Fantastic Farriers

What are a farrier's tasks at the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™?

It’s not just the horses and riders whose skills set is put to the test during a three-day Eventing competition.

Farriers are on hand to make sure shoe repairs can be done speedily during a competition, with different terrains meaning wear and tear is inevitable.

We caught up with farrier Sean Athow at the recent FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing leg at Houghton Hall to find out just what is expected of these talented workers at a major competition...

The key to success for the farrier is the ability to form a mental picture of the horse’s foot while crafting the shoe.

Sean says: “Hopefully the horses won’t need trimming because they’re regularly shoed, so it’s just a case of me heating the shoe up, just trimming the foot back a little bit and making a mental picture of the shape of that foot.

“When the shoe is red-hot from the fire I’ll shape it to the image that I’ve got in my head and try it on the foot.

"The whole time what you’re looking at is the nails and that they are safe to nail home.”

There are two duty farriers at the Houghton Hall event, with Sean looking after running repairs and a colleague assisting those who arrive without shoes.

“I’m here to help anybody should they lose a shoe on cross country. They come to me and I can put one back on before they do the Jumping or the next phase,” he says.

Watch all the action from this year's FEI Eventing Nations Cup™. The next leg takes place in Strzegom, Poland, from June 29-July 1...