Way back in 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt was named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year, the minimum wage was controversially raised to 40 cents an hour and Babe Ruth hit 22 home runs.

That same year, Brent Chidsey’s shoeing rig rolled off the assembly line in Detroit.

Although Chidsey wouldn’t own the 1934 Ford half-ton pickup truck for another 65 years, the American Farrier’s Association certified farrier-turned-customized-rig-builder knew exactly what he was looking for when he began his search to find a rig that would symbolize his company’s work.

“I wanted a vehicle that people would always remember, yet one that could serve as a fully functional shoeing rig at any given time,” says Chidsey, owner of Stone Well Bodies & Equipment, Inc. in Genoa, N.Y. “And that’s exactly what I have!”

Chidsey expects to put the classic rig on display at horse shoeing clinics, open houses and conventions a dozen times a year. When it’s not on the road, he keeps it prominently parked between a couple of flagpoles in front of his shop.

The Search Begins

It wasn’t easy to find an antique truck that was salvageable, yet sturdy enough to be fitted with heavy farrier equipment. But on Halloween, 2000, Chidsey finally hit paydirt by finding the 1934 Ford advertised on the Internet.

…