Calgary Stampede Farriers: Potluck Forging Class Showcases the "Art" of Shoeing Horses (And Why That Matters)

People throw around the term "the art and science of farriery" a lot. What does that mean?

Professional hoofcare requires that the farrier use both sides of his or her brain. While they have to learn the anatomy of the horse and the mechanics of the job, they also have to be able to "right brain" the creation, adjustment or placement of the shoe or appliance being attached to the foot.

I think it goes even further than that, and a good farrier is separated from the pack by the ability to "see" with his or her right brain what the foot should or would look like and understand the left-brain concepts of trimming adjustment and support mechanics required to get it there.

Another aspect is the often unconscious right-brain knowing what the foot will look like in a few weeks or a few months as it grows out from the way it has been trimmed or from the effects of what is being nailed or glued on. It seems obvious that a lot of horses' problems arise not from how the horse is shod initially, but how the foot reacts to that mechanical message over time, especially if a shoe that wasn't ideal on Day One is left on too long.

So there is an "art" to it but sometimes people outside the profession don't see the art in the job, since it is invisible, unspoken and almost impossible to teach or even articulate.

You probably can't measure it, either. No judge in a competition can develop a score sheet for it and you can't design a test for it.

Until, of course, you get a group of farriers together and you hand them simple bars of steel and tell them to make something. Blacksmithing skills tell them how to make something...but what part of their profession is showing them what is inside that piece of steel, wanting to come out?

I think that the "art" side of farriery is something that horses can immediately recognize, and appreciate. Maybe some horses have never experienced it. Maybe, for other horses, it is all they have ever known and they have the soundness to prove it. Still others, the high-end competition horses, depend on the art side of farriery to come to their rescue and keep them going, often after the "science" side has failed.

Stand back: watch the art side take over a group of farriers from around the world at the 2012 Calgary Stampede World Championship. Enjoy the show.

(Note the show has 50 or so photos of the farriers and then it may keep going to other unrelated subjects posted by the Stampede. Sorry about that!)

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© 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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Calgary Stampede World Championship Blacksmiths: View the Live Video Feed on the Hoof Blog

(videostream disabled because event is over)

There is some sort of a scoring problem and, as of Saturday night, the top ten for the live shoeing had not been announced. The competitors don't even know how they're doing!
England's Steven Beane, World Champion of 2009 and 2010 was off to a good start, winning two of the first three classes and finishing second in the other, before the scoring problem came up. The team results are not known.

Sunday update: The Stampede has not supplied any official information about this event.

  

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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.

Video: Virginia Tech Vet School Farrier Volunteered at World Equestrian Games

It wasn't long ago that this blog was announcing that Travis Burns had been chosen as the first resident farrier to work at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).

It only took about six months for Travis to be settled in enough at the job to answer the call of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. He signed on with the American Farrier's Association (AFA) to volunteer his services during the eventing portion of the Games.

All of the 70 or so volunteer farriers did a great job, but I think that Travis is probably the only one with a public relations department waiting to work on his behalf. So let's say that this video is a blanket salute to all the men and women who pitched in to help.

I'm sure Travis would agree.

Working at the eventing part of the Games was a natural for Travis. Before moving to Blacksburg for his position at the vet school, Travis worked at Forging Ahead in Round Hill, Virginia, outside Middleburg and, after college and farrier school, went through the group practice's formal farrier career-track internship program . Forging Ahead specializes in sport horses and lameness therapy, and the client list reads like a who's who of the sport of eventing.

All the farriers--young and old--who staffed the events at the World Equestrian Games were a great group who traveled to Lexington from all over the United States. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I'm sure none of them knew exactly what to expect. It could have been pouring rain or a tornado might have passed through, but the weather was friendly and their service was, too. They took a chance, gave up their earnings at home for a few days, and traveled at their own expense, but I doubt any of them regrets the time spent volunteering or being part of that event. There will probably never be a "next time".

© 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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England's Steven Beane Repeats as Calgary World Champion

The Calgary Stampede put together this little video about the farrier competition.

"Beane" there, done that--Two years in a row!

Steven Beane of England, shown early in this video, was named the 2010 World Champion Blacksmith at the Calgary Stampede today.  That makes it two in a row for the Yorkshire farrier, who was also champion in 2009 and is currently reserve European champion for 2010.

According to the Calgary Stampede, Beane was virtually unbeatable when it counted Sunday, dominating the semifinal and final rounds under the Big Top to win his second consecutive World Championship Blacksmiths’ Competition title at the Calgary Stampede.

Beane, who hails from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, is the first backto-back WCBC champion since Billy Crothers of Wales won the second and third of his five Stampede crowns back in 1995 and 1996.

“It’s unbelievably hard to do that. Really, really hard,” said Beane, 31. “You’ve got so many good guys competing here . . . you’ve got to be on the top of your game, and I’m lucky I was on top of my game today.

“I’ve had a bad year up until now, to be honest,” added Beane, who said he competes at between 15 and 20 farrier competitions during a year. “I went to the European championships, where I’d won two years in a row, and I was second there. That was kind of hard to take. But I must admit that for the last couple of months, I’ve been focused on coming back here.”

During the 10-man semifinal, Beane opened up a 21-point lead on Jake Engler of Magnolia, Texas, and in the final, he increased that advantage, prevailing by 32 points over Engler in the end.

Beane finished with 147 points to Engler’s 115. As for the other finalists, Scotland’s Derek Gardner was
third with 115 (Engler won a tiebreaker on the fit of a horse’s shoe); fellow Scot David Varini was fourth with 94, and Texan Gene Lieser ended up fifth with 87.

Beane wins a cheque for $10,000, as well as a gold-and-silver Stampede championship buckle, a limited  edition bronze trophy, and a champion’s jacket. More than $50,000 in cash and prizes were handed out to WCBC competitors this weekend.

“It was pretty rough going for me today. Nothing was clicking,” said Engler. “Beane is always on the money, and he’s hard to beat. But I’m pretty happy with (second place). It can’t be too bad, since there’s  only one guy better than me.”

Congratulations to all the farriers who made the trip to Calgary and represented their countries.

Information and quotes provided by the Calgary Stampede were used in this report. Photo and video courtesy of the Calgary Stampede.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com
© 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.

Virginia Tech Hires Full-Time Farrier for Veterinary College Post

20 January 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

Travis Burns will leave his employment with the multi-farrier practice Forging Ahead in Round Hill, Virginia to become the full-time farrier at the veterinary college at Virginia Tech. He's shown here with one of his favorite horses, a big-footed barefoot fellow named Gumpy. (Hoofcare & Lameness photo)

This announcement was received this week from the
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia; thanks to Drs. R. Scott Pleasant (far left) and David Hodgson (near left) for their assistance. (University announcement text in red)

We are very pleased to announce that Travis Burns, of Marshall, Virginia, has joined the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech as a full-time farrier.

Burns’ arrival in February will allow the College to provide complete equine podiatry services through the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. In his position, Travis will assist the equine faculty in building on the service, education, and community engagement strengths of the College. We believe that Travis’s special skills, knowledge, and experience will be a great resource for our students and regional horse owners, farriers, and veterinarians.

Proper management and care of a horse’s hooves is essential to the overall health of the animal, according to Dr. David Hodgson, head of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. “Properly trimmed and balanced hooves and correctly fitting shoes are essential to preventing lameness and other maladies in horses,” said Hodgson. “The addition of Travis to our department and hospital further enhances the overall preventive healthcare package we are able to offer our patients, clients and referring veterinarians. We are very pleased to welcome him and plan for him to enhance our ties to the local community of farriers. Travis will be working closely with Dr. Scott Pleasant and other members of our veterinary team. Dr. Pleasant is one of the leading veterinary exponents for the advancement of hoof care in horses. ”

Travis’s interest in horseshoeing began at an early age while working with horses at his uncle’s riding stable in North Carolina. He attended farrier school in the winter of 2002 and then continued to shoe horses while attending college. He graduated from North Carolina State University in 2006 with a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science. In 2007, Travis was accepted into a one-year internship program at Forging Ahead, an elite multi-farrier practice in Northern Virginia. Upon completion of the internship program, based on his outstanding ability, Travis was retained at Forging Ahead as an associate farrier.

Travis recently achieved Certified Journeyman Farrier certification by the American Farrier's Association, the highest level of certification granted by the organization.

(end of Virginia Tech document)

Hoofcare and Lameness would like to congratulate both Travis Burns and Virginia Tech for the new directions each of them is taking (and taking together). While Travis is heading into a new area, there is no doubt he gives a lot of credit to the formal internship program that he completed at Forging Ahead; he was later hired on as an associate farrier there. The fact that he would be an AFA Journeyman and be considered for this position at the vet school so early in his career is testimony to the program that Paul Goodness has designed at Forging Ahead for farriers who want to seriously accelerate their careers working on top sport horses or specializing in lameness. While not everyone can be an intern at Forging Ahead, the program can be emulated by others, and hopefully more internships for working professional farriers will be offered in the future.

How does Paul Goodness feel about losing his protege? "I think it's so great," he said in a phone interview this morning, "that Virginia Tech would choose a young, talented farrier like Travis. He'll go far in this industry. They are starting with a clean slate, by hiring someone who wants to help horses and make a positive difference on many fronts. This is a step forward for the farrier-vet world. I will be able to stay in touch with Travis and send him cases from Leesburg. (Note: Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Virginia, which is affiliated with Virginia Tech and where Paul is the farrier).

"It's not a crisis here at Forging Ahead. It's true, 2009 wasn't the best year for us, and I'm sure not the best year for most farrier businesses," he continued thoughtfully. "But we've already picked up new clients this month and I don't feel like I need to be running back and forth to Florida. Scott and I have full books, all day, just here at the shop with haul-ins. We're predicting a big year and an influx of foreign riders to the area to train and compete before heading to Kentucky for WEG in the fall. The farrier business should be just fine, as should be the lameness referrals."

Here's a re-post of the NBC News segment taped at Forging Ahead about the internship program during the run-up to the Kentucky Derby last April:

, ,Please allow time for NBC's "Thank Goodness" video to load. Click the play icon to begin.

Links to more articles about Forging Ahead:
Link to Internship Program Announcement in 2007
Link to "Friends at Work" About Forging Ahead in 2009
Link to Forging Ahead web site

In 2009, Travis attended the Fifth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot in West Palm Beach, Florida and the North East Association of Equine Practitioners Conference in Ledyard, Connecticut. He also was a guest presenter at one of our Hoofcare@Saratoga evenings last August in Saratoga Springs, New York, where he presented Forging Ahead's clever reverse Mustad glue-on shoe for laminitis therapy.

While I was working on this announcement, several people forwarded to me links to a story that was published around the country today, via Associated Press, and most notably on the ABC News and National Public Radio web sites. The article features Jason Wilson-Maki, farrier at Texas A&M University, along with a brief mention of Michael Wildenstein, farrier at Cornell.

There are many hardworking farriers at vet schools around North America, including Jason and Michael, whether full-time employees or contract service providers. I'm sorry to say that I don't know who they all are, so if you work for or with a vet school, please contact The Hoof Blog so we can keep a list.

And today we can add Travis Burns to that list of farriers...and Virginia to the list of vet schools that has one.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. Please, 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.

New Educational Opportunity for Career-Motivated Farriers at Forging Ahead

One of North America's innovative multi-farrier practices has just announced an unusual program for farriers seeking to build a career in professional farriery. Forging Ahead in Round Hill, Virginia is a partnership of several leading farriers who are responsible for the hoofcare of many of the top sport horses in the USA. Forging Ahead also operates a busy haul-in farrier clinic and provides the farrier services at Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in nearby Leesburg, Virginia, where the farriers participate in research and treatment programs at the hospital.

The new program is described as an "internship". Two interns per year will be selected from applicants. Interns will be paid and housing will be provided. While Forging Ahead has offered apprenticeships in the past, and trained many top farriers from the beginner level, this program is designed for farriers who have already attained a level of competence and wish to be exposed to a huge caseload of sport-horse and lameness work.

Forging Ahead is currently headed by Paul Goodness, one of the leading behind-the-scenes masterminds of Hoofcare and Lameness Journal (it's not his fault when it's late) and a highly respected, though somewhat reclusive expert in high-tech farriery and lameness mechanics. Paul is also active in product development in the farrier industry and received the CJF designation from the American Farrier's Association.

Senior partner with Paul is sport-horse specialist Randy Pawlak; current full-time farriers are Matt Hatcher, Scott Sellers, Amy Sidwar, and Zeb Foltz. The practice has long-time affiliations with horses and riders representing the USET, and other nations' teams; Paul was USET's official farrier in the 1990s and the firm's resume is outstanding for work in both competition horse and veterinary work. He's the only American farrier ever to win the "Best Shod Horse" Award when his work was judged against top British farriers at the Badminton Horse Trials in England.

Paul is a graduate of the unique but now defunct New Bolton Center (University of Pennsylvania College of Veterinary Medicine) advanced farrier residency program that flourished in the 1980s and produced many of the East Coast's leading farriers, including Rob Sigafoos. The program ended 20 years ago, but there has been talk in several circles recently about the value of such a program.

Cornell vet school's informal program with Michael Wildenstein also offers farriers advanced specialized training on an intensive on-the-job level with a full load of cases, but farriers are not paid or housed while they learn at Cornell and the program is currently not offered on a long-term basis, although Cornell may have plans that have not been announced yet (scroll down for news from the Cornell program).

Forging Ahead will be looking for motivated, focused farriers with preference given to farriers who have experience with horses as well as with shoeing. There has been a void in advanced farrier education opportunities for years, and this program certainly can't fill it alone. The hope is that other group practices or solo senior farriers will begin similar programs so that legitimate speciality training can be a reality for those who seek it. Eventually, college credit may be possible, but this is a working, "hands on" program rather than an academic or research pursuit.
Forging Ahead has published a summary of their program description and application form at http://www.forgingaheadva.blogspot.com/

Please contact Amy Sidwar at Forging Ahead for more information. And please leave comments here to share your opinions about how farriers should or could receive advanced training. Just click on the word "comments" to open a box and leave your message. You may leave the message anonymously or sign your name.

This is a tremendous opportunity. Thanks to Forging Ahead for living up to their name, once again!

Photo of Paul Goodness in a low-tech, traditional environment courtesy of Forging Ahead.