Archived News 2007

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December 2007
November has been an extremely productive month for Forge & Farrier and we continue to be amazed by the positive comments we regularly receive.
Those of you on the mailing list will now be aware that we have confirmed a special association with South Hereford Volkswagen Van Centre, with preferential deals being available for Forge & Farrier readers, and we have also been lucky enough to have been given privileged access to online articles from the huge library on the American Farriers Journal (AFJ) website. The AFJ are hosts of the International Hoof-Care Summit, the premier equine hoof-care event, and we feel extremely proud to be associated with them.
Jim Ferrie FWCF has kindly provided us with three superb articles - Hoof Cracks or Stress Fractures of the Hoof Capsule, Laminitis and Tendon Bar Shoe. These clearly written articles are enriched by excellent photographs and are well worth a read.
Value Added Tax, a phrase dreaded by many a person, is explained in the Article Library section by Sharon Pocock of Herefordshire based accountancy firm, Kinder Pocock. When to register, why you should register and implications of registering for VAT are all discussed in this concise, easy to understand item.
It is worth noting that farriers submitting articles that are published on the website will be awarded a point towards their CPD total in recognition of the expertise they are sharing.
Fast becoming a frequently visited page, the Product Information and Special Offers page has also been updated. J & A Ferrie Farrier Supplies now have back in stock the Dave Showen Turning Hammers and Stromsholm are keeping us abreast with their products which includes further information on the Jim Blurton Tools range.
On the competition front, congratulations to Mark Watson for winning the Military class at the British Army Competition and Gary Darlow for winning both the Open Therapeutic and Hunter Classes.
November also featured the ever popular Master & Apprentice Competition at Hereford College. Congratulations to Ricky Hilton and Jim Blurton for winning the Shoeing Class and Alan Calvert and J Lee in the Shoemaking.
All that leaves is for us to wish everyone an extremely Happy Christmas and a successful end to a successful year!

November 2007
A new month and we welcome J & A Ferrie Farrier Supplies to the Industry Suppliers Directory. Ferrie's website has recently taken on a brilliant new look which encompasses a comprehensive range of stock and a secure, on-line ordering system. The J.A.F. Universal Hospital Plate has also been introduced, more details of which can be found on the Product Information and Special Offers page.
October saw the successful completion of yet more competitions with Steven Beane wining the open YFEDA Heavy Horseshoe Making Competition and the apprentice honours going to Richard Slater in the Seniors and Harry Garner in the Juniors. Further congratulations to Adrian Devereux in the Open Traditional Hunter Shoeing at the Hose Competition. Joel Morris was the winner of the 1st/2nd year apprentices and Ricky Hilton the 3rd/4th year apprentices.
We have also received notification of a new farriery competition to be held each year - the European Farriers Challenge. This is being held from 12th to 14th December in Denmark - visit the Calendar for more information.
Special thanks go to Mark Andrews of Equine Science Update for submission of two further articles in the Article Library section; Reverse Wedge Shoeing and Modern Hoof Repair Materials.
Forge & Farrier received great coverage in Horse Health's October issue (see Notice Board) and, as a result, we have received many positive comments from outside the farriery world by horse owners, vets and an equine dentist! Thanks to all those who took time to provide feedback.
We have a couple of exciting developments in the pipeline, details of which we will annouce as soon as they have been confirmed. We have also received some great suggestions for topics to be covered in the future.
As ever, keep us up to date with your news!

October 2007
Another month has flown by and we have added competition results, new suppliers to the Suppliers Directory and new articles with lots more promised in the coming months.
Hot off the press - congratulations to Gavin Golby, winner of the National Hunter Shoeing Championships on Saturday at the Bath & West Showground - full results will be posted as soon as we receive them.
Congratulations yet again to 'Smithy' - winner of the Newbury Competition. This was yet another tough competition with few marks seperating the highest placed competitors. The Newbury Competition was also a display of exciting talent for the future in the form of the apprentices. With the approval of their ATF, apprentices competed in the open classes and did extremely well - a promising indication of potential International team members for the future!
We are also collating the results from 'best shod' competitions held at events such as Badminton and Burghley Horse Trials. If you are a winner of one of these, or know someone who is, please pass on their details as we are not always informed of them.
The Articles Library section has welcomed the addition of articles from Eastlake & Beachell, our industry insurers, and Kinder Pocock, specialist accountancy firm based in Hereford. Both of these are well worth a read, you never know they might just end up saving you some money!
Regular visitors will have noted the introduction of the Horse Owners section and more recently a page dedicated to Industry Suppliers Product Information and Special Offers - we will post items here as soon as we receive them and hopefully this will keep you up to date with new products on the market and help you find the best deal!
As always keep in touch with ideas for articles and do pass on news-worthy items to share with fellow-farrier's!

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September 2007
It's hard to believe that just under two weeks ago this website was still 'work in progress'. Since Forge & Farrier went live on August 23rd we have had a brilliant response. The number of hits has exceeded our expectations with many visitors re-visting the website and many spending in excess of 30 minutes perusing the different pages. Feedback has not only come from within the UK but also America, Europe and Australia and has all been positive so far, do keep it coming - good and bad - as we can only get it right with your help!
August has seen another successful month for competitions which was highlighted by yet another win, in glorious sunshine, by the English team at the Internationals at Stoneleigh on Bank Holiday weekend. England pipped Wales to the post by just 3.3 marks. Congratulations to David 'Smithy' Smith for securing the honours in the Individual Competition.
The Internationals were preceded by the shoe making competition at the Peover Game Fayre which turned out to be something of a 'warm-up' for the Internationals, with the American farriery team making the trip to the UK in time. The competition was hot with the Americans taking four out of the top eight places, but the 'top spot' was comfortably secured by Grant Moon.
New articles have been added - Fran Jurga, publisher of Hoofcare & Lameness, has kindly provided a report on the conference held at Stoneleigh last year on Maximising Equine Performance. For those that didn't make it, this article is well worth a read. Teresa Hollands, Nutritionist at Dodson & Horrell Ltd, discusses the increasing problem of equine obesity - something we all see far too often in clients horses and Gary Darlow gives some top tips for making a hunter front shoe in the Articles by Farriers section. The articles in this section are available to read on the website but we have also decided to include a 'pdf' version - perfect for printing and taking into the forge!
Happy reading and keep the thoughts and suggestions rolling in.....

August 2007
It is with great pleasure that we can, after a much anticipated wait, announce the launch of Forge & Farrier!
In what has been an extremely unsettled and wet summer, to say the least, competitions have survived and the quality of work is as high as ever. The competition at the Royal Show was described by Judge Mark Preece as "fantastic all week". Those out of the ribbons need not be disappointed, fractions of a mark separated the top three competitors in the Championship reiterating that it is "tight at the top". Congratulations must go to David Smith who won both the National Champion and Show Championship.
The list of names from within the UK in the Calgary Roll of Honour is extremely impressive and should not go unnoticed amongst the horse-owning public. At this years World Championships competitors from the UK took three out of the top four places. Congratulations to Andrew Casserly, Reserve World Champion of 2007, in what was his first attempt in this particular competition.
A full list of all of this years years results can be found on the Competition Results page, which is updated on an ongoing basis as soon as the data is sent to us. Keep an eye on the Events Calendar for further competitions and important dates coming up.
Off to a flying start, our first farriery article (link from the Notice Board) has been written by three times World Champion Darren Bazin, who details his way of making a caulkin. We have further articles promised so watch this space in the coming months!
The Notice Board is always worth checking for press releases and updates from the industry's leading bodies.
We have received overwhelming support in the past few months and our thanks go to all of the businesses and organisations featured in the following pages, without whom this website would not exist. However, it is your website. If you spot a competition that's missing, have an event you want to share, are seeking your next apprentice or feel like writing an article do get in touch. We can only improve our service to you if you share your thoughts and ideas.

Nigel and Claire Brown.

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