Scotland's David Varini is World Champion Blacksmith (Farrier) at the Calgary Stampede

The Mustad family carried on the tradition of sponsoring the World Championship for farrier/blacksmiths at the Calgary Stampede in Canada with Hans Mustad, left, representing his family and his company. Petter Binde, Mustad Sales & Marketing CEO, is at right. The showgrounds had been flooded two weeks before the event but Plan B worked to run an event that attracted a stellar trible of the world's premier highly-skilled shoemaking experts. David Varini of Scotland, center, won the championship for the first time. Photo by Luca Bertolino. 

More than one Scotsman rocked the world yesterday. While everyone in Great Britain was out celebrating Scotland's Andy Murray for his first win by a British citizen in 77 years at Wimbledon Centre Court, another Scotsman was standing in front of many thousands of people at the rodeo of the Calgary Stampede.


Congratulations to Scotland's David Varini, who was named World Champion Blacksmith at the Calgary Stampede in Canada last night. Matt Randles of England was Reserve Champion. He joins an elite group of farriers from around the world who have held the title since Delta Mustad and the Calgary Stampede launched the World Championship more than 30 years ago.

About-to-be World Champion David Varini strikes a pensive pose. Is he waiting to hear the scores? Or watching the judges evaluate the horse he just shod? David runs a shoeing business in Ayrshire,Scotland; his partner is 2008 World Champion Paul Robinson. When Paul was World Champion, David was Reserve Champion--quite a feat for business partners (or anyone). Five years later, he's on top of the world.

To win the title, David Varini needed to defeat the two most successful holders of multiple World Championship titles in Calgary Stampede history: Grant Moon of Wales and Stephen Beane of England, both of whom were also in the top five finishers, along with Jonathan Nunn of England.

Listen to a brief interview with David after his victory:

Reserve champion Matthew Randles of England shoes horses in the Staffordshire/Cheshire region of England and represents the third generation of farriery in his family.

In the top ten, additional finalists were Jesper Eriksson (Sweden), Nigel Fennel (England), Andrew Casserly (England), David Smith (England) and Devon Crerar (England). In the top ten, nine of ten farriers were from Great Britain; seven of ten are from England.

Delta Mustad Hoofcare Center provided social media coverage of the event on Facebook, with hundreds of great photos and a terrific daily funcast video.

Learn about new ways to study, present and share educational aids in equine anatomy.

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