Mike Heinrich (Pt. Pleasant, N.J.)
We tell everyone that we have the world's greatest farrier — Mike Heinrich from Pt. Pleasant, N.J.
We first met Mike about three years ago when my parents bought me my first horse, a 7-year-old OTTB that I wanted to train as a jumper. I named him William. He was fresh off the track!
As inexperienced horse owners, my parents and I knew very little about horseshoeing, but we quickly learned that Will could not keep a shoe on for anything. Two farriers gave up and a third farrier refused to see us. Then, we found Mike.
Mike looked at Will's x-rays and came up with a plan for how he would correct Will's hooves. He seemed to know just what to do for Will, and slowly but surely Will's feet held shoes for longer and longer stretches. Mike suggested and used glue-on shoes at one point, and he recommended supplements that helped a lot during Will's period of regrowth. It was like a miracle the first time Will kept all four shoes on for six weeks! It was only because of Mike's dedication to our horse that he now is on a regular shoeing schedule. That was three years ago.
Now we have two more horses and would never consider using any farrier other than Mike. We keep all three horses at our barn at home, and Mike has come out countless times between appointments to put a shoe back on or for any emergency.
One summer Sunday night as I brought Will in for the night, I discovered one of his shoes was partially off and twisted. I tried to take it off myself but only made it worse. Will couldn't put his foot down at all and I couldn't get the shoe off! My mom couldn't get it off either, and we were really upset. Mike to the rescue! He drove an hour and a half from his home on a Sunday night at 9 p.m. to come and help us.
Mike is so dedicated and sincerely cares about his clients. He is also very knowledgeable about anatomy and is a great resource for information and advice when we have any kind of hoof issue to deal with. We trust Mike as much as our vet in this area. Mike regularly attends conferences and workshops for farriers to learn new things and to stay current.
That's why Mike Heinrich is the World's Greatest Farrier!
—Cameron Tague
