Farriers flock to Ipswich for Spring championships
More than 40 farriers descended on Trinity Park, Ipswich, on 2-3 March for the annual Eastern Counties Spring Championship.
Although only in its second year, this championship, organised by the Suffolk Agricultural Association, with more than £1,800 up for grabs and medals from the Worshipful Company of Farriers, is proving a draw.
The major class of the championship was the open hunter shoeing class, which was won by Jay Tovey (pictured) from Bedfordshire, who narrowly beat Steve Fisher from East Sussex to the £500 prize.
Mr Tovey said: “A 50-minute hunter class is always tough, but even more so at the start of the competition season as there’s no room for any error.”
Third year apprentice Dan Rabin from Powys was a double winner, taking the apprentice shoemaking (3rd & 4th Years) and apprentice therapeutic classes with Dan Hawkins from Devon taking the third apprentice crown in the class for 1st & 2nd Years.
See below for the full results.
A special training day was held on the Friday, with a masterclass in tool making and maintenance skills by Dorset-based farrier Andrew Reader-Smith.
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David Nunn from Suffolk Agricultural Association said: “We are very pleased the whole weekend was such an outstanding success.
“This event comes at the end of two years of planning and hard work. The number of competitors in farriery have grown dramatically over the last year and I think this is just the beginning of many more successful training and competition days for the future.”
He thanked the sponsors: AJN Steelstock Ltd, Handmade Shoes (UK) Ltd, Mustad and Otley College for providing the horses for the open hunter shoeing class.
Further farriery competitions, training days and events are planned for this year, including a pre-diploma mock exam day on 14 April and the Suffolk Show farriery competitions on 7-8 June.
Full details of all future events will be available on the Farriery at Trinity Park facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Farriery-at-Trinity-Park/278165758917539.
Results:
Open hunter shoeing
1st – Jay Tovey DipWCF
2nd – Steve Fisher DipWCF
3rd – Ben Casserly DipWCF
4th – Andrew Casserly AWCF
Best foot – Jay Tovey DipWCF
Best dressed foot – Ben Casserly DipWCF
Best specimen shoe – Steve Fisher DipWCF
Therapeutic
1st – William O’Shaughnessy AWCF
2nd – Harry Garner DipWCF
3rd – Jay Tovey DipWCF
4th – Ben Casserly DipWCF
Apprentice shoemaking (1st & 2nd years)
1st – Dan Hawkins
2nd – Joe Welling
3rd – Mike Butterworth
4th – Ryan Ellis
Apprentice shoemaking (3rd & 4th years)
1st – Dan Rabin
2nd – Charlie Cerullo
3rd – Sammy O’Gara
4th – Tom Newham
Apprentice therapeutic
1st – Dan Rabin
2nd – Sammy O’Gara
3rd – James Gant
4th – Nathan Salter
Eagle Eye
1st – Steve Fisher DipWCF
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.