Legacy Forge LLC

04/03/2023

As some of you know I have been out of reach due to my beautiful wife being admitted to the hospital last Tuesday. We were discharged this afternoon and are on our way home to rest and continue to recover. I am planning to get everyone caught up in the next few days. Thank you all for your patience and prayers during this time. It has been an emotional roller coaster. But the doctors feel confident that she is well on her way to complete healing. We are so thankful to God for all He has done and blessed us with during this time of turmoil. Our foundation in Him is firm and unshaken. He is our fortress and our shield.

01/15/2023

Newer horse on the books this week. Coming out of a suspensory surgery shoe.

11/28/2021

When a farrier asks if your horse stands, these are some of the reasons why.

Every close call I have had with a horse has been with one that someone has said something like “I promise he stands” or “He’s an angel to pick up his feet” or “She loves farrier day”. Shortly after agreeing to work on these horses I usually end up flying through the air, or rolling down an aisle way, or worse, under said horse getting stomped on.

When your horse(s) do not stand to have their feet worked on, this is not a farriers problem. It is yours as an owner. Teaching horses to stand is a process, and while I (and most farriers) will help with the process when a horse is young and truly learning it. But when your 15 yr old half breed kill pen rescue doesn’t stand because you are to scared to pick up its feet and train it, please do not expect us to “cowboy up” or “do it because that’s what i pay you for”. You pay your farriers for a professional service of maintaining your horses feet.

We are not trainers.

We are not there to train your horses to stand.

We are there as a farrier, and personally I will walk away before jeopardizing my career and ability to provide for my family.

Protect your farriers by being honest about your horses, by training your horses, and by providing a safe work environment.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

10/12/2021

“Back, saddle, teeth all okay”.

As I was about to fall asleep last night, I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a post about someone asking for advice when their horse quite dramatically stops and drops their head after jumping and cantering, also refusing fences.

Maybe I’m in a bubble, floating around and surrounded by passionate followers and clients who are intuitive and open minded about learning more to improve the happiness and comfort of their horses.

But I was so heartbroken to read the “advice”.
Short grass reins. Keep her forward. Hold her up. More leg. Draw reins. Ride defensively. Ride through it. The horse has learnt to get you off, you have to win the battle. Give her a good pony club kick and smack, she won’t do it again. Put a man or good tough rider on her.

If this is the “advice” we are dishing out, how on earth are we meant to get anywhere with our horses!? This is by no means discrediting anyone, but it does raise questions as to our traditional, standardised approaches.

And the standard “all clear back, saddle teeth”. Okay… but have you considered the horses neck, ligaments, muscles… parts of the anatomy that are not the back? Is your therapist adequately qualified and regulated by a governing body? The saddle - have you had a second opinion? Is your girth correct? How recently was this saddle checked? Is your saddler adequately qualified? And teeth - the same thing, is your EDT qualified? Does your horse need to be seen more regularly?

And what about mares and hormones? Digestive discomfort? Farriery? Previous bad experiences? Any other factors to attribute the behaviour to.

There is a difference between a horse being cleared from back, saddle and teeth… and a horse being comprehensively assessed by a team.

So if you are finding yourself at a cross roads with your horse, please please please exhaust all medical avenues before attempting to “ride through it”. I see far too many horses on the brink of breaking mentally and physically, particularly horses that have been sold and the new owner is left to pick up the pieces.

There were some really important comments on the post, with some people picking up on this. However, lines are blurred. Let’s not belittle behaviour and overlook it’s importance - let’s listen to our horses and respond ✨

Photo by Daydream Equine Art ♥️

06/30/2021

06/19/2021

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫
𝚆𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙, 𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚖 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙿𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚎𝚍, 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍.
𝙲𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚞𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚜.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝, 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐.

“𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎” 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 - 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚙 𝚗𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚙 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚜, 𝟷,𝟸𝟶𝟶𝚕𝚋 𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚠.

𝙹𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜.
𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜. 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎 “𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚢” 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚜.
𝚄𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜.

𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚜. 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎.

𝙲𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 - 𝙲𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗. 𝙱𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎 - 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎. 𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 - 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚙 - 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 - 𝙱𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚗𝚊𝚒𝚕 - 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 - 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝. 𝙳𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 - 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

𝙵𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔. 𝙱𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚞𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚎.

“𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞.” 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜.

𝙴𝚢𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕, 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑, 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.

𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝? 𝚂𝚌𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜. 𝙳𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜. 𝚈𝚘𝚞? 𝙼𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.

𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎. 𝙳𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜. 𝚅𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜, 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚜... “𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎.”

𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝙽𝚘 - 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞? 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚌.

𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎. 𝙶𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚜.

𝙳𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚓𝚎𝚛𝚔-𝚢𝚘𝚞-𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐-𝚘𝚗-𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛-𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚜.

𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝙵𝚎𝚠 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚢𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚜. 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚒𝚛.

𝙾𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝟹𝟹. 𝙽𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑. 𝙰𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜.

𝙷𝚎’𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 - 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜. 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙴𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝, 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚐, 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 - 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝙰 𝚖𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝚀𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙳𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚕𝚎. 𝙿𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎.

𝙰 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 - “𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚎𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗.”

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚜𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛. 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎.

𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚓𝚘𝚋.

𝚁𝚞𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢. 𝚂𝚊𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚋𝚢𝚎. 𝙶𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎.

𝚆𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙, 𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚖 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐...

- 𝘣𝘺 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘻

06/17/2021

As the summer heat ramps up and the flies are out in full force, it’s little girls with unconditional love for their ponies that keep you smiling

03/21/2021

Huge thank you to all of the sponsors that donated prizes and auction items at the Compete For The Kids contest in Pennsylvania this weekend. Thank you to those who gave me advice on the shoes I had never built before. Thank you to those shoe help me better myself as a farrier and a person every time I see them. Thank you to Chris for putting on an awesome contest. Thank you To my friends that showed up to watch. And to my friends who texted me and wished me luck. And last but not least Thank you to my wife for her constant support when I decide to go out of town on a whim to a contest or clinic.