Friends at Work: New Hampshire Farriers Practice for World Championship at Calgary Stampede

13 April 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

A horse at the mounted police stables in Dover, New Hampshire gets the benefit of a shoeing by veteran Jim Smith during a practice session for local farriers who plan to compete in July's World Championship for farriers at the Calgary Stampede in Canada. It's a long way to go, but New Hampshire pros Tim Bolduc of Fremont, Jim Smith of Milton Mills, George Barker of Gilmanton, and Nathaniel Bruss of Bradford are preparing to represent the "Live Free or Die" state and are being sponsored by the Horseshoes Plus farrier supply store in Barrington, NH. Click here to read a nice story about their practice session that appeared in yesterday's Foster Daily Democrat newspaper, and which included this and other photos of the team.

© 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.

Friends in Need: Ribbons for Linda

Linda Best in healthier times, showing one of her Miniature Horses.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl with a big heart and some big plans to help her friend. And it worked.

Today was a special day. A little girl named Michaela put on a horse show today, with some help from a lot of bigger people. She wanted to help the woman who got her involved in showing. And she knew the woman needed her help.

The horse world turned out today to help Linda Best, a farrier from New Hampshire who is battling pancreatic cancer without the benefit of insurance. Linda is also trying to keep up her half of the shoeing business that she runs with her husband, Paul. She's also trying to run her farm. She's also trying to home-school her children. Do you get the picture?

But today, she was the guest of honor at a horse show to raise funds for her healthcare. All planned by a little girl who believes that Linda needs and deserves help.

The horse world responded in a big way. The show was helped with a lot of free publicity from the local media, and a lot of sympathy and affection for Linda.

If you'd like to help Linda, you can read about the horse show here.

There is a PayPal donation button at the bottom of that page if you want to forward a donation electronically to Linda's fund at the bank.

You could also send a check to:
Ribbons for Linda Best
c/o Kennebunk Savings Bank
P.O. Box 1880
Ogunquit, ME 03907

UPDATE: A fund-raising auction to benefit Linda will be held this Saturday at the open house at Horseshoes Plus farrier supply company in Barrington, New Hampshire. Farriers have made and donated hand-crafted artwork for the auction. Call 800-382-5434 for details.

Linda has been shoeing horses around here and in New Hampshire since she was 19 years old. She and Paul first subscribed to Hoofcare and Lameness in 1987. They have a unique business, since both of them are farriers. I am sure that Linda hasn't asked for this help, and no one asked me to ask you to help.

Sometimes, you just know what to do. I hope you will, too.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online or received via a daily email through an automated delivery service.

To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness, please visit our main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Is the Biggest Horse Around Here the Biggest in the World?

Shoeless or shod, New Hampshire's "Tex" is pretty big. But is he big enough? (Concord Monitor photo)

To make it into the Guinness Book of World Records, a Belgian pulling horse named Tex had to have his shoes pulled. Farrier Rick Sharp pulled the shoes for an official measuring ceremony recently. Guinness requires that the horse be measured both with and without shoes.

According to the Concord Monitor newspaper, the six-year-old Belgian stands about 7 feet, 6 inches from hoof to head and weighs 2,450 pounds. This hoof is ten inches across, according to the article.

Tex is trying to tower over Radar, a Belgian in Texas who currently holds the Guinness honors, according to the newspaper. It's not clear whether Guinness goes by the overall height of the horse or the actual hands at the withers. His owners are hoping he makes 20 hands.

Shire horses in Australia and England are also trying to claim the title.

You can see why Guinness requires the shoes to be pulled before a horse is measured. This is not Tex, but another very large Belgian pulling horse that I saw worked on at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky a few years ago. Tex is probably shod in a similar way for the competition season. This horse had laminitis, but farrier Aaron Gygax managed to get him sound enough to keep pulling. This horse was shod in a very low-tech way for a high-tech place like Rood and Riddle: Aaron made the horse's new shoes. In this photo, you see his old shoes. I think he could climb telephone poles, too.