UPDATE (Sept. 28, 2020): All of the “Sassy Pink” nippers have been sold. However, if demand is great, Dan Bradley will do his best to manufacture more.

As Breast Cancer Awareness month approaches, a trio of Hall of Fame farriers are teaming up to raise money for the fight.

Jefferson, Texas, farrier Dan Bradley and his Shadowfax Forge has joined fellow International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame members Myron McLane and Billy Crothers in producing hoof-care tools that benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

“In memory and honor of Pat McLane, Shadowfax Forge will be offering 30 nippers with powder-coated ‘sassy pink’ reins,” Bradley says.

The nippers campaign has been a success. Bradley has three half-round nippers remaining, raising $575 so far. If more would like to order the “sassy pink” nippers, Bradley, who is a one-man crew, says he will do his best to fulfill the additional demand.

McLane, a farrier from Somerset, Mass., and Crothers, a farrier from Bedfordshire, England, founded the Pink Apron Charity in 2018, an organization that allows them to connect with others in the equine community to collect donations for the foundation. They also want to start conversations with people about a topic that is treated in many ways as a social taboo.

Their shared trade brought them together as friends, but their personal encounters with breast cancer strengthened their friendship. McLane’s wife Pat and Crothers’ wife Lucy were both diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite their courage in the face of this pernicious disease, both couples experienced suffering and, tragically, loss. Pat McLane passed away May 18, 2013, and Lucy Crothers passed away Feb. 17, 2015.

McLane, who owns Myron McLane Aprons, decided he wanted to do something with farrier aprons to raise awareness about breast cancer in honor of his wife.

“I called my manufacturer and he was able to get some pink material for the aprons,” McLane told American Farriers Journal in 2018. “I think we had enough to make a half-dozen aprons or something like that. I sent three or four to Billy because Billy is my distributor for my aprons in the U.K. through Handmade Shoes.

“It all goes back to our wives both having breast cancer and dying from breast cancer,” McLane adds. “We’ve been very, very good friends for many years. And so, I sent him the pink aprons and I said, ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do with these, Billy, but maybe we can come up with something beneficial for somebody.’”

Since introducing the Pink Apron Charity, Crothers and McLane, with the help of Myron’s daughter Amy, have raised more than $18,000.

Anyone who would like to order the pink nippers may contact Bradley at shadowfax1@aol.com or (805) 441-9351. To order an apron, contact McLane through the Myron McLane Aprons website or Facebook page. They can also get an apron through any farrier supply businesses in the United States, or contact McLane directly at (508) 965-3837.