Clinching the Eclipse Award for the year's best farrier

[andymays]

Bill Christine: Occupation? He’s in Shoes

http://www.horseraceinsider.com/lines-in-the-sand/comments/12192010-occupation-hes-in-shoes/#comments

Excerpt:

Champagne, whose father was a jockey and a trainer and whose grandfather was a veterinarian, has been a smithy at Southern California tracks since the early 1980s. Trainers who are in the Hall of Fame swear by him. The late Bobby Frankel would fly in Champagne on a moment's notice, whenever his horses were in distress, for big out-of-town stakes races. Neil Drysdale has used Champagne for years, and more about Drysdale later. Bob Baffert has used Champagne. Vladimir Cerin, who's not in the Hall of Fame but who won his 1,000th race the day after Thanksgiving, once said this about Champagne: "He's considered the best in the country."

[andymays]

There is a rumor on one of the radio shows that the first ferrier didn't bring a shoe and he may have been a little tipsy. According to the Mike Willman radio show.

[DJofSD]

I have the upmost respect for ferriers -- even the not so good ones. The amount of physical effort let alone the art and craft of the trade are astounding. For the uneducated, it is a heck of a lot more than just placing a shoe on the hoof then whacking away with a hammer. Just consider the margin of error for the placing of the nail -- too far one way and you've quicked the horse, too far the other way and the shoe comes off too easily and often at the wrong time.

It is literally back breaking work and most horses don't make it one bit easier. And then there's the horses that are dangerous. Remember, even a simple cow kick could land you in the hospital or worse.