Tony Bucci has been the official farrier for shows in Lake Placid, N.Y., for around 20 years. He sets up shop at the North Elba Show Grounds, a small and open-sided building that remains one of the only permanent buildings on the grounds.

Based in Wellington, Fla., Bucci travels to work at shows across the states. He brings 45 years of experience to the ring.

Shows must have a farrier on hand, so Bucci works under contract. At the shows, he shoes on a routine and emergency basis — from regular shoeing to addressing lameness. He also gets called if a horse loses a shoe just before it is supposed to show.

“I’ll get ring calls, and that’s my main priority,” Bucci told the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

He says that clients’ familiarity with him has kept him working.

“The other shows I do, like the Hamptons and stuff, it’s the same horses, same people,” Bucci says. “That helps me to keep working because they know me, they’re comfortable with me.

“A lot of times a guy will pick up a show and they’ll be sitting there doing nothing. It’s a matter of familiarity.”