Best of both worlds for 2019 Badminton "Farriers Prize" event horse

Farrier judge Will Hampson, DipWCF inspected the hooves of 56 horses at 8 a.m. this morning as part of an annual tradition at England's Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials on behalf of the Worshipful Company of Farriers, Britain's 400-year old livery company charged with overseeing farriery in that country. (photo courtesy of Will Hampson; this is NOT the winning horse)

Burghley's best-shod horse 2018: Records broken and handicaps overcome with farrier's one-handed excellence

For the third time in five years, an Irish Sport horse named Coolys Luxury was won England's Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials' "Best Shod Horse" prize for rider Tom Crisp and his long-time farrier James Hayter.

And not just that: Ringwood Sky Boy, ridden by New Zealand's Tim Price had been judged best-shod back in 2015.

But the story doesn’t stop there. Have you ever heard farriers brag that they could shoe a horse with one armed tied behind their backs?

That’s pretty close to what happened when the day came to shoe this horse for Burghley 2018.

Burghley Best Shod Horse 2017: Paul Varnam's Bar Shoes for Eventer Ivar Gooden Impress Hoof Judge

The hind feet of Ivar Gooden, the "best shod horse" prize winner at England's Burghley Horse Trials this year, are shod with dramatic lateral extension shoes, as prescribed by the horse's veterinarian. But the judge said that it was the front feet that won this horse the prize for farrier Paul Varnam of Leicestershire, England. (Paul Varnam photo)

By Fran Jurga
© Hoofcare Publishing

It's that time again: The Olympic-level champions have lined up to compete in one of the world's toughest tests for any horse: The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, held in England this weekend. Many of the world's best four-star-level event horses and riders are there, as well as celebrities and royalty.

As usual, The Hoof Blog will probably forget to tell you who won or what happened. Instead, we want to draw your attention to what amounts to little more than a footnote on the prize list: The Best Shod Horse Prize.

To the horses that compete at this level, the farriers who tend to their feet are key to the performance levels and scores they can attain. They wouldn't be there without the farriers at home, so the little note on the prize list is worth explaining and, in one horse's case, celebrating.

The horses that lined up for Burghley's horse inspection on Wednesday were beautifully groomed, turned out, tacked up and conditioned. What the public couldn't see, however, was what was underneath them. Some of the world's best farriers worked quietly--and anonymously--to prepare these horses for the three days of tests before them. One horse would be singled out and recognized for the extra effort, skills and perception its farrier had used in preparing that horse for this difficult event. This horse and its farrier will be awarded the Best Shod Horse Prize.

The best shod horse prize at Burghley Horse Trials went to Ivar Gooden, an Irish Sport horse shod with handmade front bar shoes with side clips. The shoes were made from 7/8 x 3/8" stock. The horse wore bar shoes as a preventative, farrier Paul Varnam reported. Judge Mark Watson and the rider concurred that the horse has healthy front feet. He has had a fungal wall infection in the past, however, and his conformation calls for more medial heel support than straight shoes can supply. Burghley was his second four-star event this year in front bar shoes, his first in handmade bar shoes. (Paul Varnam photo courtesy of Imogen Murray)

The foot judging is a simple process at a three-day event: After each horse has been trotted up for the jury at the first horse inspection, it is led over to the farrier judge, who will lift all four feet of each of almost 70 horses, in the case of a large event like Burghley or Badminton.

Best shod horse judge at Burghley

this year was Mark Watson, FWCF. 

(Stephen Hill photo)

The Worshipful Company of Farriers sent a judge to Burghley: Mark Watson, FWCF had the task of picking a winner. He brought his daughter to be his scribe. She took notes as he rattled off his observations, which were based not just on the shoes the horse was wearing but how they fit and if they were appropriate for the horse’s size, conformation and its mission at hand: to complete all three phases at Burghley.

“Yes, there was fairly good stuff,” Watson remarked casually when the judging was done. “But some (was) middle of the road, and others not so nice.”

Watson is also an examiner for the Worshipful Company; he judges farriers who come forward for diploma and advanced levels, such as for the Associate and Fellow levels of recognition. His job is to recognize quality and to be able to discern the talented work from the window dressing. He was looking for horses shod for the job at Burghley, and shod safely and thoughtfully.

For Mark Watson, a 10-year-old Irish Sport horse named Ivar Gooden filled the bill this year.

While the winning horse wore hind shoes that made an artful statement and drew the eyes, it was the front shoes that warranted his highest praise. “The fronts were really well made and well nailed. That horse was simply the best shod of all.”


About the farrier
Sometimes, a farrier gets to work with a rider long enough to see great things happen, and know he or she has been a part of it. That’s what happened this week at Burghley.

The farrier winner of the Best Shod Horse Prize is Paul Varnam, DipWCF of Leicestershire, England. Paul is the fifth generation in his family to shoe horses in the county. (Photo courtesy of Paul Varnam)

Ivar Gooden joined rider Imogen Murray’s stable a few years ago, and was soon under the care of Imogen’s longtime farrier, Paul Varnam, DipWCF. Paul has been shoeing for 21 years. After completing an apprenticeship with Leicestershire farrier Tim Allen, Paul joined forces with his father. Today he shoes a lot of eventers, noting that the sport is very popular in his area.

Burghley marks the first time Paul Varnam has been awarded a “best shod” prize.

The Worshipful Company's Varnam
Tray was donated by Paul Varnam's
family and is awarded to the Associate
who scores highest in the
practical examinations. It is inlaid
with 19 different types of wood and
contains 1,461 pieces. It is a
memorial to two of Paul's uncles who
were great supporters of the farrier
profession in England.
(Doug Bradbury photo)

The shoeing challenge
“I’ve shod for her since she was a little girl,” Paul said on Friday if his longtime client, Imogen Murray. “He’s a nice, well-behaved horse. He’s not enormous, maybe 16 hands, but he has a big canter, and is very Thoroughbred-y. He’s quite fine, really.”

Paul described the horse’s feet as “not bad”, noting that the horse occasionally has problems with wall fungus. “But he hasn’t had a lot of issues with lameness,” he reflected. “He wouldn’t be competing (if that was the case).”

Paul said that he shod the horse to help its conformational shortcomings. “It’s all preventative type shoeing,” he said. “The right front rotates out; he has problems with limb and hoof imbalance.”

Left hind: Ivar Gooden wears vet-prescribed lateral extension shoes on both hind feet to improve his movement behind. Paul Varnam said that the horse tends to stand close behind and has weak lateral heels. (Paul Varnam photo courtesy of Imogen Murray)

Ivar Gooden wears front bar shoes, which alarmed some people when the rider showed her horses’ shoes on Facebook. Both Paul Varnam and Mark Watson insisted that there is no hoof damage, and that the bar shoes were added this season for injury prevention and support. Because of the limb rotation, medial-lateral balance is an issue for the horse.

Paul Varnam said that he shod the horse with side clips in front, instead of the customary British-style toe clips, because of the balance needs and to hold the shoe in place. The rotation means that the right front has a weak inside heel; he said he couldn’t completely support it with a regular (open) shoe. The bars displace weight more evenly over a larger surface area. Paul noted that he made both the front and hind shoes in a tiny Swan Signet gas forge from ⅞ x ⅜” concave stock.

“I wanted to keep them as light as possible,” he remarked. “And that is the best size material for that size hoof.”

Ivar Gooden wore this type of bar shoes on both front feet at Badminton Horse Trials in May, but they were machinemade. For Burghley, Paul Varnam moved up to handmade shoes for the gelding, remarking, “They leave it up to me.”

The only photo of the front feet shows one shoe, and the ground surface only. When asked if the horse's front feet were a pair, Paul laughed and said that the shoes could be swapped and nailed right on, the feet are so close in size.

Paul said he hopes to prevent any recurrence of the wall fungus. This summer has been wet and hot in Leicestershire, and the side clips in front help prevent the foot from over-expanding, which could lead to spreading over the shoe, or developing flares that leave the white line vulnerable.

Another view of the left hind shows the fit of the heel on the broad base of the lateral extension and the arc of the outer branch's extension from the second nail hole to a point under the heel bulb. (Photo courtesy of Paul Varnam)

The side-clipped lateral extension shoes on the hind feet were prescribed by the horse’s veterinarian. “He wouldn’t have the support, and wouldn’t move so straight underneath himself when he reaches forward under his tummy (without the lateral extensions),” Paul remarked. Dressage is a critical phase of the modern three-day event so a clean and smooth collected movement is something the sport horse farriers strive to provide.

Ivar Gooden has worn the lateral extensions for several years, but Paul said he has no overt limb or joint issues in his hind legs. “They’re supporting the outside heels,” he said. “The horse does stand close behind, and he loads the outside heel.”

The rider
Imogen Murray, 24, of M.S.Team Eventing, has graduated from a successful career as a junior and young rider and gone straight to the four-star level. She is based near Willoughby Waterleys in Leicestershire, England. This is her first Burghley competition. She and Ivar Gooden completed the Badminton four-star event in May.

Rider Imogen Murray hacking best-shod winner Ivar Gooden in front of Burghley House earlier this week. (Photo courtesy of Imogen Murray)

The horse
Ivar Gooden, a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, is owned by Aivair Ward and MS Team Ltd. His sire is the Thoroughbred Young Convinced and he is out of a mare by Coevers Diamond Boy. Imogen and Ivar Gooden are 15th after cross-country, going into Sunday’s show jumping. They started Saturday at 51st, based on their dressage score.

Only 45 of the approximately 70 horses entered are still in the competition; falls, refusals, and voluntary retirements on cross-country eliminated scores of horses.

The prize

Best shod prizes are generally acknowledged as a British invention, but American horse shows like the Ohio State Fair gave prizes for the best shod horses, too, back in the early 1900s. Today, the administration of “best shod horse” awards in Great Britain is under the aegis of the ages-old Worshipful Company of Farriers, which maintains a list of judges for this event who have been trained for the task.

The Company has formalized the process and created a way for farriers to compete against each other without ever seeing each other, without driving anywhere, and without time limits or even many rules. A farrier can take all day to shoe a horse, and the judge won't mind. A farrier can use modern or traditional methods, steel or copper-coated nails, side or toe clips, and any width and thickness of material. The winner is the one who not only showcases his or her skills, but shows that the work is helping the horse do its job.

The Varnam Family of Farriers
A key thing to know about Paul Varnam is that he is at least the fifth generation of his family to be a farrier. His family has a fascinating history, which has been documented in a booklet by farrier historian and museum-keeper Doug Bradbury of Derbyshire, England. The Varnam family donated a silver tray in an intricate inlaid wooden case to the Worshipful Company of Farriers to be awarded to the farrier scoring the highest level in the practical portion of the Associate examination each year. Doug has told the story of the tray and the family behind it.

It all began with Farrier Major William Varnam, Sr., who served as a high ranking farrier in the Second Dragoon Guards before returning to Leicester in 1886 to become a private farrier. The Varnams have been shoeing there ever since.

His son, farrier William Varnam, Jr., had eight sons and three daughters; three of the sons became farriers. Two of them, Bill and Fred, worked in Leicester all their lives. Bill's three city forges employed 20 workers; one was open 24 hours a day to serve the working horses.

Fred Varnam, meanwhile, became an Associate of the company and an examiner. He was granted a rare honorary Fellowship in 1986.

Paul Varnam comes from this long line of farriers who have given a great deal to their profession--and to their country.


Where and when was the first best shod horse prize awarded?

Farriers have always gone home at the end of the day knowing whether or not they’d done their jobs, and done them as well as could. They have always also known who among them had the toughest challenges, and who went the extra mile to help a horse, once they saw the horses lined up together. But they probably kept it to themselves for centuries.

Now, we have a name for it, and a plaque, and we tell the world. We hope someone will listen, and understand that some farriers work very hard to prepare horses for these big tests. That they actually like the horses and their riders.That they are there to help the horse compete successfully, and will be for years to come.

----

Update: Congratulations, Ivar Gooden, who rose from 51st place, based on his dressage score! He and Imogen Murray finished 14th overall in the 2017 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. Of 62 horses that went forward after dressage, 40 completed all three phases.

Listen to an interview with "Best Shod" judge Mark Watson, FWCF, during the judging during the Burghley horse inspection on the "An Eventful Life" website.

The Hoof Blog would like to thank Paul Varnam, Mark Watson, Imogen Murray, Stephen Hill, Doug Bradbury, Burghley Horse Trials media office, and everyone who has been so helpful during the preparation of this article. We look forward to the day when all the horses will be declared equally "best shod".

Fran Jurga is a professional freelance writer and editor in Gloucester, Massachusetts (USA). She writes on all subjects, and is widely published, particularly on the subjects of horses, pets and wildlife. Fran is especially dedicated to promoting the history and appreciation of professional hoofcare for horses around the world, as well as providing the most up-to-date information on hoof disease and research. The Hoof Blog's parent company, Hoofcare Publishing, is involved in many projects, including the new monthly equine research update service, HoofSearch.

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Badminton Horse Trials 2017 Farriers Prize: The quest for the best shod eventer

These hooves were under British eventer Arctic Soul, the horse that finished seventh at last week's Badminton Horse Trials, one of the world's most famous horse events. They also won recognition of Great Britain's Worshipful Company of Farriers through its prestigious "Farriers Prize", awarded to Sussex, England farrier Jimmy Cooper, DipWCF.

Forget everything that comes to mind when you hear the words "farrier competition": Hoof smoke? Not a wisp. Deafening cacaphony of hammers? Near silence. Stalwart anvils and precision-crafted hand tools? None in sight. Sweaty apron-clad farriers with rolled up sleeves? Well...

Only one farrier showed up last weekend for one of the world's most prestigious horseshoeing contests. He wasn't stripped down to shoe a horse against the clock. He was challenged instead by an entry list of some of the world's most outstanding equine athletes at the world's foremost equestrian eventing competition. And he wasn't even competing; he was the judge.

Badminton Farrier Prize 2016: Charlie Sands' four-star horseshoeing wins (Part 1)

Resident farrier Bernie Tidmarsh watches a horse at the Badminton House stables, used for the Duke of Beaufort's Hounds and the Badminton Horse Trials. Bernie has a forge at the end of the stable block. He's won the Farriers Prize at the Badminton Horse Trials multiple times. (Fran Jurga photo)

Hint: if you want to win the Farriers Prize at the four-star Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in England, consider having your partner shoe your horse.

Or, alternately, if you're a farrier, consider helping your partner make it all the way around Badminton so your shoes have a chance of being judged the winners on the final day of the event.

Fact: For the past three years, the Farriers Prize has been awarded to a horse shod by the rider's partner.

Note: This article is protected by copyright; neither text nor photos may be reproduced without permission. It may be shared by using normal social media tools, such as you will find at the end of the article, or by pasting the URL (web address in browser window) into a status update on Facebook. Many thanks for sharing on social media.

Best Shod Horse Award Debuts at Grand National Steeplechase

For the first time in the history of both the Worshipful Company of Farriers and racing in the United Kingdom, one of The Company's prestigious Best Shod Horse awards will be judged and presented at a race meeting. The hooves of the starters in England's world famous Crabbie's Grand National will be evaluated by a farrier judge, who will decide which horse's hooves are best prepared to tackle Aintree Racecourse's legendary obstacles like Becher's Brook and The Chair.

Which horse will gallop into history on the best-formed hooves and wearing the most appropriate shoes?

Worshipful Company of Farriers Awards "Best Shod Horse" Title at Britain's Horse of the Year Show

Carl Bettison AWCF (Hons) judging a hunter during the Worshipful Company of Farrier's Best Shod Horse evaluation at Great Britain's year-end Horse of the Year Show last month. (photo used with permission)

This article is edited for international readers from a British press release

Great Britain’s 2015 Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) saw the prestigious Worshipful Company of Farriers (WCF) Best Shod Horse competition take place on Friday, October 9. Entrants lined up ready for their hoof inspection in order to have a chance of winning this reputable award.

Burghley Best Shod Horse: Who Won the Worshipful Company of Farriers Eventing Prize?

New Zealand rider Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy are in fifth place after dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in England. But they have already won one event: the Worshipful Company of Farriers' Best Shod Horse Award. Photo © Libby Law.

File this under "breaking news", with more details to follow.

New Zealand rider Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy are tied for fifth place after dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in England. Tomorrow they will face one of the world's most formidable cross-country courses. But they have already won one event: the Worshipful Company of Farriers' Best Shod Horse Award.

Farrier Jim Hayter Wins Burghley Horse Trials' Best Shod Horse Prize for 2014

O

The front feet of the Irish Sport Horse Coolys Luxury, who was selected as the Best Shod Horse at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in England last weekend. Farrier Jim Hayter received the prize along with owner David Corney and rider Tom Crisp. The judges must have thought Jim handled this horse's asymmetry challenges well. "I cannot keep the foot too long as I don't want to risk him pulling shoes off," Jim commented.

Keeping up with the tradition of chasing down British eventers and farriers to find out what it takes to be judged the Best Shod Horse at an international three-day event, the Hoof Blog has a few photos of this year's winner at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in England.

Hooves Get the White Glove Treatment from Best Shod Horse Judge at Burghley Horse Trials in England

Photo courtesy of Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials and Getty Images

You always hear about it, but rarely does anyone ever see it done. Sure, farriers get dressed up in suits and wear bowler hats and white gloves to inspect horse hooves. Sure they do.

Bigfoot on Course: Is Gatcombe's Best Shod Horse the Biggest Shod, Too?

This horse is making a big splash in the eventing world. British event rider Ben Hobday's big-footed advanced horse is headed to the 4* Land Rover Burghley International Horse Trials in September next, with new shoes that measure seven inches across. Does Mulrys Error OBE have the biggest advanced section feet in the eventing world? (Smudge9000 photo)

Congratulations to British farrier Paul Conway, whose shoes were on Mulrys Error OBE, winner of the 2014 "Best Shod Horse" award at the British Festival of Eventing at Gatcombe Park last weekend. The judge couldn't miss this horse's feet.

Badminton' Farriers Prize 2014: Irish Farrier Wins Best Shod Prize

Irish rider Clare Abbott trotted up the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Euro Prince for the 4* Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials last week. Not only did the horse complete the extremely difficult test in his first outing at the highest level of the sport, he also won the "best shod" prize for his farrier. (Photo courtesy of Professional Riders Organization, used with permission)

Whether it’s the list of those who have shod Kentucky Derby winners, or the list of the farriers behind (or underneath) the “Best Shod” horse each year at England’s Badminton Horse Trials, these are two lists that define the hard work that farriers do, and one of the few times in the year that the horse world notices shoes or shoers.

The Badminton list grew a little longer yesterday when not just a new name was added, but a new nation. Neil Dickson took the plaque of the Worshipful Company of Farriers aboard a plane last night and headed back across the Irish Sea to of County Down, in Northern Ireland.

Article © Hoofcare Publishing. If you'd like to re-publish, summarize or otherwise re-use the research that went into this article, please contact the publisher.

Badminton Best Shod Horse Prize 2011: Jim Hayter Wins Second Award for Event Horse Farriery

While the big news from the 2011 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in England may be that veteran Olympic gold medalist Mark Todd of New Zealand has put a 31-year spread on his victories there, Hoof Blog readers want to know who won the prestigious Best Shod Horse Award.

"Best Shod" Classes Keep Farriery Front and Center in Britain and California

We're coming down the stretch of a very long show season and the end-of-year "Big Shows" will soon be here. All the horses and ponies who have been chasing points all summer find out if they have qualified to compete at the "indoors" for hunters and jumpers and the "nationals" for breeds like Arabians. The Quarter horses are pointed toward the Congress in Ohio or the World show later in the fall. This weekend is the big Dressage at Devon show in Pennsylvania, which has a phenomenal in-hand division as well as actual dressage test classes.

On the regional level, those year-end banquets start, with endless awards for point winners that will hopefully keep people coming back to show next year.

It's also pressure time for farriers. Nothing is worse than qualifying for year-end competitions, only to have your horse too lame to compete. After such hard campaigns, these horses suffer from foot fatigue and unless a horse has great hoof walls, this is the time of year when farriers reach for the glue, the pads, the wall repair compounds.

This time of year reminds me that farriers receive little recognition in the show world. Sometimes I see farriers and vets and grooms listed in congratulatory ads in the breed magazines, but it's pretty rare.

All of which makes me remember how British horse shows give "best shod" awards at their shows. These classes were originally encouraged by groups like the Worshipful Company of Farriers or horse welfare groups.

Here's an example of a show with these classes. It is in Hay, on the English-Welsh border, in the county of Hereford. From their show list, held in July:

"Included into the following classes for 2008 will be judging of the "Best Shod" Horse or Pony. Classes: 34, 35, 37, 38, 41, 71 & 72. The Judge for 'Best Shod' will be Mr. Mark Jones Dip. WCF., Dorstone, Hereford. Clients of Mr. Jones, of course, are not eligible for judging.

"Winning Horses and Ponies will receive a Best Shod rosette and will be asked to supply the name and address of their Farrier. A 'Best Shod' card will be sent to the successful Farriers."

(This show obviously includes many in-hand classes for Welsh ponies and cobs, like the one shown in the photo.)

These classes provide a consolation prize for owners and exhibitors--the horse may not have won a class, but it did go home with a prize ribbon for its feet. And those ribbons look just as good hanging over the mantle. But they also make that owner a little more appreciative of the farrier who works on the horse. And for the farrier, it's nice to have some recognition.

Different shows in Britain run these best-shod awards differently. At a breed show, there might be a "best feet" award. At the Suffolk show, having a heavy horse best feet winner is a great honor; the breed made good feet an emphasis years ago and the class still has a great honor attached to it. (Just ask Roger Clark, FWCF Hons., who takes great pride in the classes he was won...and who won again this year.)

One of the favorite best-shod or best-feet classes is at the Badminton Horse Trials, held each May. You'll see familiar names of top competition and world-champion farriers like Billy Crothers and James Blurton on the recent list of winners of the "Farrier's Prize". Last year's winner was Martin Deacon FWCF and before that, Sam Head, the up and coming shoeing son of former WCF Master, Mac Head FWCF.

This year's Badminton best-shod winner was Paul Gordon of Cheshire, England, farrier to the scarily-named Valdemar. On the awards page for this most prestigious event in the world, Paul is listed, not the owner and not the rider. Just Paul, and the horse's name. Just to clarify, there may be little correlation between winning at Badminton and the Farrier's Prize: Valdemar finished 36th in the horse trials, but was #1 in the hoof-judging.

James Blurton of Wales won both the Gatcombe Park and Burleigh horse trials awards for best-shod horse this year.

At England's Melplash show for heavy horses, the class is described this way: "This Competition is for the best shod horse in the Heavy Horse Section (Classes 80 - 85). The judge will examine each horse before or during the line-up for preliminary judging, taking into consideration: a. Condition of the feet; b. The making (or preparation) and fitting of the shoes; c. Nailing, and position of the clips. Normal shoes and showing plates are equally acceptable, PROVIDED they are suitable for the horse."

For more information about best-shod classes, a good reference has been written by Tim Challoner AFCL who describes the why and how of the best-shod class for the Dales Pony exhibitors.

In the USA, the only class of this type that I know of is at the Draft Horse Classic in Grass Valley, California, which also hosts an actual farrier competition and is dedicated to the legendary Scottish farrier, Mr. Edward Martin FWCF. Some of the winners of the best-shod class at that show have included well-known California farriers (and outstanding competitors) Jason Harmeson and Jason Smith. It's great for non-competition farriers to have their work quality judged alongside the pro competitors. As far as I know, in these classes, handmade shoes are not required.

The Draft Horse Classic had the world-class judge and former world-champion, Mr. David Wilson FWCF of Scotland as judge this year. It was his only US clinic/competition this year.

Nevada farrier Jean Meneley gets the credit for organizing that event and keeping it going for many years. She believes that both the best-shod class for the showing horses and the farrier competition make horse owners and breeders more aware of the role of farriers in the well-being of these special horses.