Massachusetts farrier Don Jarosz volunteers his time each spring to help with the footcare on more than 600 horses coming off winter pasture.

Here’s your chance to be part of an extraordinary journey while galloping at full speed on one of the old West’s famous ranching traditions.

Thanks to the sponsorship of Life Data Labs, this amazing four-part video series from American Farriers Journal takes you along as a visitor on a horse drive that the Sombrero Ranch has been conducting in northwestern Colorado for more than 50 years. You’ll watch as over 600 horses that winter on 60,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management ground are galloped 62 miles over a 2-day period to the family’s spring gathering facility.

As part of this unique photographic essay, you’ll also see how a dozen farriers tackle the hoof-care work on these 600 horses over a 2-week period before the animals are leased out for the summer and fall to dude ranches, scout camps, church camps, backpackers, livery stables and hunting camps.

While viewing this series of four videos, you’ll get an exciting look at the actual Great American Horse Drive as seen through the eyes and camera of American Farriers Journal Editor and Publisher Frank Lessiter.

More than 600 horses will have their hooves trimmed, be shod, dewormed and ridden to get them used to someone sitting in the saddle after 5 months of winter grazing.
Thousands of shoes are nailed on horses that are leased for various uses over the summer and to deer and elk hunting camps each fall.

The Great American Horse Drive: Part 1 - The Drive Gets Underway


The Great American Horse Drive: Part 2 - The Walker Family Legacy


The Great American Horse Drive: Part 3 - Footcare On The Drive


The Great American Horse Drive: Part 4 - The Riders' Experience