Hammer And Tongs Farriers Compete In Red-Hot Horseshoe Competition At The Fair

A staccato of hammers on steel rang out against the constant roar of three dozen forges at the North Idaho Fair Saturday.

Blacksmiths from around the region were racing against time to forge four horseshoes, each with particular specifications.

It was just one of several contests in the three-day Inland Northwest Horseshoeing and Blacksmithing Competition.

They used the tools that have endured centuries; an anvil, a hammer, fire and muscle.

About the only major differences are that modern forges are fueled with propane instead of coals, and the steel comes in pre-measured “blanks.”

“We can now buy bar stock in the dimension we want,” explained judge Tom Wolfe of the Montana State University Horseshoe School. “In the past, we had to hammer everything down.”

Contestant Jeff Hampton of Medical Lake plucked a glowing red shoe from his forge with a pair of long tongs and almost threw it on his anvil. He quickly positioned the shoe so he could punch nail holes in it.

He tapped the pliable steel level and measured to check the size, then tossed it back in the forge and grabbed the next shoe.

Wolfe, surveying the smiths at work, said picking a winner could be tough.

“There’s some good work here,” he said. “It might come down to nails fitting in every hole just right. Or it could come down to hammer marks on a shoe.”

Jake Berreth, a farrier of 37 years, sat out the forging championship, choosing instead to compete in shoeing.

“We don’t do that every day in our job,” Berreth explained. In his business, he uses mostly ready-made “keg” shoes that he typically fits to a horse cold.

“When it’s 100 degrees out, I don’t want to use that forge,” he said. “That’s too hot.”

Horseshoeing has more than its share of discomforts. In past run-ins with his hefty clients, Berreth’s suffered a broken knee, two broken elbows and two broken ribs.

Then there are those lazy horses that just want to use the farrier as a fourth leg, and the uppity ones that try to shake off the farrier.

“You get one of those horses that weigh a ton, and if they want to wallow you around, they’ll wallow you around,” Berreth said.

While Berreth prefers not to work the forge, it still has a place in modern horseshoeing.

Every so often, a horse has a special need or a problem hoof that requires a handmade shoe.

Wolfe estimates that’s about 10 percent of the time.

“If you’re trying to make a living, that’s quite a bit, and that might be the thing that gets you more work,” he said.

The competition continues today at the fair with team horseshoeing at 10 a.m. and potluck forging at 1 p.m.

In team shoeing, farriers work together to fit a horse with hand-forged shoes.

In potluck forging, the farriers will take a piece of steel drawn at random and forge it into a piece of art.

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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE FAIR The North Idaho Fair in Coeur d’Alene ends today. Gates open at 11 a.m.