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| The World Equestrian Games had a staff of French farriers on staff at the vet hospital; here you see two credentials for Jean Michel Goubault and Fabrice Cave. Nigel said they worked at Haras du Pin, the National Stud in Normandy. |
Showing posts with label Brendan Murray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brendan Murray. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 03, 2014
World Equestrian Games Farriers: Other Countries Heard From
Monday, September 01, 2014
Gold Medal Farriers: Congratulations to World Equestrian Games Team Farriers
If London was the Twitter Olympics, Normandy is the Instagram WEG. Never have we seen so many images, thanks to our phones. Never have our thumbs been so sore from scrolling through so many images.
The image above is embedded from Instagram. It was posted today on the official account of The Games but no credit is given to the farrier who forged it--or who took the photo or how they managed to take it with all three letters hot! Perhaps official Games farrier Luc Leroy masterminded this?
Thursday, August 02, 2012
London's Olympic Farriers: Brendan Murray, Team GB
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| British eventing team farrier Brendan Murray in his "team kit" |
British eventing team farrier Brendan Murray was already on the job, even though the Olympics were still a few days away. But that's all part of his job.
Even though the temporary stable area in London’s ancient Greenwich Park boasts a farrier’s forge, which will be manned by British farriers, team farriers Murray and Haydn Price of Wales have a complete farrier setup of their own, buried in one of the containers stacked behind the stables. Since forges aren’t allowed in the stables, they will rely on the Olympic forge for that.
Brendan said he planned to use the same hand tools he uses every day, although he wasn't expecting that he would be shoeing any of the horses.
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| Brendan with German team farrier Dieter Krohnert at the European championships. |
“Part of my job,” Brendan shared, “is visiting the hroses during their training. I chat with their grooms, look at the horses’ feet, ahead of time."
But he doesn’t shoe them.
Instead, Brendan Murray considers himself to be in a stewardship role as an extension of the farriers who normally shoe the Team GB horses.
“The team horses are prepared by their home farriers,” he said. “And when they are at the event, I am their caretaker. Just as I have been for the past 22 years. My role is to represent the home farriers, and take care of the horses they’ve worked so very hard to prepare for these Games.
“I am extremely fortunate and very proud to represent my country in this role, by taking care of the horses,” he continued.
Brendan was scheduled to turn over the farrier operation for Great Britain when Haydn Price arrived this week.
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| Brendan played a big role on and off the camera on the film War Horse; you can see him in the forge scene. |
Brendan shod the horses on the set for the film War Horse last year, and had a cameo role as one of the farriers, a role he discussed in an interview for The Hoof Blog.
Among his other career starring roles was as an escort, representing his former military unit, the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, for the gun-wagon caisson carrying the casket of Princess Diana as it rolled through the streets of London to her funeral.
Here's hoping that Brendan Murray writes his memoirs some day. They'd be a fascinating read!
Stay tuned for a follow-up interview with Brendan after the Games!
To learn more:
British Farrier Brendan Murray Receives Medal for Service
War Horse Farrier: Lights, Camera, Hoofcare! Who Shod Joey?
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
War Horse Farrier: Lights, Camera, Hoofcare! Who Shod Joey?
Enjoy this Hoof Blog audio interview with War Horse location off-screen and on-screen
farrier Brendan Murray, thanks to Samantha Clark and War Horse News. You might want to read
the text before you watch the "video".
the text before you watch the "video".
But what about a film crew? And what about the production of Steven Spielberg's film War Horse in England in 2011?
Does Hollywood understand the role of the farrier in the big picture of horse moviemaking? Just try making a movie without one.
DreamWorks Pictures learned the importance of a farrier, especially when Roger, a plow-horse double for star horse Joey, kept stepping on (and thereby pulling off) his shoes in the furrow.
"Cut!" "Get the farrier up here!" "Where's the farrier?"
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| Stills from the farrier's forge scene are hard to find. Here you can see some horseshoes hanging on racks. It's interesting to note that there is very little mention of farriers in the original book except for Private Warren, a farrier apprentice who replaces Captain Nicholls in Joey's saddle. He's a bad rider which isn't good for a horse on a long march, but he takes very good care of him and knows more about horses than the others. The entire ending of the book features a veterinarian in a fantastic description of a horse hospital but the vet and all that went on in the hospital was deleted from the film. (DreamWorks photo) |
In the case of this well-seasoned location farrier, he might have been in the makeup trailer, or having his apron smeared with mud to match the horse he'd be shoeing.
Or maybe he'd be explaining to the wardrobe mistress that split aprons designated an employee or apprentice farrier and that he'd prefer an unsplit master's apron with the customary fringed bottom to wipe the face of the anvil. He'd notice that she's taking notes for her next horse film.
You get the picture: not only did the farrier have to keep putting shoes back on in the midst of many shoots that were mired in mud, he had to step in front of the camera, too. Director Spielberg put location farrier Brendan Murray to work in the forge in the smoky shoeing scene; he and his apprentice are hard at work in the crucial background shots where Joey meets Topthorn while waiting to be shod.
You'll hear all about it in this interview with Great Britain's international eventing team farrier Brendan Murray, a seasoned veteran of both shoeing and riding for film productions!
Brendan was interviewed by Lexington, Kentucky's freelance equestrian media pro Samantha L. Clark of eventingnation.com and many other audio, video and web projects for the horse world.
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| British eventing team farrier Brendan Murray "kitted out" for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. (Photo links to Brendan's Zimbio page) |
About Brendan Murray
Brendan has been associated as eventing team farrier with the British Equestrian Federation and Team GBR for many years. He has served at five Olympic Games, three World Equestrian Games, and many European championships. He was flag bearer for Great Britain and led his country into the arena in the opening ceremonies of the 2010 WEG in Kentucky, as chosen by the athletes.Brendan is retired as a farrier in the British military's esteemed King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery; among his duties was serving as brakeman for the gun carriage loaded with the casket of Princess Diana at her funeral in 1997. Brendan's film on-screen credits include Gladiator, Robin Hood and 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman.
You might enjoy a video interview by Samantha Clark with Brendan at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.
About Samantha Clark
Who is she? Then: eventer, NPR news anchor, and (most recently) co-host of the 2010 Radio Show about the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Now: armed with social media, camera, video and a smart phone, she knows no bounds.
Samantha says of herself: "I'm thrilled to have my blog on EventingNation.com as an excuse to pursue an incurable curiosity about anything to do with horses (especially eventing), satisfy my wanderlust and aid in my determination to cling to my English roots. I'm often accompanied by two small children--sometimes helpful, sometimes a hindrance--and almost always by a beautiful, black Labrador who is perfect company!"
Samantha's blog is a must-read on the web and she is equally a must-follow on Twitter: @samanthalclark for great horse tweets from Kentucky and the eventing world.
More about Samantha Clark
Story, video and audio © Hoofcare Publishing, all rights reserved.
Still images in video © DreamWorks Pictures and Disney Studios.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Ian Hughes of Wales Will Head Farrier Services at Hong Kong Olympics
Welsh farrier Ian Hughes DipWCF will be head of services in the farrier clinic at the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events, to be held in Hong Kong in August.
It's a long way from Mold, Wales to Hong Kong, but Ian Hughes DipWCF already knows the way. After heading up farrier services at the Olympic test event there in 2007, Ian has been named head of farrier services for both the 2008 Olympics and the Paralympics.
In an interview yesterday with Hoofcare and Lameness Journal, Ian shared some of the details of his upcoming assignment, which may be of interest to readers who are connected to horses that will be traveling to Hong Kong without a dedicated Team farrier, or who may aspire to this type of work.
Ian will be assisted by Greg Murray, head farrier for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and fellow British farrier Kelvin Lymer DipWCF of Worcestershire.
Ian spent 3 1/2 weeks in Hong Kong last year for the test event, trying out the new purpose-built forge area in the new veterinary center at Sha Tin racecourse. Only about 36 horses competed then, but the event put the footing, stables, humid climate, and facilities to a good test.
An estimated 240 horses are expected to arrive in Hong Kong; many will arrive in advance so that the horses can adjust to the climate and fulfill quarantine requirements. Only a few countries will send their own farriers, but many horses will arrive with spare sets of shoes all made up, and, hopefully, will have been shod before leaving home.
Ian said that he did not have much input on the design and layout of the forge and shoeing floor, and was glad to have had the test event to try it out in advance. The forge area was served by lots of fans but not air-conditioned, he said, "But it will be when we are there!" he remarked. He said that the workings of two double-burner gas forges cancel out the effects of an air-conditioner, so the shoeing floor would be separated from the forge area, so the horses (and the farriers) will be cool except when forges needs to be fired up.
Ian said that he would have to arrive before the horses to set up the service area, and that he would stay until September and serve the same role for the Para-Games. He'll need to be gone from his home in Wales for a total of eight weeks; he'll leave his busy practice in the hands of his two apprentices and his "qualified man" (a graduate farrier working as his employee).
Ian runs a general practice in Wales, and also serves as farrier consultant at Ashbrook Equine Hospital in Cheshire, England, one of Britain's leading clinics. He lectures on lameness one day a week at the veterinary college at the University of Liverpool.
One country whose horses Ian probably won't be shoeing will be those of his own Team GBR. Ian said that the British horses would probably be served by fellow Welshman Haydn Price and eventing specialist Brendan Murray. (You may remember my story about Brendan, who was one of the four escorts in the horse-drawn funeral procession of Princess Diana. According to tradition, the farrier must be present, in the event of a shoeing mishap on one of the horses pulling the gun carriage and casket.)
One note about "Olympic farriers" (and their tools, supplies, and equipment): Ian said that all gear will be shipped out several weeks in advance. Olympic protocol does not allow companies to make advertising claims that their products were used in the forge at Hong Kong. However, the policy is to allow nonreturnable donations of certain supplies, tools, and equipment that do not have strings attached.
Ian's announcement is great news, but I realize it should come as no surprise. Wales is a tiny country that has a penchant for producing farriers who excel on the international level. Calgary Stampede World Champion farriers Grant Moon, Billy Crothers, Richard Ellis, and James Blurton all are from Wales and come to mind, along with Haydn and Ian, and I remember from an earlier generation Glyn David and the late Tommy Williams excelling in the profession, too. I'm sure there are many, many more. John McEwen, chair of the FEI's veterinary committee and head vet for Team Great Britain, also lives in Wales.
Best of luck to Ian and all the farriers who head to Hong Kong this summer. It's great to see the role of farriers be recognized for the important part it plays in the safety and ultimate performance of the horses. The same is true if the farrier is working at a local horse show or the Olympics.
Read an interview with Ian Hughes for potential farrier apprentices.
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