. Point totals for all competitors reflected three days’ work in front of the forge. Roughly 25 first-time competitors made the trip to Calgary, after winning national competitions in their home countries. A large number of past champions and runners-up made the trip because it was the 30th anniversary, making this one of the most impressive fields ever contested at the Calgary Stampede. Other class winners were Gene Leiser of Texas USA in a forging class, and in the artistic division, Mike Chisham of California USA, Stephane Demartinprey of France (I think), and John Steel of Pennsylvania. Ben Casserly of England won the rookie award. (Thanks to the Calgary Stampede for this photo and the results information.) Congratulations, Steven! © Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.