Silent Anvil: Elvis's Horseshoer Has Left the Building, But Not Our Lives

Mississippi/Tennessee horseshoer Lim Couch died this week. He was Elvis's horseshoer and a longtime officer of the American Farrier's Association. "Give me an Elvis look," I remember saying when I took this photo. And he obliged.


Lots of horseshoers have famous clients. Some like to brag about them. Some keep quiet about them. And some keep them very close to their hearts and, if you ask,

Silent Anvil: Horseshoers Like Dave Reed

There's a silent anvil here in Massachusetts today. The anvil belonged to farrier Dave Reed of Brimfield. You probably didn't know Dave, but then again, maybe you did. Or maybe you know someone a lot like him.

This article is my way of saying good-bye to Dave, and tipping my hat to horseshoers like him. They're out there. But they're disappearing from the back roads every day. Soon they might

Scott Simpson Memorial Service Planned

 J.  S C O T T  S I M P S O N   1933-2012


A memorial service or gathering in memory of Scott Simpson is being planned for Saturday, May 26th, at 2:00 p.m., at the beautifully-restored Ellen Theatre in Bozeman, Montana.

Scott Simpson was a very special horseshoer, educator, entertainer, horseman, author and many other things, including a father. He died on March 1, 2012 after finishing a

Secretariat's Death by Laminitis, Revisited: The Night the News Anchors Learned About Laminitis

Secretariat's death announcement on local Virginia television news


Do you remember where you were on October 4, 1989? Maybe you hadn't even been born. Or maybe you still remember that feeling of loss, of stunned disbelief, that the horse to end all horses was no longer in a paddock somewhere in Kentucky.

We know so much more about laminitis now than we did then, but could

An Unusually Silent Anvil: Ron Dyer ("The Horseshoer")

 I learned tonight, completely by accident while researching something on the web, that Ron Dyer the Horseshoer (as he called himself) died on April 23, just shy of his 84th birthday. I don't have much information, perhaps other people have already announced his passing, but I had no idea.

When I knocked on the door of the farrier profession, I immediately noticed that people tended to cluster

Electrocution's Shocking Effects on Horses

From the annals of Hoofcare and Lameness Journal and the Hoof Blog, here are some memorable accounts of horses who have lost their lives or been injured or at least caught my attention by their ability to conduct electricity:

In 2004, Horse and Hound told us about a horse that really got a warmup before the cross-country phase at the Blenheim Petplan International Horse Trials in England.

Aluminum Shoes May Have Saved Two Horses' Lives as Two Steel-Shod Horses Die in Possible Electrocution at British Racecourse

Video by ITN.
The worlds of both sport and horses were rocked today when news came from England that four horses had become agitated for no obvious reason in the paddock before the first race at Newbury Racecourse in Berkshire. The horses began rearing and falling as the jockeys were mounting. Within minutes two horses had died while two others rose back to their feet. 

The rest of the horses