Guts. Glory. Horseshoes: Farrier Travis Baker Drives a Dodge.

"Farrier" (Full Version-HD) from Fran Jurga on Vimeo.
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Is this an ad for Ram Trucks, farriery as a career, or California as a place to live the good life? Maybe it's a little bit of all three. Travis Baker's farrier life in California looks good from behind the wheel of a new Dodge Ram pickup.

Watch It: Ram Trucks Promotional Video Features Texas Farrier Shawn Nanny, Who Still Likes His Old Truck

If you were in the business of selling trucks, wouldn't a farrier be your ideal customer?

The answer would be an unequivocal "yes"--assuming your truck can fill the farrier's needs...and the farrier wants a new truck.

Favorite Photo: "Easy Shoer"

Move over, Easy Rider. Here comes Easy Shoer! (Loic Entwistle photos)

These photos are posted as provided by our friend Loic Entwistle of Germany. We had trouble with translation on the phone last week, so I am posting these as is, since they speak for themselves. You can click or double-click on the photos to see them in full size.

I am not sure that Loic is the designer of this shoeing rig, but I suspect he is. He won the "best rig" contest against an amazing array of tricked-out Mercedes and Range Rover vehicles at the 2006 Luwex Hufsymposium with his amazing custom-built truck.

My guess is that he couldn't beat himself, so he came back the next time with this rig.

Just a hunch.

Even if you don't speak German, I recommend that you visit Loic's site. Hoofcare will be featuring some of his lovely (and often humorous) hoof photography over the next few months. Since his photos are so clear and you already know how to speak "hoof", you may find that you can teach yourself a bit of German at his site!

This has long been one of my favorite farrier's web sites. Loic has a lot to share...but his photos always bring up lots of questions! He has subscribed to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal since 1994, but I didn't get to meet him until 2006.

Click here to go to Loic's site. But be prepared to stay a while. I know you will enjoy his photography and his sense of humor, no matter what language you speak.

Note: The 2008 Luwex Symposium opens October 23rd in Krueth, which is sort of the German equivalent of the Kentucky Horse Park. Loic is one of more than a dozen speakers from probably as many countries. His topic will be "Compensation of ground impact force with computer-aided measurement in mismatching feet." This conference is translated into Spanish, English, French, Italian and German. Dr. Scott Morrison will be the lone USA speaker this time.

In 2009, Hoofcare and Lameness may organize a group trip for Americans (and any other nationalities) to travel to Kreuth for this conference. It is probably the most adrenalinized farrier conference in the world. Three days at this conference is truly an immersion into European farriery. And a whole lot of fun! The hotel is right on the showgrounds, so you can't get too lost. Luwex offers a package including hotel and conference fees so we would only be arranging transportation. It might be a great way for Americans to experience European farriery, all in one place. They are always so disappointed that American farriers don't attend.

Here's Loic's real award-winning shoeing truck design. With him (yellow jacket) is Italian veterinarian Lorenzo d'Arpe. This photo was taken at the Luwex Hufsymposium in 2006. (Fran Jurga photo) Click here to read about Loic's truck.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. This post was originally published on October 15, 2008 at www.hoofcare.blogspot.com.