UK farriers triumph at European Championships

UK farriers took top honours at the European Farrier Championship earlier this month.

Sixty farriers from 15 nations headed to Bordeaux for the championships on 5-7 February to test their forging and shoeing skills.

Scottish farrier David Varini from Ayrshire secured the title of European Champion Farrier 2010.

“To compete at the European Championships is a fantastic opportunity and to win is even better,” he said. “It is particularly nerve wracking when you have so many good farriers competing alongside you. I am extremely happy.”

And current World Champion, Steven Beane from Yorkshire, was reserve.

On the final day of the championship 12 farriers were tested on shoemaking and shoeing

The shoemaking involved the forging of two therapeutic shoes in just one hour. The shoeing required them to trim, fit and make a front and hind three-quarter fullered shoe from straight bar stock with them both nailed on in one hour

Team manager, Jim Blurton added: “This is a fantastic achievement for David and Steven and UK farriers as a whole. As a nation we consistently achieve excellent results at the Europeans and the World Championships in Calgary. The standard of farriery is particularly high and constantly improving which will obviously benefit the horses we shoe.”

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