Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2016 | Page 77

Equestrian

Farrier champions
So, three years went by without a farrier event on
the Isle of Wight, and how it was missed!

Pictures by Sandra Power

“After three years it was
a great thrill to bring this
competition back to the
Island. It was a lot of work
to organise, but special
thanks are due to our
sponsors ‘Mustad’, and
to the Holmes family for
allowing us to use Lake
Farm, which turned out to
be an amazing venue.
Between us we hope to
bring the championships
back to the Island
biannually, bigger and
better! Watch this space
for 2018!”

With nearly 70 competitors, this
competition promised to be even
bigger than the original events and it
didn’t disappoint!
Running alongside a free clinic,
showcasing some of the world’s
greatest clinicians, the IOW farrier
championships ran over three days
with both open and apprentice
competitors battling it out in an effort
to reach the final day.
Judged by Jon Atkinson and Jim
Quick (open) and Nigel Brown
(apprentice), there were some
fantastic specimens, and the standard
of work throughout was excellent!
Day one consisted of a shoemaking
class and pony shoeing. All specimen
shoes had been previously published,
so it turned out to be a great ‘nerve
breaker’.
After a ‘surprise’ shoemaking class
on the morning of day two, the first
cut was made and only the top 20
competitors proceeded onwards to the
quarter-final cob shoeing class.
On the morning of day three, the 10
competitors who had accumulate