Silent Anvil: Horseshoers Like Dave Reed

There's a silent anvil here in Massachusetts today. The anvil belonged to farrier Dave Reed of Brimfield. You probably didn't know Dave, but then again, maybe you did. Or maybe you know someone a lot like him.

This article is my way of saying good-bye to Dave, and tipping my hat to horseshoers like him. They're out there. But they're disappearing from the back roads every day. Soon they might all be gone, unless we realize what they had to teach us. A lot of farriers I know who are working now chose the profession because they had been around horseshoers like Dave Reed.

I met Dave back in the early 1980s. Dave was one of a whole legion of farriers in that era who had come back from Vietnam and found their places behind the wheel of a rattley pickup truck. It probably had a dog in the passenger seat. Horseshoers like Dave Reed would always have a good story about how that dog got there.

Being a horseshoer worked out really well for a lot of those veterans, especially when they kept to the back roads in the small towns, away from the big stables and show barns. They could keep their own hours, and be their own employers. There weren't many rules and their biggest competitor was in the mirror, as the profession by the time I came along was changing and demanding that they up their skills--or lose out to someone with a shinier truck, a bigger belt buckle and a better sales pitch.

But back then, there were few books, few classrooms, the tests were optional and horseshoers like Dave Reed could always pack up and move to Vermont or Maine or Montana. A lot of them did.

There was a time when farriers didn't need or want to know how to make roadster shoes. They didn't need letters after their names. They didn't carry briefcases and they couldn't spell or pronounce arteriovenous anastomoses or care what it meant.

Horseshoers like Dave Reed didn't go to many clinics. When they did it, they could sense B.S. by the second slide and I used to smile when I'd see them get up and leave. "Aw, there was nothing there for me," they'd tell me later. I knew what they meant, because I'd catch on by the fourth or fifth slide and I'd be right behind them.

But horseshoers like Dave Reed would come around and stand rooted to the spot when someone like Bob Skradzio was giving a clinic. They'd say it was because he didn't show slides but I knew it was because his handshake was just as strong as theirs, and because he looked them in the eye.

Horseshoers like Dave Reed were the last ones to take the coal forges out of their trucks, and they don't hang up on the people who call looking for help with two-year-old drafts or the rank ones no one else wants to shoe. They shrug. Smoke cigarettes. And somehow get it done, even if it's not pretty.

You don't want to cross horseshoers like Dave Reed. They can have pretty thin skin sometimes. And speaking of skin, their tattoos are the real kind, with anchors or eagles, and you know they got them in places like Bangkok but they never will get around to telling you what the tattoos mean. Or what really happened the night they got those tattoos.

Horseowners would tolerate their erratic schedules because they knew that horseshoers like Dave Reed might not show up when they wanted them but would when they needed them. If their barns burned down or they had a child in the hospital or a horse was injured in a trailer wreck, these are the guys who would show up and probably forget to leave a bill. Even if they didn't shoe there anymore. I've seen it happen.

Horseshoers like Dave Reed don't hold much stock in horse whisperers. What they do is more like a growl but the horses seem to understand. It's hard to fool a horse. They know that. 

Sometimes I think what's wrong with the horse world today is that we've forgotten that being a farrier shouldn't require a business background or a pile of impressive references or a brand new truck or a last name that is a dynasty at the anvil. The job takes character.

The most successful farriers I know seem to be the ones who are characters...and who have character, too. Lots of it. Because you need it. Some days, more than others. It shows up in the way you treat the horse, the jokes you choose to tell (or not tell) the customer, and the time you take explaining to the kid working the drive-through window what a farrier is.

You can do it without character, of course, but you probably won't thrive. You'll always be making more rules and upping your prices and changing your clients and buying new tools. It might be years until you figure out that you need to relax and let the job change you. You can't do much to change the job.

I never actually saw Dave Reed shoe a horse, that I recall. I don't have any shoes he made hanging on the wall. He never wrote an article for or with me. But he never let me down because all Dave Reed ever was was exactly who he was: a horseshoer. A character. And a friend.

Most of the time, I find that all three of those things come together naturally in one package. I hope it always will be that way.

Photo credit: An anvil in the woods would suit horseshoers like Dave Reed. Photo by Jake Matthews.

 © Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. 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.  

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Hoof Balance Perspective: Duckett and Caldwell Speakers at Oakencroft’s October Podiatry Conference in New York

Do you know the difference between Duckett's Dot and The Bridge? For years, the Dot stuck in people's memories but the Bridge was probably where most people thought the Dot was. This is a useful illustration technique used in Dr Lisa Lancaster's book, The Sound Hoof, for her explanation of Duckett's system.

Who: Farriers and veterinarians

What: 5th Annual Farrier/Podiatry Symposium

When: October 15-16, 2010

Where: South Bethlehem/Selkirk, New York (near Albany)

Presented by The Clinic at Oakencroft and Greene County Horseshoe Supply

A Hoofcare + Lameness Recommended Event

Sometimes I sit in the dark watching speaker’s slides at conferences and think like an Irish country matchmaker. I’d like to see her talk on the same program with him, or get this German together with this Australian, or whatever, and see what they come up with when a horse walks in to be evaluated.

When I heard British educator Mark Caldwell roll through the results of his research that had compared different hoof balance methods over a shoeing period, I wondered if Dave Duckett knew that someone had put his “Dot” (and Bridge and all the rest of his landmarks) to the test not just of measurement, but of time.

As it turned out, he didn’t know, but the news got his attention. Now it’s time for the two to present their versions of what hoof balance was, is or will be, side by side on the same program. It's a speaker-match made in hoofcare heaven.

Two years later, the man with all the hoof balance testing tools and the man with all the ideas in his head instead of on paper will present their views on hoof shape and balance together, and perhaps re-define or update their studies, or influence each other. Consider this: is the best trimming method for a foot the method that leaves the foot looking balanced when the farrier drives away, or is it the one that prepares the hoof to grow out evenly and maintain a balanced base and flat landing over the four or six or eight week shoeing period?

 A foot map to where, exactly? This exercise included mapping out the foot as it existed at the time of trimming. Caldwell sketched in the wider base of frog that is one of his goals for this foot to show his students where the foot would be going, if it was trimmed not for the moment but for the continuum until the next farrier visit. If you're trying to help the horse develop the frog, would you trim differently than someone who thought this foot was acceptable as is? Should you map the foot the horse has or the foot the horse is capable of having?

THE SPEAKERS:
David Duckett FWCF: The well-known and highly honored British farrier and farrier competitor now lives in Pennsylvania. By my math, this year should be roughly the 25th anniversary of his first major hoof balance lectures. Based on observation and a lot of dissections and anatomy studies, Duckett’s idea was to get farriers interested in hoof anatomy by giving clever names to landmarks. His hoof balance system strives to inspire farriers to focus on the points on the horse’s foot least likely to change rather than to dwell on shapes that can and do migrate or grow unevenly. In spite of his system’s simplicity, or perhaps because of it, it is very often misunderstood and the points are transposed.

Mark Caldwell FWCF instructs the farriery courses at Myerscough College in England. He trained as a farrier in the British Army and then became a specialist in shoeing horses for lameness problems at a veterinary hospital before turning to teaching. His research studies use gait analysis and weight-scanning mats; his quest is to define what he calls “evidence-based farriery”.

Mark is currently involved in a post-graduate PhD program studying "limb loading and the effects on hoof capsule morphometrics" at the University of Liverpool Department of Veterinary Clinical Science in Liverpool, England.

Together, these two speakers can explain where the ideas come from (Duckett) and what happens when you put the idea to a test that filters out the subjective tricks we play on ourselves when we evaluate horses’ feet (Caldwell). This clinic is a chance to hear “from the horses’ mouths” where in the world “Duckett’s Dot” came from…and perhaps where it is going in the future.

In other words: this will not be a shoemaking clinic. This clinic most likely will be about looking at feet and identifying/evaluating the matrix that dictates a foot’s shape and growth pattern.

THE CONFERENCE:
The Clinic at Oakencroft’s Podiatry Conference is a casual and friendly event in a beautiful location in rural New York near the Massachusetts and Connecticut borders, just south of Albany. The Clinic hosts monthly meetings with local farriers and they feel at home there—you will, too.

The format of the conference is presentations, discussions, and lots of great food. There are hotels nearby.

Full conference, hotel and registration information can be downloaded at this link:
http://www.oakencroft.org/Articles/5th_Annual_Podiatry.Farrier_announcement%5B1%5D.pdf

The clinic fee is $300 for both days, $200 for Friday only or $150 for Saturday only. Registration should be complete by October 1st. Late registration will be at the discretion of the Clinic, as space allows.

Registration can be done online, by mail, or by phone. If you have specific questions or wish to contact the clinic, you may call 518 767 2906 or send a fax to 518 767 3505.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. 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.

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The World Would Be a Better Place If There Were More of These

Farrier Vane, originally uploaded by Dave Angood.

Weathervanes, that is. They are one of the best ways to make a statement. A silhouette against the sky can be seen from afar and a good blacksmith can create a work of art to go atop a barn's cupola, a vet clinic, or a mobile home. Or a car dealership, clam shack or tipi.

It takes the observer's eye up to the sky and there's something uplifting about that, it more ways than one.

I just wish it wasn't so hard to get a good photo of a weathervane! It seems like there are always power lines or something in the way, or I can't get a good angle from the ground.

This is my new favorite weathervane, captured on film by Dave Angood, who tells me he found it atop an old barn inside some fortress-like gates near Swaffham in Norfolk, England. He allowed me to share it with Hoof Blog readers. I kept staring at it for the longest time this morning.

It reminds me of the beautiful weathervanes made by a farrier and heavy horse expert named Richard Gowing in England. If Richard didn't make it, surely his past work helped inspire it. Our friend the late Edward Martin from Scotland made beautiful weathervanes too.

Weathervanes carry some responsibility, of course. They have to be aligned with the earth. In our little seaside village, my salty old neighbor died and left a provision in his will that money from his estate be used to get steeplejacks to come and re-orient the weathervane on top of the church which, over the years, have drifted out of alignment.

It really bothered him. He saw the vane as a tool to check the wind as he drove toward the harbor each morning rather than the beautiful ornament on the church that the rest of us saw.

It's fixed now.

What--and where--is your favorite weathervane?

Thanks to Dave Angood for his hard work in getting such a good shot of this beautiful weathervane. Dave's trying to find out more about it and I'll add more details if he reports back.

Meet NEAEP. Now Ask: Who's an Equine Practitioner? New Org's Broader Definition Includes Vets and Farriers; Meeting Discount for Hoofcare Subscribers

by Fran Jurga | 19 April 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

NEAEP President Christopher ("Kit") Miller DVM and NEAEP Board Member David Farley work together in the barn aisle and in the board room. (NEAEP photo)

And now for something completely different...

A new organization unleashed a flurry of email promotions on the east coast of the USA this winter, and they're not done yet. The message is that a new organization, the Northeast Association of Equine Practitioners (NEAEP), plans to expand what (and who) an equine practitioner organization is by inviting veterinarians, technicians and farriers to become members of the new umbrella professional group.

And they would recommend that everyone's first step--whether members or prospective members--be to plan to attend an equally ambitious dual-program conference planned for the fall at the Foxwoods Casino Resort in Connecticut.

According to its web site, the mission of the NEAEP is "to improve the health and welfare of horses by providing state-of-the-art professional education and to support the economic security of the equine industry by complementing local associations thereby giving equine veterinarians, farriers, technicians, veterinary students and horse owners a unified voice at the state and regional levels."

Two farriers--Patrick Reilly of Pennsylvania and David Farley of Florida--are on the new association's Board of Directors.

Reilly said, "It is fantastic to have these two professions working together in these areas. While this was intended as a regional association, we have had interest in membership from farriers all over the United States, and from as far as Ireland. I am encouraged to see that other farriers are equally excited at this unique opportunity for our professions to work and learn together."

I caught up with Dave Farley recently to ask him about the organization from the working farrier's point of view. Dave is a longtime advocate of continuing education for farriers; he runs a show horse shoeing business with his son, both in Florida and in Ohio, and keeps up a busy clinic schedule working in product development and especially product education for Farrier Product Distribution.

"This is a commitment, it's not an experiment," Dave stressed. "And the wider membership extends to vet students and technicians. The NEAEP is committing to hosting a foot conference each year, which will benefit any farrier. It's really exciting, and a very open group. The veterinarians are willing to learn from us (farriers).

"One of the biggest accolades in the farrier industry is this, to be accepted on an equal level," he continued. "And here it is. I work with vets all the time, but I know a lot of farriers who don't, and this organization will help them."

Perusing the list of directors and officers of the organization shows that this group is rooted in the east coast circuit of show horses and sport horses, with several noted veterinary practitioners making a commitment to the startup, including Dr Mark Baus of Fairfield Equine Associates and Dr Stephen Soule of Palm Beach Equine Clinic. President Miller practices outside New York City.

The academic side of equine practice is not forgotten; Dr Jose Garcia-Lopez of Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine is currently President-Elect, and Reilly, the farrier quoted earlier, is on staff at the University of Pennsylvania and is on the board with Farley. You may recognize other disciplines and individuals on the long list of officials.

Hoofcare and Lameness has made a commitment in this venture as well. We will support the first conference and look forward to seeing many of our Hoof Blog readers and Journal subscribers there.

CONFERENCE DISCOUNT: The NEAEP has generously offered a $75 conference registration discount to Hoofcare and Lameness subscribers. This is like getting your subscription for free...with money left over! The catch is that you must pre-register by August 15th and, since the online registration is automated, you would need to register by phone to receive the discount. The normal registration for the three-day event is $465; the Hoofcare and Lameness rate will be just $390 for telephone registrations by August 15th.

By the time August rolls around, you will have forgotten this announcement, lost it, be away on vacation or be too busy to call. But you can get your registration done now, guarantee a hotel room, and plan to have a quality educational experience.

See you there!

Here are the links you will need to learn more:
NEAEP officials and staff
Vet program
Podiatry program
NEAEP membership information

© 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.

Another Word About Toe Grabs

Unless you are embedded in the world of horseshoes, you might not know what a toe grab is. It is cleat, basically, that protrudes from the toe area of a horse shoe. Many people believe that horses need something to push off from, particularly when leaving the gate, and the toe grab was designed to do that.

Toe grabs come in many lengths. The most extreme are Louisiana and Quarter horse toe grabs. Most racehorses wear regular or low-toe shoes if they have toe grabs, and most of them are on the hind feet.

Toe grabs are an adaptation of toe calks used on draft and driving horses that had to go over ice and snow in the old days. Part of a horse's maintenance in the winter included sharpening the calks. One of the major advances in horseshoeing in the late 19th century was the invention of the removable heel calk, which caused such a stir in American industry that federal intervention was needed! (But that's another story...)

Shoes are available with traction devices on the heels and they can also be added to the shoes if the track is slick or wet. Calks can also be forged or the tip of the heel of a race plate can be bent at an angle.

It is often said that the United States is the only country that allows toe grabs, and that is untrue. First of all, most racing around the world is on grass courses, especially Europe and Australia. Horsemen and horseshoers in those country are pretty horrified by the idea of toe grabs, but they also do not race on dirt.

Dave Erb of Victory Racing Plates shared with me a good rule of thumb. I asked him what countries allowed toe grabs. He said, "Anyplace with the word 'America' in it: North America, South America, Central America."

I've never forgotten that.

I think that the shoe manufacturers are a wealth of information about what works and what doesn't. I hope they will get involved in these discussions about shoeing rule changes and join us in Saratoga next month.

Note: "Hoofcare@Saratoga" will host two sessions specifically on racehorse shoes in the news. On August 5th, members of the Grayson Jockey Club Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit's Shoeing Committee will present new research and answer questions from 7 p.m. on at the Parting Pub in Saratoga Springs, NY. On August 12, a double session at both the National Museum of Racing (in the afternoon) and the Parting Glass (in the evening) will cover racing surfaces and hoof injuries.

Please see these other posts for more on toe grab rules; please note that most of the activity has occurred within 30 days of the recommendation from the Jockey Club:

(today)Hoofcare@Saratoga Event Series topics, week by week by 2008

(yesterday)Keeneland and Turfway ban toe grabs and traction on front and hind shoes

(July 16, 2008)Penn National Gaming Tracks to Ban Toe Grabs and Traction on Front Shoes

(July 14, 2008)Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Announces Plan to Ban Traction and Grabs on Front Shoes

(June 18, 2008) Jockey Club Calls for States for Nationwide Ban on Grabs and Traction on Front Shoes

(June 4, 2008) ESPN video clip with Belmont shoer Tim Shortell on basic racetrack shoeing and shoes

(April 30, 2008) Kentucky Derby: Shoewear of the Fast and Famous

(March 13, 2008) Shoes and Surfaces at the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation's 2008 Welfare and Safety Summit

(February 21, 2008) California Reports on Horses Since Toe Grab Ban, Switch to Artificial Tracks

(June 2007) Indiana Bans Toe Grabs in Response to GJC WSS Recommendation
(June 2007) 2007 Grayson Jockey Club Foundation Welfare and Safety Summit Shoeing
Committee

(May 2007) State Racing Commissioners Encouraged to Ban Toe Grabs