Farrier Video: High-Definition Passion for the Profession in the Words and Work of Bob and Branton Phalen

Before you hit play: Stop and expand this video to full-screen by clicking on the arrows between the letters "HD" and the word "vimeo" on the tool bar. This is a video that deserves to be seen on a bigger screen than your phone's.

The voice. I know that voice. The words of California farrier icon Bob Phalen filled the office. "It's not how much you know, it's how much you learn after you know everything that counts."

How often have I heard farriers say that? And how did Bob Phalen get on my monitor screen in such brilliant high definition?

Sparks flew in slow motion as the shoe hit the anvil. Hot shoes hissed into water buckets with droplets dancing inches into the air. Delicate curls of scale peeled from the ground surface of the shoe as it hunched under the hammer and over the anvil horn. The tap of the driving hammer looked like a powerful punch.

The high-definition vignettes of a horseshoer at work were eye-popping.

The credits hadn't even stopped rolling before I was dialing Bob's phone number.

Bob and Branton hadn't even seen the video yet, and now we're able to post it for all of you here, only 24 hours later.

This video is unscripted and, according to Bob, was created through the editor's ears and eyes, without any input from the Phalens. The film crew simply showed up and spent a day with Bob and Branton, and the editor wove together the vignettes of their comments with the spectacular work shots through editing, since there was no shooting script.

The story just emerged in an organic way.

It's nice that this video is about Bob Phalen, but everyone viewing knows that it's not about him at all. He just is speaking the minds of hundreds--maybe thousands--of farriers across the world who are reaching a certain age and looking back at what they've done with their hands and their minds and their skills over decades of helping horses or "slaying dragons" as the video suggests.

Farriery may be changing forever but for the men and women who have lived the life and done the job because their hearts were in it, there are few regrets. Aches and pains maybe, but few regrets.

If you're concerned that Bob is retiring, I can tell you that I saw him recently and he reassured me again on the phone that he is in good health, although the editing on the video makes it sound like he is hanging up his apron.

That'll be the day.

Cinematographer Bradley Stonesifer

It's appropriate that the film ends with the simple gesture of twirling a shoe around the hammer on the face on the anvil. It sums things up: farriery is part hard work, part skill, and it always helps if you can add in a little bit of magic, right at the end, because that is what they will remember.

I hope the farrier world embraces, shares and promotes this video.

Forget the words that sound like an ending and focus on what Bob says about getting up every day and doing what he wanted to be doing. Perhaps it is romantic and unrealistic to approach a profession as a "passion", to use his words, but it worked for him.

••••••••••••••••

About the making of this film: Farrier was shot to illustrate the capabilities of a high-tech new camera, Vision Research's Phantom Miro M320S. This will be the first in a series of short films about craftspeople reflecting on their careers and how they found their purpose in life through their everyday work.

Thanks to Bradley Stonesifer for allowing the video to be posted for farriers and horsepeople around the world to see.

CREDITS

A Hollywood Special Ops & Island Creek Pictures Production

Bob & Brant Phalen of Phalen Horseshoeing and Supply
Rider: Racheal Johnson
Black Stallion: Constant
Brown Horses: Nikoo & Lilly

Director: Emily Bloom
Producer: Drew Lauer
Field Producer: Jerry McNutt
Cinematographer: Bradley Stonesifer
Camera Operators: Tim Obeck, Jimmy Hammond, Nick Piatnik
Editor: Patrick Chapman
Colorist: Aaron Peak of Hollywood DI
Audio Mixer: Michel Tyabji

Thanks to:
Bell Canyon Equestrian Center

To learn more: 

Hollywood Special Ops LLC web site about this film

Phalen Horseshoeing and Supply Inc.

© 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.

Vote Online for "The Shoe" in HRTV's Santa Anita Horseracing Film Festival!

Santa Anita Park in California and HRTV, the all-horse sports network for North America, have joined forces to run the first-ever non-fiction documentary competition at a racetrack. “A Day at the Races,” is open to film students and filmmakers who have made a short Santa-Anita based film.

One of the entries is called "The Shoe" and is more or less about horseshoeing and features some nice footage and comments by glue-on shoe innovator Wes Champagne, who shoes horses at Santa Anita.

"The Shoe" was made by film student Alex Ehecatl from Mexico.

If you like this little segment, here's what you need to do:
1. Watch the film.
2. Go to the film festival link and vote for it! (http://www.hrtv.com/filmfestival/)
3. (We think you can vote more than once but don't tell anyone we said that.)

You can see other films in the competition at that link as well. The catch is that the online voting ends this weekend, so please vote soon! Or, better yet, now!

“A Day at the Races” entries are being judged by a panel of racing and entertainment professionals. The competition offers a first prize of $10,000, and an additional $10,000 first prize will be awarded to the winner through this on-line poll. 

Who's Alex Ehecatl and why did he make this film? Here's what he said in an email earlier this week:

"I'm a student and I liked horses. My uncle used to be a well-known horseshoer in México and he inspired me to do this documentary. I wrote the script.

"This is just five minutes (of the film) and depending of how well-received is this version and how much money I can raise to finish it. I'm planning in doing a larger version with more information and more people from the horseshoeing world. Thanks for your interest."

Can you invest a minute or so to vote for Alex's film? Thanks!

© 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

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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.

New from War Horse: Off-Screen Actors Speak on the Film (and the Horse)

A new two-minute trailer from Dreamworks Pictures juxtaposes the off-screen stars of the new Steven Spielberg film War Horse with their on-screen characters. What do the actors have to say about the film, what it means, and what's at the heart of a horse's journey into the swirling maelstrom of war?

The momentum is building for the premiere of this film in the USA on Christmas Day. To learn more, follow @warhorsenews on Twitter.


Speaking of World War I, which this blog will be doing often in the runup to the premiere of War Horse, here's a fascinating artifact from the National Army Museum in London, which is currently hosting a War Horse exhibit.

They named this object "Jim's Hoof" and describe it this way: "Trumpeter W H Barrett rode Jim throughout the First World War (1914-18). Unlike so many other horses, he made it back to Britain alive and in 1919 was presented to Queen Alexandra by the British commander-in-chief, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig."

I'm sure it must be the photo, but it doesn't look silver on my computer screen. And do you notice anything about Jim's hoof? You're right: no nail holes. How is the shoe attached to the hoof? Why did they choose to cover the heel bulbs that way?

Perhaps this priceless artifact was the inspiration for the Shoe Secure heel guards from Scotland.

Also from the National Army Museum, but pre-dating World War I is a memorial to a favorite polo pony of Captain Sherer of the 49th (Bengal) Native Infantry in India. He is often credited with bringing the sport to Europe.

The museum tells us that though there is no inscription to suggest that it was awarded as a trophy, it is among the earliest examples of polo memorabilia (1865) belonging to a British Officer; they assure us that both hooves are from the same pony.

Looking at this photos, do you think that Captain Sherer commissioned a silversmith or a farrier to make the  silver horseshoes?

 TO LEARN MORE

War Horse Television Commercial (November 2011)
First War Horse Movie Trailer (June 2011)

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. 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). 

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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.

Spielberg's War Horse Movie Television Commercial: Here Comes a Great Film!

It doesn't open in theaters until Christmas, but the television commercial is ready to roll. We all know Santa Claus is coming to town, but so is War Horse; Mr. Spielberg's epic story of what war looks like through the eyes of a horse opens on Christmas Day. Two tickets and a promise to buy the popcorn will make a great gift for anyone you know.

Back to the commercial: Hoof Blog readers will notice immediately that the horse is lame, which may 1) spur your interest in seeing the film, or 2) make you wonder how a horse trainer gets a sound horse to limp on command.

Click on the arrows at the lower right to watch the clip in full-screen mode. It's worth it.

The Hoof Blog will have much more information about War Horse as the launch approaches. the interest in the film is unearthing all sorts of information, images and film footage about hoofcare and farriers in World War I that the Hoof Blog is hoping to share.

Until then, as they say in the film: be brave!

 TO LEARN MORE

Put this amazing reference book at the top of your Christmas wish list!
Call to order 978 281 3222.

© 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 on equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email: 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.

War Horse: The Movie! Trailer of Spielberg's Film Premieres; Meet His Equine Artistic Adviser

War Horse. Steven Spielberg. Dreamworks. Disney. Get ready to put it all together! Watch for the Disney/Dreamworks Hollywood film version of the hit London and Broadway stage play. You'll be able to see it in about six months; the tentative release date is December 28 in the United States.

The War Horse story took on another dimension today, with the release of the first trailer promoting the film version of the hit stage play.

If this trailer is any indication, it looks like Steven Spielberg's amazing directing talents easily extended themselves to showing horses in a very realistic and appealing light. And that's not easy to do!

Sure, the story of War Horse is epic, and a great one. But the horses could easily have ended up looking like stick figures, or limp two-dimensional background objects. Not every film with a great horse-related story line succeeds in showing horses both realistically and inspirationally. The Black Stallion and Phar Lap are two from the past that I think did do it well.

What did horses look like during World War I? How could today's horses be made to look like yesterday's? What about their manes and tails and tack? Yes, even their shoes? Spielberg needed some help there. (©Disney/Dreamworks publicity photo)

When they went looking for a horse to play Joey, the star horse of the film, I think they went to eventing yards. What do you think? Irish-bred? Yes, the mane is too long, you're right. But could it be that's intentional, to make the horse look like he would have during World War I? Ali Bannister would have had a hand in that. Who's she? Keep reading!

Note: for some reason, only the first minute or so of this audio file is playing. I'm sorry. The full file is playing on the Hoofcare and Lameness Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/hoofcareandlameness); I'll try to fix this file if I can.

Take a break and listen to this BBC Radio interview with British equestrian portrait artist Ali Bannister, who literally woke up one morning to find herself and her artwork and her design talents on the set of War Horse. Ali's title was "Equine Artistic Adviser". And while there may be no Academy Award for makeup and hair styling of horses, there is no question that the authenticity of this film rests on the portrayal of the horses as looking like they would have for the time period, and for their work on English farms and in the war. Ali shares her experiences in this first of many interviews.

Here's a sample of Ali Bannister's horse portraiture; watch Theo come to life. You'll see why Spielberg chose her! You can see lots more, and commission Ali to paint your horse or dog, at http://www.alibannister.com.

This video shows scenes of the making of the film in Devon, England last year. Note: the release date is mentioned as August, but it has now been pushed back to December.

If you're new to War Horse, it's both a play and now a film-in-progress based on a best-selling children's book by Michael Morpurgo.


The synopsis, from Disney/Dreamworks Films publicity: The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. War Horse is one of the great stories of friendship and war— a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit. It now comes to screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history.

Translation: Yes, of course. But there's more to it than that. War is too painful a subject sometimes to tell from the human perspective. People have built-in defenses in their subconscious selves, to protect them even for the time spent viewing a Spielberg film like Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List. But when you can show how war affects an animal that has no choice in the matter, people allow themselves to feel something--about animals, about humanity, about themselves--they might not otherwise let slip.

That's War Horse, in a nutshell. You feel it slip, and you let it. It's about a horse, so it's safe to let it slip. But of course it is about much, much more than a horse.

Special thanks to Kentucky equine photographer (and friend of Hoofcare and Lameness) Wendy Uzelac Wooley of Equisport Photos and her late, great ex-racehorse Jaguar Hope, who even after his death is doing amazing things. A sketch of Jaguar Hope by Ali Bannister appears on the Dreamworks crew logo caps for the War Horse film. I highly recommend Wendy's Racehorse to Showhorse blog for anyone who wants to see great photography presented in an upbeat format. Her contributions to this blog have added a lot and there wouldn't be a Hoof Blog without the support of generous, creative, collaborative-spirited people like Wendy.

3-D Equine Anatomy of the Lower Limb: Software to Study, Explore and Expand Your View of Horses! Click Now to Order from Hoofcare Publishing.

© 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.

Buck Brannaman Documentary: Real Life Horse Whispering at Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival

Congratulations to Cindy Meehl and Cedar Creek Productions. Their documentary "Buck" was not only selected to be shown at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival this week in Park City, Utah--it has won the Audience Award!

Buck chronicles the horse training phenomenon Buck Brannaman. Or should I say non-training. Or anti-training. Or alt-training.

Whatever you call what Buck Brannaman does, you can be sure that this film will spread Buck's non-violent horse handling word.

It will spread it around the world, as a matter of fact. The documentary was acquired by Sundance Selects for distribution in North America; it was also picked up for theaters in Australia and New Zealand by Madmen Entertainment.

I'm sure a lot of blog readers who've been around the horse world for a while will see the irony in this story. Buck Brannaman was the inspiration for the 1998 Nicholas Evans novel, The Horse Whisperer. When that novel was made into a film, it starred and was directed by Robert Redford. Technically, I guess you could say, Robert Redford played Buck Brannaman.

And Robert Redford is the man behind the Sundance Film Festival.

And so it goes.

Buck Brannaman and Robert Redford at the Sundance Film Festival last week. Buck's the star of the film this time. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images North America, mirrored from Zimbio.com)

The trailer gives a hint at how the film approaches who Buck Brannaman is and what he does. Once it gets to the theaters (unless you happen to be in Utah this week), take people to see it. Horse people, non-horse people, just people. They might learn a lot, so might those of us who think we know it all already.

© 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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Vampires for Elephants: Robert Pattinson's Laminitis Experience in Film?

His most famous role was as a teenage vampire and now Hollywood's made Robert Pattinson into a Cornell vet student with a foundered horse to fix. Publicity photo from the Water for Elephants film.

 The horse world is due to get a shot in the arm--if not a bite in the neck--as production continues in and around Chattanooga, Tennessee on the film adaptation of one of my favorite novels, Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen. The star of the movie is Twilight vampire heart throb Robert Pattinson, and this photo is from the movie's blog. Notice he is leading what appears to be either a Friesian or a Percheron from a circus train car.

Hollywood's Reese Witherspoon plays the role of the circus equestrian star and has an Oscar-worthy wardrobe. The horse and elephant scenes were shot in California; the train scenes are in production now in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This photo from California is from a series published in the Daily Mail from Great Britain.

Any film that is heavy on horses is good for all of us; it's good for horse sales, horse lessons, and our horse industry futures, especially when it stars the hottest celebrity in Hollywood. But this one makes me especially curious. It's a great story: Jacob, a vet student at Cornell during the Depression, succumbs to stress and suddenly walks out just before finals and wanders off into the night. On impulse, he hops a passing freight train. What he doesn't know is that it's no ordinary freight train, but a down-and-out circus train. He throws in his lot with the midgets and the clowns and the roustabouts but most of all with the draft horses ("baggage stock" in circus language), the Arabians and one special elephant when he is hired as the caretaker for the menagerie because of skills he claimed he learned in vet school.

One of the first challenges the management throws at him to earn his keep is a horse with laminitis. Can he fix him? In the book, the description of the horse's hoof looks and how the horse stands and what Jacob does to try to help it is very well done. Will laminitis make the silver screen or will it fall to the cutting room floor? Or did it make the script at all? Can they train a horse to act like it is foundered? Even a minute of laminitis awareness in a film like this would be great for public awareness of the disease. And yes, there are farriers in the book, too.

For those of you who haven't read the book: do it. Better yet, get to your library or local independently-owned bookstore and borrow or buy the cd-rom version and listen to the book, as it is very well read. You'll find yourself sitting in your driveway listening to just a little more...

Someone on YouTube.com made a slide show of old circus images to go with the soundtrack of the prologue from the cd-rom. I hope it hooks you, although this is just the first few pages of the book--the rest of it explains how Jacob got to that point of circus mayhem. And what happened next. What you're hearing is Jacob at age 90--or is it 93? he's not sure--in a nursing home, finally telling what happened that day. He'd kept someone's terrible secret for 70 years.

Water for Elephants, the film, is scheduled to be released on April 15, 2011.

© 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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Father's Day Video Treat: Buster Keaton in "The Blacksmith"

"Under the scrawny palm tree,

 the village smithy stands..."

It may have been made in 1922, but it will still make you laugh. One of the world's all-time great film stars and comedians didn't need a voice. You don't need to hear his hammer strike or his fire hiss or the horse's hoof hit the smithy floor. He's so good, he makes you hear it.

Settle down for 20 minutes and watch a bit of film history. And if you're a father, happy father's day.

Old car buffs will like the vintage Rolls Royce in this film! I like the rolling ladder, not to mention all the wooden boxes of horseshoes. I liked the display of sample horseshoes too; it looked like he had a sample of a rope shoe or pad, used to prevent slipping on pavement.

Don't you wonder how they set this up for filming and where they found the props? Or did they just remove one wall of an existing shoeing shop somewhere outside Los Angeles?

Keaton was the director as well as the star of this film. I wish I knew more about how and why and where he made this little gem of a film. The video is hosted from archive.org, and we appreciate their help in making it possible to share it with you.

Update: In 2013, a new cut of this film was unearthed, so there are now two versions of this film, with different scenes. This one is the original, longstanding version but wouldn't you love to watch them both!

Thanks to Susanna Forrest, author of If Wishes Were Horses, for assistance with this article.

Here's one of my favorite-ever covers of Hoofcare & Lameness Journal, perfect for Fathers Day! If you double-click on the image, you should be able to see it in a larger size.

© 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.