Rodney Ross AWCF

05/05/2022

26/06/2021

Back to basics. First handmade/make and fit in a while.

30/09/2020

A promotional video made today at the Gobbins livery yard, by Justin from McCartney Media.

01/09/2020

No doubt many of you are wondering why your horses feet seem to be suffering at the moment? Are they breaking up or disintegrating? Is your horse losing shoes for fun when they don’t usually (even in winter when it’s wetter than now)? The answer, as usual is the great British weather. Any farrier that has been shoeing for many years will know through experience that these warm wet summers are toxic to horses feet and their condition. The main cause is a lack of consistency in moisture levels and the warmth. The ground is wet and has been most of the summer, the temperature is warm. So when the rain stops the feet lose moisture quickly, when you stable them overnight they dry out quickly. This wet dry wet dry cycle causes the feet to split and fracture as hoof loves consistency. In the winter when it’s colder, the feet indeed get soaking wet but overnight in the stable they dry out at a far slower rate, often they are still wet in the morning, this does not cause the same dramatic wet dry wet dry cycle, so seems to not destroy the feet. Dry summers come with their own problems for sure but this type of summer we are having is possibly the perfect storm for horses hooves.

There is no advice to give you for the solution except be aware of why it’s happening and try to maintain the moisture content in the feet by managing the weather conditions as best as possible, always with a mind on consistency of hoof moisture to try and slow down these massive ranges in moisture, so limit turnout in times of water saturation and maintain moisture in stabled horses.
And pray for a better summer next year 🤞🤞🤞

22/03/2020

A message to my clients.

During these difficult times I am following the advice of the FRC and the WCF, and of course the government.

At present I will continue to shoe as normal and honour appointments booked in. Please be patient if i need to make changes so to accommodate everyone. I may, where possible try and bring appointments forward if a total lockdown is imminent but the diary is pretty booked up and may be utilising the extra daylight to do this so some appointments may be very early or quite late.

As long as your horse is ok I’m happy to help myself as long as they are in the stable and easily accessible and good to catch. I will be following the social distancing guidelines and expect my clients to do the same. There is no need for me to have any human contact or close interaction when going about my daily rounding.

Until it is illegal for me to carry on my business I will on the grounds of animal welfare. If I develop symptoms of course I will have to stop for a while.

All the best and stay safe.

12/02/2020

A snow forced afternoon in the forge yesterday, means some nice hand made shoes going on feet today.

29/09/2019

Here are Some of my practice and competition jobs from 2019. 🤞 I can kick on again in next years competitions.

25/08/2019

We must be mad!!🥵😅🔨💪🏻