Silent Anvil: Bruce Daniels, American Horseshoer, Has Died

Bruce Daniels died today, just before noon, the American Farrier's Association tell us. The icon of American horseshoeing of the late 20th century had suffered several aortic aneurysms and what his son Tad called "multiple strokes". He still made it to his daughter Cary's house in Florida for Christmas, though.

Just try and stop him.

The farrier world will be a little less colorful now.

It's Official: England's Steven Beane Wins His Fifth Calgary Stampede World Championship Title

The Calgary Stampede did not provide photos of the awards this year, so The Hoof Blog had to go hunting for some. We found a perfect photo taken by Tony Kay, OBE, Her Majesty's British Consul General to Calgary and the prairie provinces of Canada. Tony is now quite a fan of farrier competitions and especially of Steven Beane. He snapped this photo of Steven on the huge video screen above

Calgary Stampede Opening Day: Blacksmiths in the Sun, Shatner in the Parade, Champions All

Last chance to be the World Champion: 60 farriers from around the world were entered for the 35th and final World Champion Blacksmiths Competition at the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta, Canada this week. (Photo © Delta Mustad Hoofcare Center by Sandra Mesrine)



The 35th (and final) World Championship Blacksmiths Competition at the Calgary Stampede entered its second day today,

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,

California Chrome: Horseshoer Judd Fisher with a Horse on the Doorstep of History

Best of luck to California horseshoer Judd Fisher as he waits to find out if the horse with his shoes on will make history today by becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. Cross your fingers, rub a horseshoe, raise your glass--whatever happens, Judd has done a great job to get California Chrome to this point.  (Judd Fisher photo)

Read more about Judd Fisher and the

Who Shod the Last Triple Crown Winner?

Sometimes a great event gives me a chance to dig into the archives and find some lost facts that deserve to have another chance to shine.


As the Belmont Stakes looms, so does the chance we'll be able to celebrate the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. The photo below shows the mighty Affirmed striding around the shedrow at Belmont the week before the race.







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Triple Crown: Remembering Affirmed, the Horseshoer's Son, and the Horseshoer Himself

Whenever a big race is coming up, you'll see The Hoof Blog joyfully tweeting good wishes to jockey Rosie Napravnik. She is, after all, the horseshoer's daughter who made it to the big time. Her father, New Jersey shoer Charles Napravnik, often shows up in the winner's circle.

In fact, in the photo below of the Kentucky Oaks winner's circle when Rosie won on Untapable, you can clearly see

Sochi-Inspired History: The World's Largest Horseshoeing Business Was in Russia

The amazing horse light sculptures in the Sochi Olympics opening ceremony told the Russian legend of each day's sunrise being pulled across the sky by a three-horse "troika" of horses. (photo shared by Sue and Marcus)



Are you enjoying the Olympics from Russia? When you're done dissecting the triple toe loops, slopeslide 360s and what on earth they really are trying to do in a curling match,

Coolmore's Daddy Long Legs to Run Without Shoes in Dubai Stakes Race; Interference Given as Reason for Rule Exception

Halfway around the world, a South African racehorse trainer is taking a chance with a well-known stakes-winning Thoroughbred. And he had to get official clearance to do it.






The Emirates Racing Association in Dubai has granted permission to Coolmore trainer Mike de Kock to pull the shoes on Daddy Long Legs...and keep them pulled. Daddy Long Legs will run in the ten-furlong Potlines Trophy

Scotland's David Varini is World Champion Blacksmith (Farrier) at the Calgary Stampede

The Mustad family carried on the tradition of sponsoring the World Championship for farrier/blacksmiths at the Calgary Stampede in Canada with Hans Mustad, left, representing his family and his company. Petter Binde, Mustad Sales & Marketing CEO, is at right. The showgrounds had been flooded two weeks before the event but Plan B worked to run an event that attracted a stellar trible of the

Future Faces Video: Sarah Coltrin, Farrier-Eventer, Shoes to Ride as She Joins the New Cadre of Equestrian Smiths

What do you say to someone who is new in the profession? Sometimes it's best to be quiet and hear what they have to say.

You might learn something.




After all, they are the future. We may be the present, but we won't always be.

And once upon a time, we were the future.



So sit still for five minutes and listen to Sarah Coltrin. 


That's exactly what filmmaker-photographer (and

Maryland's Hoof-First Connection to the Triple Crown: Raceplates and Horseshoers in Preakness History

Photos from Victory Racing Plates, a Baltimore-based horse shoe manufacturer whose plates have been on eight of the 11 horses that won the Triple Corwn. (Courtesy of Only A Game's Sam Gallant)
It's Preakness Stakes day in the USA! Whether you think Kentucky Derby winner Orb is a shoe-in to win in his Jim Bayes Jr. crafted raceplates or if you like California's Goldencents, shod by Jim

Hooves of the Kentucky Derby 2013: Race Shoes, Hoofcare and the Farrier's Daughter

Sixty Minutes featured top jockey Rosie Napravnik the week before the Derby. Her other claim to fame? Her father is a horseshoer!

It's 90 minutes before the Kentucky Derby, do you know where you'll be today at 6:24 p.m.?


Rosie Napravnik, daughter of New Jersey horseshoer Charles Napravnik, knows exactly where she will be: on the back of MyLute, bursting out of the starting gate at

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.
For years, I have wondered why truck companies didn't fall over themselves to sponsor farrier events and court their favor (and advertise with Hoofcare Publishing). Finally,

On the Case: California Wrap, British Style, for White Line Disease

One of the best things about the Hoof Blog is hearing from people  inspired to share how they would use different materials or methods to achieve the same thing.

Paul Raw, DipWCF is a farrier in northern England who had never heard of the California Wrap featured on the Hoof Blog back in December 2012. But as soon as he saw what Southern California Equine Podiatry's Dr Mark Silverman and

Oklahoma Farrier, Victim of Trailer Theft, Boosted by Fellow Viet Nam Veterans

Please wait for the remote video clip to load.

Sometimes when bad things happen to good people, it brings out the best in other people.


That's the case for CJ Ward, the 64-year-old Oklahoma farrier who was devastated by the theft of his shoeing trailer from his front yard last month. It looked like his career was over, but then someone spotted his hammers for sale at a flea market, and was

Horseshoeing Trailer Heist in Oklahoma Devastates Veteran Farrier's Ability to Work

Shoeing trailers make a lot of sense, both economically and efficiency-wise. Some are really clever designs and all of them allow farriers to use a truck or hauling vehicle for something other than a work-related rig.

But it looks like thieves love them, too. This is not the first shoeing trailer that I have heard of being stolen. This news report amazed me when I saw that Mr. Ward had stamped

Wes Champagne's Blacksmith Buddy: A Life-like, Positionable Horse Leg Simulates Shoeing / Trimming for Training, Demonstration and Practice

   Sponsored Post from Wes Champagne   



Learn about Wes Champagne's Blacksmith Buddy in this introductory video.


When I heard that California horseshoer Wes Champagne had a new invention, I sat back and said, "Hmmmm...." My mind lit up with imagined new lightweight shoes, or space-age adhesives, or something that you could put on a racehorse so it could break the sound barrier, or maybe

Irish Farrier Radio Documentary: The Sound of History

Have you ever been to Ireland? Just click on the "play" icon and you can go there, for a half-hour or so, at least. But hang on tight--you're going to go back in time.

The year was 1977, and Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTE, the national broadcast service in Ireland) is interested in producing a radio documentary about farriers. It's a trade with one foot in the past and one in the future, and

Silent Anvil: John Collins Was Zenyatta's Hoof Man, Kentucky Horseman, Everyone's Friend

John Collins shod horses, played polo and enjoyed his friends. He died suddenly in Kentucky last week. (Scott Morrison photo)


I wrote about Kentucky horseshoer John Collins once. But I wasn't really writing about him. I was quoting what other people (and horses) had already written about him.



John Collins

Take, for instance, what Zenyatta wrote on her blog about her Bluegrass hoofsmith