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.

While their team can warm themselves in barns when available, they spend a lot of time outside.

“Just being outside and getting older,” Lomen says, “I needed some place to be inside and do the work.”

Efficient Workstation

Lomen’s solution was a Dodge Ram 2500 ProMaster and the expertise of Brent Chidsey at Bay Horse Innovations in Cynthiana, Ky. The result was a warmer mobile workstation for his team to shoe the 550 horses that he has on his roster every 6 to 8 weeks.

“In Minnesota, we’re always outside,” he says. “In the van, we can be inside where it’s warm and well-lit.”

Yet, the van is so much more than a warm, dry place to work. It’s designed to accommodate his team in an efficient manner.

“Efficiency-wise, it’s great,” Lomen says. “We can have two guys working all the time. If we have three working that day, one is trimming and shoeing horses and two are working in the truck. We have a pull-out anvil, another stationary anvil inside, three grinders…