English farrier George Rogerson, DipWCF, took home the World Champion title at the 2024 Blacksmith World Championship at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Alberta.

Collecting a total of 924 points over the 5-day event, Rogerson surpassed five-time World Champion and 2014 winner Steven Beane, FWCF, in second place at 880 points and Belgian farrier Vincent Lamaille in third place at 813 points. A total of 66 farriers from 15 countries entered the tournament, which awards upwards of 190,000 CND, or 140,000 USD, to the winners.

Rogerson remained in the top 3 end-of-day standings throughout all 5 days of the tournament. Starting off strong with 85 points for the omnidirectional shoe with a Masselotte toe clip, he then scored 81 points in class 2 — the Masselotte bar shoe — for a day 1 total of 166 points. On day 2, Rogerson scored 72 points in speed forging a hind preventer caulk and feather and 67 points in the tongs speed class for a total of 305 points. On day 3, he scored 74 points in the French square toe hind class and 83 points in the Morgan horse front shoe class for 462 points total. For the concave caulk and wedge class, Rogerson scored 79 points and 77 in the bob-punched double bevel class for a day 4 total of 618 points. He also scored 170 points in the Top 10 round and 136 points in the Top 5 round for a grand total of 924 points.

This is the second year of the Blacksmith World Championship after a 9-year hiatus following the Calgary Stampede’s desire to evolve and refresh its program and the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic.