ON JULY 12, a small group of elite farriers from around the world will gather on a stage in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, each standing in front of his nation’s flag.

WHEN IT COMES to expanding your shoemaking skills, nothing beats what you can learn by being part of this year’s Calgary Stampede Mail-In Forging Exercise.

IN AN INDUSTRY as mature as farriery, landscape-changing technologies don’t come along every day.

HOOF GAUGES ARE a little bit like seat belts.

FARRIERS WILL HAVE the opportunity to see how their forging skills rate compared to those of their shoeing peers from around the world during this summer’s Mail-In Forging Exercise at the 2004 World Championship Blacksmiths’ Competition in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

THIS YEAR THE folks at Calgary have thrown a really fun shoe into the Calgary Mail-In Forging Exercise.

WHY SHOULD A farrier choose to arc weld rather than use a gas welder?