Submitted by Ashley Gasky, 2014 Team Easyboot Member
Thanks to the American Association of Professional Farriers Mentor-Mentee program I’ve been able to work with seventh generation farrier Timothy Cable, APF.
Tim began his farrier career at 13 years old, apprenticing for his father, just as the previous generations of Cable shoers had. He has a large client base of Standardbred race horses, as well as dressage horses and Show Jumpers all over the United States and Canada.
Tim and Hall of Fame Blacksmith Red Renchin
The Cable family is responsible for awe inspiring pieces of blacksmithing, and the horses they’ve shod have found success in any discipline you can think. Succinctly, they are a very skilled group of professionals.
Chrome Horse Shoes crafted by Phillip Cable
My business, Precision Hoof Care focuses primarily on non-metal horse shoes, effective glue techniques, and healthy bare hooves. I’ve been successful at what I do, selected as an EasyBoot Elite team member for Tevis 2015, but I am always looking to learn new things.
In developing a Mentor-Mentee relationship with Tim, I sought to learn about ‘how the other half lives’, that is to say, farrier fundamentals and blacksmithing. I’ve had the opportunity to visit world class Equine facilities in Connecticut and Florida as part of the arrangement, meet world class professional horsemen and hall of fame farriers. I have a video gallery of forging techniques I’m years away from attempting, and several notebooks filled with hints and wisdom to show for the experience. Throughout this, I’ve even done a bit of teaching myself. I had the opportunity to introduce him to Easyboots and EasyShoes.
You see, Tim is something of an innovator, and has been using non-traditional tools and techniques in his every day shoeing for a long time. For example he designed an attachment for his shoeing caddy to simplify the process of gluing on horseshoes.
It’s been very exciting for me to watch someone so steeped in tradition, with blacksmithing engrained from a young age, nail on a pair of Performance N/G‘s, measure a hoof for accurate fit of an Easyboot Glove, or shape glue on EasyShoe Competes at his anvil.
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Traditional steel and aluminum horse shoes certainly have a place, and so do the professionals who use them exclusively. However, seeing how readily Tim and his clients accepted the change in shoeing material gives me hope for an open minded future. I am just as excited to learn how to move metal as I am to watch alternative hoof wear go mainstream. The market for these products is growing and the horses using them are succeeding.
It is not always a pleasant journey when you are swimming against the current. Perhaps some of you can relate. Therefore it is important to celebrate victories and accomplishments no matter how small. I helped a talented farrier find tools to help certain horses in his care. These small steps are what I believe to be the seeds of change, germinating towards a bright future for horses and healthy hooves. For me, that is what it is all about!
