OLDS, Alta. – Beads of sweat drip off Art Gallais’s nose. His face is flushed from the heat rising off red hot steel. His mouth is dry and his hands feel the ring of the hammer.
The Olds College farrier instructor has just spent 90 minutes heating, pounding and bending a piece of iron into a perfectly fitted horseshoe as part of trial for the national blacksmith team.
This kind of punishment is what blacksmiths do for fun.
Sixteen blacksmiths participated in this year’s tryout at the college for a place on the national team that will compete at an annual international competition in Stoneleigh, England this August. It is a prestigious event where farriers from at least 10 countries compete annually for the title of world’s best blacksmith.
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Competitors must successfully make six horseshoes in different styles and put two of them on a horse. All events are timed.
The four-person team selected for this year consists of Ed Bowerman of British Columbia, Adam McQueen of Ontario, Nathan Powell and Tom Kindjerski of Alberta. Debbie Reiman of Vancouver was selected as the team alternate and will travel with the rest of the team.
Gallais chairs the committee that runs the Calgary Stampede international competition, which offers more money and doesn’t require entrants to qualify. The two contests are similar and it brings out some talented farriers.
“It’s a tight-knit community. I know people in 12 different countries,” Gallais said.
He is co-ordinator of the farrier science program at the college and is a former member of the national team.
He is an Olds College graduate and joined as an instructor in 1974. Each year, 16 students are accepted out of about 40 applicants. Most are inexperienced hopefuls between the ages of 19 and 23.
“If you don’t start when you’re younger, your body won’t accept it. It just blows your back,” Gallais said.
The course runs for four months and then the students work with a farrier for the same length of time before returning for further instruction at the college.
They learn horse shoeing, horse anatomy and business skills.
