As the cold season arrives in Minnesota during November, Rich Lomen and Nate Stener and their four-man multi-farrier practice can expect temperatures to fluctuate between 41 and 9 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 5 months in the metropolitan Minneapolis area.
Several years ago, Nathan Stephens realized his business suffered from inefficiency. The Richmond, Ky., farrier works on young horses, mares and stallions on Thoroughbred farms around Lexington.
When he looked at buying a new farrier trailer in 2004, Will Aichele recalls that the substantial cost was daunting. The Hilltown, Pa., farrier was about a dozen years into his shoeing career at the time and felt he was on firmer ground, compared with those early years in which many farriers struggle with establishing a business.
Miguel Vasquez doesn’t pretend to be a professional fabricator. Although it isn’t his career, the Grand Rapids, Mich., farrier enjoys learning the skill set through taking on tough projects. When it came time to launch his full-time shoeing business, he found a challenging fabrication project in building a new trailer.
Mike Phillips’s original goal wasn’t to outfit his new work van. But after finding out how long he’d have to wait to have a manufacturer build and install the work, the South Salem, N.Y., farrier realized he’d have to do the build to have it ready for the beginning of the 2021 show season.
After the axle broke on his shoeing trailer in February 2021, Sergio Ponce wasn’t in the market to buy a new one. He would simply replace the axle and get back to work.
In this episode of Badass Rigs & Trailers, sponsored by Anvil Brand, Minnesota farrier Tim Wampfler worked with Iron Range Manufacturing and Justin Fry to build his new farrier rig. Some of the features of this truck and body included the set up of tools like the grinder, but also an electro-magnetic anvil stand made by Iron Range.
The December 1990 American Farriers Journal featured an article by Martin Kenny showing how he made his 1987 Ford F-350 custom walk-in rig — a rarity at the time. Over the years, other rigs came and went, including a stripped-down minimalist approach.
A couple of years ago as he entered his 30th year of shoeing horses, Billy Romjue began looking for ideas to downsize his shoeing trailer. His service area was limited from southern Pennsylvania to northern Maryland, and hauling his 10-foot gooseneck shoeing trailer wasn’t practical for servicing most of his clients.
Greg Martin, CJF, of Boerne, Texas, takes the unique approach of marketing his hoof-care practice with a Christmas parade float in Boerne and Comfort, Texas. The award-winning float boasts a variety of surprising features.
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