Sunday, May 08, 2016

Badminton Farrier Prize 2016: Charlie Sands' four-star horseshoeing wins (Part 1)

Farrier Bernie Tidmarsh watches horse trot at Badminton Estate stables
Resident farrier Bernie Tidmarsh watches a horse at the Badminton House stables, used for the Duke of Beaufort's Hounds and the Badminton Horse Trials. Bernie has a forge at the end of the stable block. He's won the Farriers Prize at the Badminton Horse Trials multiple times. (Fran Jurga photo)


Hint: if you want to win the Farriers Prize at the four-star Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in England, consider having your partner shoe your horse.

Or, alternately, if you're a farrier, consider helping your partner make it all the way around Badminton so your shoes have a chance of being judged the winners on the final day of the event.

Fact: For the past three years, the Farriers Prize has been awarded to a horse shod by the rider's partner.

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Saturday, May 07, 2016

Shoeing for the Roses: Kentucky Derby Foot Factors 2016



It's the first Saturday in May. Theories abound about how to pick the winner of the Kentucky Derby, but there's no doubt that the feet come first in the hearts and minds of Hoof Blog readers. With the help of wonderful people in the racing industry, this article is a collection of as much as is known about the hooves of the fast and famous.

Re-visiting the Big-Footed Event Horse at Badminton Horse Trials: Ben Hobday, Mulrys Error, and Paul Conway


A photo posted by Ben Hobday (@benhobday) on
British farrier Paul Conway preparing a shoe for Ben Hobday's large-footed event horse Mulrys Error before Badminton Horse Trials in 2015.

Friday, May 06, 2016

British Minister Meets with Farriers on Future Registration, Discipline Changes for the Profession

DEFRA Minister George Eustice, MP can't take his eyes off the horseshoe he forged at the anvil with help from Simon Moore, FWCF, during an informal meeting with farriers and industry stakeholders in Cornwall last week. Eustice is working on possible changes to the farrier education and apprenticeship system in Great Britain through Parliamentary reform of the Farriers Registration Act. (Photo via Mr. Eustice)
On Friday, April 29th, George Eustice, a Member of (British) Parliament and Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) visited Bridge Farm in his home district of Cornwall in southwest England.

Mr. Eustice met with local Approved Training Farrier (ATF) Simon Moore, and his apprentice, Josh Ellery, along with a number of other local farriers and farrier industry representatives. His goal: to discuss some of the challenges facing the farriery industry.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Virginia Tech launches second permanent vet school farrier facility; longtime consulting farrier Paul Goodness and team will now be on site in Leesburg

Luke and Paul Goodness, Virginia Tech farriers, Leesburg division
Virginia farrier Paul Goodness (right) is moving his successful farrier business out of his barn and into the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center, the satellite veterinary hospital in Northern Virginia for Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. After serving more than 25 years as the hospital's contract farrier, he and his team, including his son Luke, left, will now be on-site full time. (Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center photo)

This week the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center (EMC) in Leesburg, Virginia is announcing the launch of a permanent farrier facility. Longtime hospital contract farrier Paul Goodness is in the process of moving his team to Leesburg where he will begin his new staff role as in-­house Chief of Farrier Services for Virginia Polytechnic University, Leesburg division.

The EMC is Virginia Polytechnical University’s satellite referral equine hospital and research center for the Virginia­-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. The state-­of­-the-­art facility is located west of Washington, DC.