A mere 2 months after the release of a popular documentary highlighting women farriers, “Women, Steel & Fire” is gaining notoriety in the equine film industry.

The 2016 Equus Film Festival will feature the short documentary during its third annual event, Nov. 17-20 at the Village East Cinema in New York City.

“I’m really excited to know the documentary has been selected by the Equus Film Festival,” says Marguerite Paige, who wrote and produced the film for Delta Mustad Hoofcare Center. “I’ve enjoyed witnessing the positive response it’s generated amongst farriers.”

“Women, Steel & Fire” features four women sharing their stories about their paths to becoming farriers, where they are in their careers and their goals for the future. The women in the film are Kelly Hartley of Coquitlam, B.C.; Lori McBride of Louisville, Ohio; Vikki Kubilius Fortier of Chaplin, Conn.; and Tabitha Watford Findler of San Diego, Calif.

“The idea to film a short documentary about women shoeing horses came to life while attending a Mustad clinic in Western Canada 2 years ago,” says Paige, who is Delta Mustad’s Marketing Manager. “I was intrigued by the number of women in the audience, their passion for the trade and commitment to the horse.”

It’s an interest that she shares with the film’s director, Sandra Mesrine.

“Marguerite and I have often talked about the increasing number of women in the trade and the need to highlight them,” says Mesrine, herself a graduate of the Cornell University Farrier Program. “Marguerite is very in tune with what is happening in the trade and many of the farrier school teachers are talking about how the number of female students enrolling in their schools is rising every year.”

A project of this nature is no easy task and takes several months of hard work. One of the highlights was at the start of filming during the spring of 2015 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“Filming Kelly Hartley was extremely fun as it was on the set of the TV series, ‘When Calls The Heart,’” Mesrine recalls. “Their production crew was very welcoming, but filming is the easy part. There are a lot of logistics, equipment involved, and several weeks of post production for sound, video editing, grading, titles and effects, etc.”

All of the months of hard work paid off when the Equus Film Festival shared the documentary on its Facebook page and extended an invitation to submit it for the 2016 event.

“I’m very happy about the film festival,” Mesrine says. “It is a privilege to create a portrait of this trade and inspire many about it.”

» Watch The Documentary