Farrier Axes Out in Force at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Parade

Only a few people in the world noticed them. They were at the back of the column. Only they had black plumes on their helmets. Only they carried big bad farrier axes instead of lances.

Only they made the Hoof Blog.

They were, are and possibly always will be the farriers of the Household Cavalry, stationed at Hyde Park Barracks in inner London. The unit serves the Queen and the farriers serve the unit's horses.

The Household Cavalry of Buckingham Palace requires the services of no less than 11 farriers, plus the regiment's Farrier Major, Staff Corporal Neil Sherlock, who oversees his men's work on 120 horses per week.

One of the interesting aspects of the job is that they don't enter the military as farriers. They may be sent to Afghanistan or any number of assignments in the military world. When they rotate through London, they all ride. Some are interested and step forward to start farrier apprenticehips, but they already know how to ride.

Part of the duty of farriers is not to just stay in the forge and work hard, but to stay in training as riders as well so that they can accompany their regiment in their ceremonial role as carriers of the axes. The pole axes were used to lop off the feet of fallen horses after battles--the feet have numbers burned into them for inventory control purposes. You can imagine what the spike was for.

The farrier's ax has been featured on The Hoof Blog quite a bit--we followed it during the Royal Wedding last spring and watched one being restored at the Army Museum for the War Horse exhibit there.

We've seen quite a bit of interest in the ax--and not just from farriers. The world wants to know more about the ax and the men who carry them: when was the last time one was used? how do they decide how many axes are needed? Who shaprens the ax?

I can't answer your questions but I will try to find someone who can if you keep sending them in.

Photo kindly loaned by Alexandra Wade, a London-based photographer who thinks of this blog whenever she hears hoofbeats on the street--and has taken some spectacular photos for us!

To learn more:


Why Is That Guy Following Prince William and Kate Middleton Carrying a Big Shiny Ax? Because He's the Farrier, That's Why!

Farrier's Ax: A Museum Restores a Gruesome Tool of Mercy Designed to End the War for Horses

© 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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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.

Farrier's Ax: A Museum Restores a Gruesome Tool of Mercy Designed to End the War for Horses

Courtesy of National Army Museum, London

As people in the US prepare to line up at movie theaters to see War Horse over the Christmas holiday, here's some farrier background about a tool you may even see in the movie. I am not sure when they stopped actually using this tool, but no one has stopped talking about it, that's for sure.

It's the farrier's ax, and you'll see one close-up in this video from the National Army Museum, which currently has a major museum dedicated to war horses staged at its London galleries.

The Hoof Blog had plenty of information about the ax when the Royal Wedding took place last spring and a farrier's ax was paraded by the Household Cavalry farrier in the procession.

This is the ax of the Royal Horse Guards' farrier, courtesy of http://householdcavalry.info/

The ax, as the video says, served two purposes: the spike was used to mercifully end a horse's suffering. The sharp blade was used to hack off one of the horse's hooves. The farriers returned from the battlefield with the severed hooves, which would be counted and analyzed. Each hoof was burned with inventory numbers that told the quartermaster department a lot about the horse that had died--was it an artillery horse? a cavalry mount? a mule?--and what would be needed to replace it.

Something you don't see anymore: these antique hoof guards, worn for decoration, were probably from India. They are on display at the National Army Museum in London for the War Horse exhibit.

The history books state that the burned numbers in the hooves not only helped keep track of horses killed in battle; they prevented a soldier from selling his horse to civilians in war zones. They were desperate for transportation or (perhaps) food.

The Household Cavalry still burns numbers into three out of four of each horse's hooves. The near hind bears the horse's army number, the near fore his squadron number and the off fore has the regiment's initials.

Their farrier also still parades with his regiment through the streets of London--and carries his ax wherever he goes.

Here are the hind hooves of the famous War Horse puppets in the stage play in London. The play is also on Broadway. (Geoff Marston photo)

Watch for more information about war horse hooves in the weeks to come--and make plans to go see War Horse over Christmas.

Even a puppet War Horse needs a farrier--and who better than England's David Gulley? Mr. Gulley, who is from Leicestershire, was on-stage in London's West End with the War Horse cast and he had to check out what was on the bottom of Joey's front foot. David, an ex-military farrier, saw the play with a group of veterans recently. Luckily he wasn't carrying an ax. (Geoff Marston photo) 

 TO LEARN MORE

Why Is That Guy Following Prince William and Kate Middleton Carrying a Big Shiny Ax? Because He's the Farrier, That's Why! (farriers at the 2011 Royal Wedding in London)


David Gulley Elected President of European Federation of Farrier Associations

© 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.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read the Facebook news feed when you "like" the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

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.

Why Is That Guy Following Prince William and Kate Middleton Carrying a Big Shiny Ax? Because He's the Farrier, That's Why!

A farrier with the British Army Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment will escort Prince William and his bride, Kate Middleton, tomorrow in the procession through London as part of the Royal Wedding. This photo was taken during the Queen's Birthday Procession a few years ago. Image by Very Amateurish on Flickr.

Here's a farrier escorting the Queen to the Opening of Parliament. I have always been told that the farriers wore black plumes in their helmets to set them apart from everyone else in the regiment. On CNN yesterday they showed a rehearsal and a troop trotted by with one black-plumed rider, and he was at the rear, so I assume he was the farrier. My television is so small I couldn't see if he was carrying an ax. The word "farrier" seems to be stamped into this ax. Photo by u_sperling, who identified this as the Blues and Royals unit.

The Ax Itself. The ax end is for chopping off the feet of dead horses after battles; each horse's hooves were--and still are--stamped with inventory control numbers. The farrier collected the labeled hooves and made a report. The other end is for dispatching any horses found to be suffering. I wonder how many people in London tomorrow will wonder why there's an ax in the parade? The lettering on this particular ax stands for, I believe, Royal Horse Guards and it can be seen amidst lots and lots of information about the Household Cavalry on a dedicated informational web site.

Here's the Household Cavalry rehearsing for the wedding. There are four horsemen separate at the rear. And one has a black plume in his helmet. Photo by Lynne Draper courtesy of The British Monarchy.

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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.