Remembering Clint Carlson: How a mild-mannered man in a Hawaiian shirt became the "patron saint of American horseshoes"

I lost a friend on Friday. Chances are, so did you. This article is a roundabout way of introducing my readers to Clint Carlson, in case they are young enough or new enough to the horse world not to remember a shy smiling horseshoe salesman in a Hawaiian shirt. It’s also a roundabout way for me to say good-bye.

For 20 years, Clint gave his heart and soul to making and selling some of the very best horseshoes ever manufactured at that time. He did it very quietly. He was an unlikely legend -- and one of the very best friends the horse world ever had.

Jayne and Clint Carlson. Clint sold horseshoes in a Hawaiian shirt, didn't want to be around horses, and was usually on his way to or from a Jimmy Buffett concert, but somehow he fit right in in the horse world, and changed the way American horses are shod. (Photo by Tim Helck)

I’m going to tell you Clint’s story from my point of view. You will learn how a mild-mannered Jimmy Buffet fan became “the patron saint of horseshoes”, as he was dubbed by Fran Edens. I was lucky to have a front row seat as Clint's legend was forged.

It all started in 1985. I arrived at the American Farrier’s Association (AFA) Convention in Raleigh, North Carolina, ready to launch my new publication. I was there for the trade show, and I was holding my breath; whoever had the booth next to me mattered. Certain neighbors might scare the farriers away. Others might be talkaholics; the farriers would avoid them. You just never knew.

I arrived at my booth and to my surprise, I didn’t recognize my neighbors, though I could tell they were brothers. I didn’t recognize the name, either: “St Croix”--were they from the Virgin Islands? Who were these guys?

I tried to make eye contact. “I’m the girl next door,” I began. One shy, soft-spoken brother shook my hand loosely, and said matter-of-factly, almost in a whisper, “I’m Clint.” He explained simply that he and his brothers and father were going into the horseshoe business. Not because they wanted to, but because they had to. I wanted to hear more.

Curt Carlson, Clint's dad, became
the owner of a horseshoe company
by accident; he and his sons built
it into an empire.

Curt Carlson, Clint’s father, owned a tool and die business in Minnesota. As I remember it, he had come to own a startup horseshoe company called St Croix Forge when it went bankrupt. Curt was their main creditor; his firm had expertly crafted the machining parts needed to make the new shoes, but he was owed a lot of money. Suddenly, he found out he needed to disburse the assets or else start his own horseshoe company.

So he made the daring choice to start making horseshoes.

Curt called his four sons home from all corners of the globe. He was gambling that, between them, Kenny, Bob, Mike, and Clint would have – or learn – the business, tool-and-die, and manufacturing skills needed to run a successful horseshoe company.

One thing they had going for them was that the former owners had already introduced a respectable intro shoe. They had worked for one of the large horseshoe companies and believed they had a better idea of what a keg shoe should look like. They had the idea, but lacked sustainable capital.

The Carlsons would be nice neighbors for the trade show. Aren’t people from Minnesota always nice? Clint had been a hockey star in his youth and went to school in New Hampshire on a hockey scholarship. And as the week went by, they met a lot of people; most of them politely listened to their plans and wished them luck.

But I wasn’t prepared for what I saw out in the parking lot. The Carlsons had traveled from Minnesota to North Carolina in an old Greyhound bus. Clint explained that their business plan was to travel around the USA in the bus, visiting horseshoers and finding out what was right and what was wrong with horseshoes on the market, including their own.

And so, at that trade show, my company and St Croix launched into the market.

For anyone who wasn’t around horseshoes in the early 1980s, “keg” shoes were a problem. Two similar basic shoes, made by two Midwest companies, were used on the majority of the saddle horses in North America. Others had tried to crack the market and failed. It was an era when handmaking shoes was done only by a few farriers, but handmades were about the only alternative to keg shoes. There wasn't much choice.

St Croix’s timing was perfect, as it turned out, since shortly afterwards, “turned” shoes from Europe – in front and hind, left and right, clipped and unclipped versions – started shipping to the Americas. It would take them a while to catch on; availability was sometimes a problem, and they cost more than American keg shoes. There was a brief window of opportunity for St Croix, and the Carlsons leaned into it.

Asking questions

Clint told me many times over the years that followed, “All I ever set out to do was talk to horseshoers. To ask them what they wanted, what could make a shoe better.”

No one had ever asked them before. Plus, Clint would listen as long as they kept talking. He’d remember their names. He’d even pick up the bar tab or the diner check. But most of all, he carried their ideas, their drawings of nail holes and heel shapes sketched on cocktail napkins, back to Minnesota. There, his father and brothers went to work, making not just a better keg shoe – a shoe that had the changes farriers wanted to shoe a horse more efficiently or safely – but changing the way that horseshoes and horseshoers interacted.

Retailers on his side

Another challenge for them was that it is always very difficult to get farriers to change the shoes they ordered, once they were used to using them. For that part, Clint realized he needed to make friends with the few farrier supply houses in business back then. There were not that many of them in the 1980s, and they were mostly ex-horseshoers and their wives. Most seemed content with the status quo, had low expectations of manufacturers, and might not have room to take on more product lines. Existing keg shoes were even sold in hardware stores, until suppliers started hanging out their shingles. Many were just selling horseshoes out of their basements or the back of a truck at racetracks.

But, eventually, they did take on St Croix.

Most of them are gone now, including legends like Murray Madow, Charlie Guimarra, Jerry and Tim Helck, John Breckenridge, Jon Davis, Mike Williams, Bill Pieh, Bill Clark, and so many more. Clint couldn’t have done it if those pioneer suppliers (and several more who are still with us) hadn’t agreed to stock his shoes, and their businesses no doubt prospered from St Croix sales.

In the 1980s, there were no influencers, no big-name farriers giving clinics. No one was wearing polo shirts, jackets, and aprons emblazoned with logos of companies they endorse. Almost no one was flying in from the UK or Australia or Asia. The few farriers who were well known at that time were either the first wave of farrier contents winners, senior farriers no longer with us like Jay Sharp, Bruce Daniels, Bob Skradzio, and Jack Miller, or farrier school owners, like Bob Reaume, Buster Conklin, Danny Ward, Bud Beaston, Bill Miller, Gene Armstrong, Lester Hollenback, Reggie Kester, and Reuel Darling. All of those competitors and educators are gone now.

When St Croix first joined the industry, farriers didn't need to wear logos on their chests. The industry was so small that everyone was known by first name, by face, and (especially) by reputation. There were very few clinics or contests, compared to today, although 1985 was also the year that the late Burney Chapman hit his stride and started giving clinics on laminitis shoeing. PowerPoint didn’t even exist. The AFA Convention was the supreme meeting ground, the place where deals, and sometimes big profits, were negotiated inside that trade show.

The sponsorship question

All that was about to change, of course, and Clint played a big role. St Croix started advertising heavily. Mustad and Capewell were two separate and competing horse nail companies back then. Mustad was new to the Americas in the early 1980s; they invested in sponsoring events and classes and trophies. Contests suddenly offered prize money that would pay for more than it cost to fill your gas tank for the drive home. St Croix pitched in.

Soon, Clint was on a mission to make St Croix’s name known not just in America but all over the world. Along the way, he became known as a high bidder at farrier charity auctions; he amassed an amazing collection of artist-blacksmith treasures. He became a patron of several artists, including the late Charley Orlando, a New York artist-blacksmith-farrier who designed and built amazing architectural railings and sculptures inside and outside Clint’s house, and Virginia’s still-with-us Jessie Ward, who created extraordinary paintings and multi-media artwork for him.

In 1999, Clint surprised everyone by sponsoring the first Women Horseshoers of America (WHOA). Clint and Jayne traveled to Europe with (left to right)  Laurie Fiesler, Jayne and Clint Carlson, Kathleen Poor, Kelly Vermeer, and Alice Johnson, including a ski trip in the French Alps. They let me tag along.

Fourteen years after that day in Raleigh, St Croix came of age. The little company that traveled to its first trade show in a used Greyhound bus was acquired by the Mustad group in 1999. The worth of their work was obvious. Clint would become director of marketing for Mustad.

Of course the brothers, including Clint, stayed on for some transition years as consultants. But Clint yearned to spend time with his wife, Jayne, and children, Melissa and Josh, after so many years on the road. They all learned to scuba dive. They were often off on dive boat adventures in the tropics, and Clint’s future started sounding more and more like he was living his favorite Jimmy Buffet songs, not just listening to them.

Changing shirts

One day early in the new millennium, Clint took off his St Croix polo shirt and put on his bula (“Hawaiian”) shirt, for good.

Next step? Clint and Jayne decided that they would move to Fiji. The last time I actually saw him, Clint flew back to the USA for an AFA Convention to do some PR work for Mustad, and hand out some prizes sponsored by St Croix. I smiled as Clint walked on stage to give out a trophy wearing a Fijian “sulu” (men’s sarong or kilt), with a big shark’s tooth around his neck.

That was the last time I saw him. We talked on the phone sometimes; he’d check in with me on New Year’s Day, which is a nice tradition, but slowly the gaps became wider. 

Clint comes home

Clint finally came home from Fiji last week. His health had deteriorated significantly, his liver was failing, and he was back in Minnesota with his family, where it all began.

Clint died on Friday, June 20, surrounded by his family and dressed in his favorite bula shirt. Jimmy Buffet was playing in the background, of course, his daughter Melissa assured me.

Forty years ago, Clint Carlson asked a lot of questions and, especially in the beginning, he asked farriers all the right questions. They were questions no one had ever asked before.

Outside the scope of this tribute, Clint and Jayne became great personal friends to me, and we enjoyed adventures all over the world. But that's another story.

In the end, I hope Clint got all the answers he was looking for. He and his family certainly improved the profession of horseshoeing in many ways, but more than that, he enriched and even changed peoples' lives, including mine, and maybe even yours, with his friendship and kindness and determination to make a difference--and always -- always -- make a better horseshoe. 

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Hoofcare Publishing has not received any direct compensation for writing this post. Hoofcare Publishing has no material connection to third party brands, products, or services mentioned. 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.

History-loving and history-making American horseshoer Bill Miller dead at 96

History-loving and history-making horseshoer Bill Miller died today in Seattle, Washington. According to his close friend Dave Duckett, the 96-year-old had been moved to hospice care after being released from a Veterans Administration hospital for treatment of coronavirus. 

The Olympic (Gold Medal) Hoof: Farrier Jim Blurton's Concave-Maybe Shoeing for British Team Eventer Ballaghmor Class

Farriers love to argue about the ideal shoe -- concave or flat?-- for a three-day event horse, but when it comes time to shoe a horse for the Olympics, what do they actually do? UK farrier Jim Blurton, AWCF, just watched a horse he shoes win the Olympic Team Gold Medal in Eventing. He kindly offered some thoughts about how he shoes Ballaghmor Class for client Oliver Townend and why he does it that way.

The Olympic Hoof: FEI salutes farriers as crucial to equine performance in Tokyo

Note: This story was provided to Hoofcare Publishing by the media relations service of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the international governing body of equestrian sports, and was not written by Hoofcare Publishing. Some statements from the original article have been omitted.

The Olympic Games are all about the coming together of the best of the best. The human and equine athletes have been meticulously prepared for the occasion. An essential part of that preparation is shoeing. Just as with human athletes, a horse can only perform at its best if the shoes fit perfectly.

The Olympic Hoof: US Eventing Horses Try British Concave Shoes for Tokyo

Two distinct styles of horseshoes dominate the sport of eventing, one based in Britain and one in Europe. There is no middle ground, or wasn't, until the US eventing team prepared to embark for Tokyo.

Part 1 of an article series on international eventing shoes the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Hoofcare wisdom has always held that if you want to tell what country an eventing horse is from, you don't need go looking around the stable for a saddlecloth with a flag. Just pick up its feet. You can at least narrow down the possibilities. But after this Olympics, the world map of horseshoes may need to be redrawn.

Remembering Britain's Prince Philip and the Quick-Thinking Farrier

Prince Philip's brush with danger at the 2013 Royal Windsor Horse Show has almost been forgotten but it could have ended quite differently. A quick-thinking farrier was the hero that day.

The sound of the bagpipes and boatswain's whistles is fading, but the funeral of Great Britain's Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, will remained etched in our minds as a tasteful, dignified farewell to an international icon of both monarchy and the horse world.

Prince Philip was, of course, an avid and exuberant competitive carriage driver, as well as polo player and long-time president of Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI), the global governing body of equestrian sport.

What I'll remember, however, is a horse show mishap that could have ended quite differently.

Event announcement: Laminitis researcher Chris Pollitt headlines ESP Laminitis and Podiatry Conference October 11-12 in Pennsylvania

You're invited! Laminitis researcher and author Professor Chris Pollitt of Australia will lead a roster of seven well-known farrier and veterinarian speakers to address practical and research developments to treat and prevent laminitis and advance the success of podiatry in the treatment of hoof disease. The two-day conference, organized by Equine Soundness Professionals (ESP), will be held October 11-12, 2019 in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

This conference is limited to 60 attendees and is designed for ESP members and other professional farriers and veterinarians. For further information about this event, remaining sponsorship opportunities or media inquiries, contact Dave Gilliam at (214) 907-3380 or email dave@equisporthoofcare.com. The conference website is www.laminitispodiatryconference.com.

Research: 3D Printed Horseshoe and Hoof Scanning Trials Launched by Vet School Farriers at Utrecht University in The Netherlands

A team of vet school researchers and farriers at Utrecht University (NL) is hard at work fine-tuning how to scan the morphology of a hoof and use a 3D printer to create a shoe with specific size, shape and material characteristics to fit the particular and individual requirements of lame or conformationally-challenged horses.

Heroes on the Hoof: Remembering military farriers who lost their lives

Every Memorial Day, I resolve to put together all my scraps of research and tally up some statistics on fallen farriers--the ones who were killed in action in US wars. I guess we all have to start somewhere, so today's fragmented salute may be the start of something much more worthwhile, one of these years.

In the meantime, this is a personal salute to some fascinating farriers who suffered tragic deaths. I met them in the small print of dusty old books and quirky Internet databases. Their names should be known and their stories should be told. Let's get started, and add to it. 

This article is by no means complete. Do you have more information? A snapshot of a gravestone? Please send any additional information you may have about farriers who died in wars, whether from disease or in action or as collateral damage.

Best of both worlds for 2019 Badminton "Farriers Prize" event horse

Farrier judge Will Hampson, DipWCF inspected the hooves of 56 horses at 8 a.m. this morning as part of an annual tradition at England's Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials on behalf of the Worshipful Company of Farriers, Britain's 400-year old livery company charged with overseeing farriery in that country. (photo courtesy of Will Hampson; this is NOT the winning horse)

Laminitis Prevention Survey Result: Along with weight gain, shoeing cycle and trimming schedule are factors in risk

Although excess weight has long been considered a primary risk factor for laminitis, new research continues to sort through the many risk factors and look for patterns of horsecare or links between the factors themselves, as well as that weight gain is most likely to be associated with laminitis.

A relatively large study, by equine science standards, was conducted in the United Kingdom and gave researchers access to data on more than 1000 horses in "real time" by receiving monthly reports for more than two years from owners about the same horses. The sole purpose of the study was to gather data on laminitis and the horsecare factors that may contribute to it.

Out of 1,070 horses followed in the study, 97 experienced 123 episodes of laminitis over the 29 months the data was collected.

The bottom line conclusion was that weight gain more than doubled the risk of developing laminitis, but other horsecare practices, including hoofcare, should not be ignored.

Laminitis Research Videos: Advances in endocrinopathic laminitis diagnosis, treatment and science

Last week,  31 laminitis research articles, collected from recent editions of the prestigious Equine Veterinary Journal, were made freely available to the public. All 31 articles may be read and downloaded without charge for the next year.

What could make this better? A summary--or three of them, in fact. Today we offer an overview of the research, in the form of three short, concise videos by three of the authors. Each provides an overview of the articles in his or her area of research.

Transitions: Hoof research innovator Renate Weller makes career move to corporate veterinary education

Professor Renate Weller (center) of the Royal Veterinary College in the United Kingdom announced this week that she is leaving academia for a career in corporate veterinary education. Weller has been a magnet in the equine industry for her inclusive and inspiring dialogues with students, horse owners, farriers and the public. She is shown here during a demonstration for an equestrian group touring the RVC's Structure and Motion Laboratory where she conducts research. (RVC publicity photo)

Professor Renate Weller, Drvetmed, PhD, MScVetEd, ACVSMR, FHEA, NTF, ECVSMR, MRCVS, has announced her decision to leave her academic teaching role at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), University of London in the United Kingdom.

Remembering the Dead: Custer's farriers at Little Bighorn

We know it as the Battle of Little Big Horn, or "Custer's Last Stand". Native Americans know it as the Battle of the Greasy Grass. It is quite possibly the most legendary military engagement in US history. Like the maiden voyage of the Titanic, everyone knows how this story ends.

Or do they?

Silent Anvil: Danny Ward, Horseshoeing Teacher and Friend to Farriers

Horseshoer Danny Ward circa 1990 with part of his impressive collection of hammers at his school in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo © Hoofcare Publishing)

Leading farrier Danny Ward of Martinsville, Virginia has died. An icon of the horseshoeing industry, he leaves an enigmatic legacy that is less about his many accomplishments, and more about what he gave, and the example he set. 

Danny Ward's death reminds me of a message you get when you try to fix some really great thing that you've had for a long time. All of a sudden, it's broken and you know you have to get it fixed because they just don't make them like they used to.

You finally reach the manufacturer online or on the phone, and get back the curt message, "Replacement parts unavailable."

You have to make your own. Or start over with a new one. 

That's the way it is when someone dies. Who'll replace them? More often than not, no replacement parts are to be found for so many of your favorite things. And people.

The school didn't really need a sign. You couldn't mistake being there for being anywhere else in the world.

Perhaps there is someone reading this who doesn't immediately know who Danny Ward was, but if you are in the horse world, chances are you have been touched directly or indirectly by him. He taught horseshoeing at his school in Martinsville, Virginia and educated thousands of young and old horseshoers who went out into the world and touched many more thousands of horses and, in turn, taught others about horses and hooves (and hammers).

Danny Ward

For anyone who's keeping track of facts, remember that Danny didn't talk that much about his accomplishments, though there were many. He had turned 73 last month. He learned horseshoeing from his father, the legendary Smoky Ward, who started teaching horseshoeing in Martinsville in the 1960s. The Wards made national news when they officially opened the Eastern School of Horseshoeing in 1966 with engineering assistance from Virginia Polytechnic University and even federal funding. 

Smoky Ward was a character, and a visionary. He could see that there was a demand for horseshoers as the popularity of recreational riding boomed. And he believed he could teach people to shoe horses. According to records, it was the second private horseshoeing school to open in the United States, and became one of the most famous and well-attended.

Smoky's first student, no doubt, was his son Danny, who started working with his father as a teenager, and later his daughter, Jessie, as well. They later took over the school.

Danny Ward shoeing a horse while his father, Smoky Ward, works at the anvil, in the 1960s.

Danny has a list of honors and achievements in the farrier industry that is second to none, particularly through his roles in farrier competitions, as well as in the progress of the American Farrier's Association and the Virginia Horseshoers Association. He judged or won every contest, and both competed on and coached the North American Horseshoeing Team (later known as the American Farriers Team). He traveled to Ireland, England and Scotland to represent the United States in some of the toughest competitions in the world. He was a talented artist who could "forge" beautiful things from silver and copper, as well as steel. The American Farrier's Association honored him with their clinician-of-the-year award.

But the chances are that he won't be remembered for accomplishments, nor should he be. He'll be remembered for being Danny: an amiable and generous gentleman who punctuated every compliment or accolade with a self-deprecating chuckle. Just watch:

Blue Ridge Public Television made this short video about Danny and his school about ten years ago. It highlights Danny's signature self-effacing attitude toward his accomplishments.

Danny will be officially remembered as a teacher, and as a generous, easy-going, behind-the-scenes and even anonymous facilitator and benefactor.

He will unofficially be remembered as someone who threw a heck of a party. Every year in the first week of November, he would open his school for the farrier equivalent of a college homecoming. Former students, friends, friends of friends, manufacturers, and everyone else was welcome. 

Danny Ward at the American Farrier's 

Association Convention in 2009, manning the

Diamond Horseshoe booth for Cooper Tool

Group. (Photo © Hoofcare Publishing)

It was like Woodstock for farriers, an annual meeting of the tribe. During the day, it was nonstop education, trade show and fundraising for charity. At night, a band played traditional bluegrass and country classics. People danced and ate and imbibed exotic local concoctions. 

Once the sun went down, I put the camera away.

Outside, bonfires blazed. People played guitars and sang, pitched tents, howled at the moon, and got their trucks stuck in the mud. Many realized that they had no idea how to get back to town and their hotels. Cell reception was dodgy and there was no wifi code. But they didn't seem to care: they were where they wanted to be.

Danny never charged for any of it. He fed hundreds of people three meals during the day-long event, and raised thousands of dollars for charity, often the St Jude Hospital for Children or the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with colorful, comical and unforgettable auctions and entertainment.

One memory is of him telling the crowds that it was a "guaranteed raffle" with a prize for every ticket purchased. No one would go home empty-handed, to which he added with a chuckle, "And if we run out of prizes, we'll just go through a truck or two outside and find something for you."

And after he had given all that away, he would write thank you notes to everyone for coming.

In the 1980s, Danny Ward, left, started a seminar called the "Working Farrier Demonstration" at the American Farrier's Association Convention, working with Scott Simpson, middle, and Walt Taylor, under the horse, and other senior AFA members to bring convention attendees some basic horseshoeing advice. It was sponsored by Diamond Horseshoes. (Photo © Hoofcare Publishing)

In his later years, Danny did celebrity marketing and demonstrations for the Cooper Tool Group and its subsidiary, Diamond Horseshoes. Everyone was always happy to see him. In recent years, he had been quiet; you wouldn't be likely to find Danny making comments on Facebook or posting his shoes on Instagram. 

Danny had been in ill health this winter and was in a hospital in Roanoke, Virginia. He died of kidney failure on Thursday. Danny was cared for unselfishly throughout his illness by his sister, Jessie. Her personal strength, plus her dedication and love for her brother have been remarkable to witness.

Jessie said that Danny will be cremated and that perhaps a fitting celebration of his life will be planned for sometime in the future.

The forge at the veterinary college at Virginia Tech is dedicated to Danny Ward. (Photo © Travis Burns)

• • • • •

Travis Burns, president of the American Farrier's Association, sought Danny out when he became the resident farrier at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Polytechnic University in Blacksburg, Virginia. He sent this statement on Danny's legacy:  

Danny Ward and another late Virginia

horseshoeing legend, Edgar Watson.
(Photo © Hoofcare Publishing)

"It is impossible to measure the impact that he has had on this industry. I just hope that as everyone thinks of a story, a moment, a lesson gained from him, that they will think to themselves 'How can I help someone else?'. For that I think is the true legacy of Danny, he was always trying to help the next person with anything. 

"Not only did he share farrier advice with me but he also gave me personal advice, which is what I’ll remember the most. His impact will live well beyond his lifetime through all of those that he has educated and influenced.  

"I am sure many years from now, you will still hear people say 'Danny Ward showed so and so how to do this and then he/she showed me'."

What do you give the man who has every hammer? On the occasion of Danny Ward's 25th open house/clinic/celebration, Colorado farrier Neil Miller presented Danny was a personalized commemorative Jim Poor hammer. (Photo © Hoofcare Publishing)

There's an old saying about how we are all "standing on the shoulders of giants" as we move forward in history, but in the case of Danny Ward's role in the horseshoeing profession, that is a literal fact.

I don't know where the farrier profession is headed, but I do know a bit about where it's been, and if you are looking at a map of the farriery profession, you'll be sure to notice that Martinsville, Virginia has a big bright star that is a little taller than the rest. 

As it should be. Shine on.

The sign above the blackboard at Danny Ward's Horseshoeing School takes on a new meaning now.

--Fran Jurga

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Disclosure of Material Connection: The Hoof Blog (Hoofcare Publishing) has not received any direct compensation for writing this post. Hoofcare Publishing has no material connection to the brands, products, or services mentioned, other than products and services of 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.

When less does more: New DE Hoof Taps unshoe the horse while tapping into a healthier future hoof

The yellow dotted lines outline a DE Hoof Tap, a stainless steel, zinc-coated barbed wall insert that sits flush with the trimmed wall in this severe heel wall separation. Taps can be difficult to see. This was the second installation of Hoof Taps in this separation. The same hoof is shown further down on this page after this cycle, when the tap was trimmed out of the foot, to show the improvement. (Doug Ehrmann photo)

And now for something completely different.

When a six-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare scored 80% at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Florida last month, people were impressed. That’s a great score, at any level. And she did it without shoes.

But she wasn’t barefoot. Her hooves were "tapped".

The Duct Tape Twitch: Research Tests Effect on Horse Behavior During Trimming and Shoeing

The conversations probably went something like this:

Apprentice: You wouldn’t believe what I saw on Facebook last night!

Farrier: You’re right. I wouldn’t believe anything I saw on Facebook.

Farrier "Teams" Will Be On Site for FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018

Edited from press release

The American and International Associations of Professional Farriers (AAPF/IAPF) have announced an agreement to provide emergency farrier services for the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 (WEG) at Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina in September.

The Queen Honors Doug Bradbury, FWCF with MBE for Services to Farriery

Master farrier Doug Bradbury, FWCF has been shoeing horses and helping his fellow farriers in Derbyshire, England for more than 60 years. Even the Queen has noticed; today she announced that Doug, who learned to shoe underground in a coal mine, would be granted the title of Member of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of his services to farriery. (Bradbury family photo)

Master farrier Doug Bradbury, FWCF of Clay Cross, Chesterfield, in Derbyshire, England has been recognized by The Queen as a Member of the British Empire (MBE) “for services to the farrier profession and the community in the East Midlands” . The recognition is awarded for an outstanding achievement or service that has had a long-term, significant impact to an individual who stands out as an example to others.

Veterinary College Farrier Travis Burns Announces Candidacy for American Farrier’s Association President, Answers Questions

Veterinary college farrier Travis Burns, CJF, TE, EE, FWCF of Virginia is announcing his candidacy to be the next president of the American Farrier’s Association.