When he was a young man, being a farrier wasn’t on Drew Golden’s radar. Born on Long Island, N.Y., he didn’t even have much interaction with horses. Instead, his passion rested elsewhere. Golden was an accomplished musician, studying the subject and playing saxophone in bands. He still plays in a band today, making the time between a busy work schedule and family time.

It wasn’t until his family moved to Jupiter, Fla., in the late 1970s that Golden found his new passion with horses. Golden began working with his uncle, Matty Spinelli, who already was in Okeechobee, working around South Florida.

Golden became hooked and invested himself into his new trade. As he progressed, the young farrier began working and learning from knowledgeable shoers who traveled to or were based in the area, including George Fitzgerald, Sid Bundy, Mike Weaver, Seamus Brady and Cappy Kaplan. He credits that access to helping his education and growth.

“I was very lucky in that regard for being educated,” he reasons. “I had friends in other areas who had to drive for hours so they could go to a hammer-in. But I had access in my backyard to some of the best farriers, as well as other top veterinarians, trainers, riders and horses.”

Today, Golden’s sport horse practice remains based in Wellington, Fla. Golden also will shoe for clients who leave Wellington for North Carolina, Kentucky, New York and throughout Europe. He says traveling as a farrier may seem exciting to those on the outside, but warns that it is difficult, especially for those with a family.

“When you are home 10 days out of the month, it isn’t easy,” he adds.

To make the best of it, Golden says that travel does provide the opportunity to meet other farriers and see their styles, which can teach a lot about the foot.

That collaboration with others is a theme in Golden’s farrier career. On this “Shoeing For A Living” day, he demonstrates how pulling that knowledge and help from others, as well as listening to the horse helps this musician turned farrier hit the right notes in his daily work.

7:07 a.m. I meet Golden and his team outside his shop. I’ll ride with him, while his partner Clint Halvorsrod and apprentice Joel Colvin ride in the other truck. Halvorsrod works with Golden 3 days per week, or whatever is needed. He’ll work on his own accounts for the remainder of the time. Colvin rides with Golden a few days per week, as well as other farriers or on his own the remainder of the time. Another longtime associate of Golden, Wade LaShells, will join us later.

Having two rigs allows them to have two set-ups and not hamper workflow by someone waiting to use the anvil or grinder. It definitely adds to their productivity. But also allows for someone to leave if there is a need to head to another barn.

Golden credits his solid team for his practice’s success, adding he’s especially blessed to have someone of exceptional character like Halvorsrod. The 20-plus-year farrier recently began a shoe drive for the homeless, which evolved into a community program that filled trailers with other donations to help people in need.

There is an efficiency in their workflow that lets Golden (front) shoe the fronts while Halvorsrod handles the hinds. After they finish nailing up the horse, Colvin (back) will finish the feet.

7:37 a.m. It is quick to see why Golden gives a lot of the credit to his team. They get right to work with two horses in the cross-ties. There is a very efficient division of labor among the three farriers. Colvin handles the shoe pulling, finishing and cutting pads. Golden typically will trim and shoe the fronts, while Halvorsrod does the hinds. Plus, either can trade duties for the other farrier if needed.

“You tend to see more of the issues with the fronts,” Golden says, adding that his partner is better at shoeing the hinds. “My strengths are his weaknesses, and his strengths are my weaknesses. That’s how you make a great team.

“He does things differently than I do, which I welcome. Often, when I have guys cover new horses for me in Kentucky, they will ask me how I would shoe the horse. I’ll say, ‘However you would shoe him.’ I won’t expect them to shoe like me, because if they did, they wouldn’t be successful. You have to shoe the way that you are comfortable. I feel that if I fly to New York from Florida but you drive to New York, what does it matter as long as we’re at the same place. Now if you end up in Maine, we’re going to have a problem.”

Golden tries to keep his horses on a 4-week schedule, which can prove difficult during show season. He says it is imperative to help trainers and veterinarians understand the need to stay on that cycle, especially considering many of the horses with conformational defects.

Trimming the foot, Golden says the 4-week shoeing cycle is ideal for maintaining horses that are conformationally challenged.

“By the end of the 4-week cycle on those particular horses, their bodies will work against their feet,” he says. “And then the further they get in their shoeing cycle, the more stress they’ll put on their hoof capsule and joints. They’ll become more susceptible to injury. Four weeks seems to work because you have enough foot to work with, but usually it isn’t long enough for horses — especially those that are conformationally challenged — to be at risk for soft tissue injuries.

“There is a difference between shoeing performance horses and clinical horses,” he says. “Sometimes these horses need to get out and perform and you don’t have the luxury of time on your hands.”

Communicating with trainers and owners can prove difficult in the management of conformational issues. For example, they may purchase a horse because “it jumped well,” but conformation wasn’t a concern. This presents tremendous issues for the farrier to overcome.

“I have to explain to them that there are some things that I can’t fix, but I can only maintain them,” he says.

Working with a junior member like Colvin or even a seasoned partner like Halvorsrod can be tough with high-end clients, as some of them expect the lead farrier to do all the work with the horses. But for your business to succeed, you need to demonstrate your confidence in your team to help those clients accept that this is how you run your practice.

“It’s hard for those clients to break that model,” he says. “But you look for those opportunities to put your helpers underneath the horse so they can start building a rapport with the client. By doing so, you’ll get them comfortable with your team, so it will help you when you can’t get to a barn and need them to go in your place. It’s my responsibility to let the owner know that I wouldn’t let them under the horse if I didn’t think they were capable.” Golden also adds that he won’t put any of his guys under horses where the odds are against the horses from staying sound long.

“Not that my guys can’t do the work, but it is that if something happens, I want it to fall on me,” he says. “This is another way to get your clients to trust your help. If something were to go wrong, it wouldn’t be their fault — it is just time that the horse has had it. If it goes lame or has a soft tissue injury and one of my guys had worked on it, the client may question why I didn’t shoe it.”

8:23 a.m. It’s a flurry of activity for the farriers. Halvorsrod is working on the hinds on one horse, while Golden is trimming the forefeet on the other. He mentions that the horse suffered a suspensory ligament injury a few months prior and is now getting back into work.

Working on the left hind, Halvorsrod mentions that he’ll reset the egg bar. Asked if that is the preferred solution for the horses, Golden says it works with this particular horse, but there is never a one-size-fits-all solution.

Golden says the margin of error for performance horse farriers at this level is minimal, so he is constantly reviewing the horse and his work.

His shoe being an extension of his trim, Golden hot fits most of his horses.

“You have to treat every horse as an individual,” Golden notes. “They are all different and the horse will tell you what it needs. There are some horses with suspensory issues that I wouldn’t dare put an egg bar on them.”

Golden says it can be a danger when articles promote a solution, but the vet or farrier who read it think every horse facing that issue should be shod a certain way. He states his “90%” rule. That isn’t meant to be an exact percentage, just a reminder that nothing about shoeing will work in 100% of the cases.

“The number one rule of shoeing is that there is no number one rule,” he says. “I have what I call my 90% rule — that there are circumstances when 90% of the time this one thing will work for me. But there is always the horse that will make a donkey out of you. Again, let the horse tell you what it needs — examine its conformation. Nobody can shoe the horse better than the horse.”

Golden finishes trimming the right forefoot and then continues his point cautioning farriers to think maintaining rather than fixing.

“Anybody can take something out of whack and make it straight, but keeping it there is the hard part. Not just for 4 weeks, but over the entire history.”

9:13 a.m. The farriers have switched horses, with Golden moving to the forefeet of the other horse and Halvorsrod trimming the hinds. Golden rasps the foot and opts for a new pair of Werkman Warrior shoes for the horse. He likes these shoes for jumpers, but also uses a variety of Kerckhaerts for open heel shoes.

As he hot shapes the shoe on his Scott Mini Boy, he mentions the need to constantly evaluate your work and adapt.

“As farriers, we’re always changing up something, trying to raise our game,” he says. “If you ask any of them if they’re shoeing the same way as last year or maybe 5 years ago, and they say ‘yes,’ they either haven’t been shoeing that long or are lying. We all try to master different techniques or put our own spin on something we read or were shown.”

Nailing on the shoe and a leather pad, he notes one thing that he has changed up in the past year is his starting position.

“When I go to shoe a horse, I’d always look at the toe as my go-to spot, but now I look more at the back third of the foot,” he says. “Once that area gets compromised and changes, you can help it and make it stronger, but you rarely can get it back to its original shape. Then you are in the area of needing to maintain it and not letting it become worse off.”

Colvin finishes the feet and brushes them with hoof sealant.

“There are a lot of guys that can finish a foot and make it look pretty, but there is so much more than that,” notes Golden. “Personally, I’d rather have a horse shod right than not have the finish be that great. However, this is something that these types of clients expect. It doesn’t look bad and doesn’t hurt the horse, so why not.

Golden (second from right) credits (left to right) his apprentice Joel Colvin, partner Clint Halvorsrod and Wade LaShells as keys to his success.

10:17 a.m. The farriers continue their balancing act with two more horses. Golden will trim the fronts on both horses, while Halvorsrod takes care of the others. After trimming the foot, Golden nails on the front right shoe and pad on the jumper. The gelding has excellent feet and is shod with open heel front shoes with full leather pads.

Colvin will squirt Allen’s Blue Powder and Equi-Pak under the pad to give the horse some support. The copper sulfate-based powder will make sure that any bacteria don’t encumber the foot.

Moving on to the other horse, Golden trims the fronts. After every pair of feet they trim, Golden or one of his associates is quick to pick up a broom and sweep. They are meticulous about keeping the area tidy and will leave it in the same shape they found it.

“If I’m constantly trying to keep an eye on the horse and evaluate it, then if there is debris piled up, I won’t be seeing what I want to accurately,” he says.

Liability is an important point too, reminds Golden. A third point for him is respect for the clients.

“It is just common courtesy. You’re on someone else’s barn, so you should have respect for their property. They give you a nice place to work, you should treat it as such,” he adds. “If you do that, your clients will respect you more.”

10:33 a.m. As Colvin brings out the fifth horse of the day, Golden watches it, noting how it was landing laterally on the front right foot.

After the shoes are pulled and he begins trimming the foot, Golden discusses reading the foot.

“The first thing I look at is symmetry,” he says. “I look at the heels, the widest part of the frog, any deviations in the ankles.

Reading and analyzing conformation comes up in some form as we discuss each horse. Among everyone’s books there are always some horses that have particularly challenging conformation, other soft tissue problems usually prevail.

For cases like these, Golden likes to block out the occasional day where he can spend significant, uninterrupted time with the horse, maybe making a few pairs of shoes if necessary. You must focus, because when you often are dealing with more than one problem at a time, Golden says you’re riding a fence.

“You can go too much in one direction and you’ll aggravate a problem, but too much the other way and you’ll aggravate the other problem. So it is important that we perform a juggling act,” he says.

“You have the best of the best working here. You have to constantly push yourself to stay on top, which means looking at every detail. The slightest thing can mean so much in the show ring to the horse or rider. Your margin of error as a farrier is minimal.”

Golden warns that doesn’t mean being a perfectionist, though.

“Perfectionists are never happy — but you should strive for perfection.”

11:17 a.m. Colvin finishes the hinds on another horse, takes the gelding from the cross-ties and walks him down the barn aisle. As they watch the horse walk away and then come back, Golden discusses his thoughts.

“When you watch him go, he’ll walk nice and straight, but one foot grows with more heel than the other. When he walks on the left front, he hits hard on his heel,” he says.

“So again, I think more now about the back third of the foot. What should I consider with the mechanics or the grind of the shoe, as the shoe is an extension of my trim? Slow down — the more you look at it, the more you’ll see and analyze. In the long run, this will save you time.”

Golden goes back under the other horse and nails on the front left shoe. He then fits the right fore shoe, noting that he’s a little long on the shoe’s lateral heel, so he takes it to the rig to grind off some of the length.

“Will it make that big of a difference? With some horses, yes, but others, no,” he says. “But I’m paying attention to it because I’m looking more at the back of the foot.

Golden will often cut a V pad for his jumpers. A technique he likes when placing Equi-Pak Soft under the pad is to secure the pad to the shoe with two nails. He can remove the nails from the pad and shoe, as the Equi-Pak will hold it into place.

“Like I said, the margin of error is so small, so that is what motivates me to find the pieces of the puzzle that are missing.”

12:15 p.m. We arrive at the next barn, where the farriers resume their duties. Generally, Golden will put a nail on each side and then put the foot down.

“I want to see where I’m at and engage my clips lightly where they need to be,” he says. “As you can see, I like to look at things. I’d much rather just take a couple of nails out if I had to pull the shoe.”

Golden says that synthetic surfaces over the past 5 to 10 years still present a learning curve for farriers.

“It is one more thing that can be tricky,” he says. “When a horse lands on synthetic footing, there’s no slide phase on the front end. It is another balancing act. It is the other way around in grass.”

1:12 p.m. Golden moves over to the other horse to trim its feet. He notes that for a big-footed warmblood like this it’s about as close as he might come to making a shoe rather than working a keg shoe. He does ornamental blacksmithing, including gates, various artwork and a slick set of chairs in his home shaped from horseshoes.

As he secures the pad to the shoe, Golden mentions a trick that was taught to him by Connecticut farrier John Favicchia. When using Equi-Pak Soft, instead of riveting the pad to the shoe through the fourth nail hole, he’ll secure it with two nails and then snip off the excess nail.

“You just snip it and then grind the foot surface so it doesn’t dig into the foot,” he says. “Once you nail the shoe and pad onto the foot, and then put in the Equi-Pak, you could then take those pad nails out because the Equi-Pak will hold the foot and pad. If you have a foot that is pretty torn up, this is a good way to take care of it.

Should the horse pull the shoe, it probably won’t take the pad and packing with it. Then the groom can wrap the foot until the farrier can come back.

The use of the leather V pad is a technique Golden likes.

“A pad should serve to help provide a good solid foundation on your horse so that they don’t wear out their sole or make their foot weak,” he says. “My personal preference is a V pad and painting the foot with Venice turpentine and copper sulfate. It is like an exoskeleton for the sole. I like this because it conforms to the foot and minimal sand gets underneath.”

1:52 p.m. After taking back a horse, the groom brings out a horse that lost its shoe. There’s no damage to the foot, so the task falls to Colvin to tack it on. LaShells joins us after finishing his horses. Not one to stand around, he puts on an apron and gets to work.

Golden enjoys having the third–
generation shoer join them. He’s always ready for another set of eyes.

“I have lots of friends who are phenomenal horseshoers, so if I can spend a day or afternoon with them, or if they are slow and want to ride with me, there is a lot that we can learn,” he adds.

Drew Golden and his team pride themselves on a professional approach to their work, including efficient workflow and maintaining a clean work area.

3:18 p.m. With four farriers working together and no surprises, they whip through the final two horses. All the horses here are done in short time. The day is done too, at least for Golden and me. There is one more stop, but Halvorsrod and Colvin can handle that. Golden would be happy to go, but I need to catch a flight, so we head back to his place.

Each team member cleans up and leaves the barn as Golden’s professional trademark clean like he and his crew hadn’t been there. This was a fairly typical day for Golden — at least when he’s working a full one with Halvorsrod.

“We’ll usually try to do the numbers when working together,” says Golden. “He’s definitely an effective, efficient shoeing machine.

“We’re here for the horses. They have a pule and they feel pain. We love our craft, and each of us cares for our horses.”

Again, having a team he trusts — and that the clients do as well — makes this possible. I don’t think Golden minds. He can spend the extra time with family and then music. Not a bad way to wrap up this “Shoeing For A Living” day.

March 2017 Issue Contents