EQUESTRIAN Hayley working alongside her daughter
Hayley Foy – Female Farrier A Farrier will also learn about remedial shoeing: “I like the remedial side of it all” says Hayley “working with out of balance horses, solving problems, sometimes even making lame horses sound.”
Hayley Foy is a 36 year old female farrier from West Dorset. Having completed a four and half year apprenticeship with well known Abbotsbury farrier Ian Marchant, Hayley qualified in 2006 and now has her own business. Farriers specialise in what happens from the knee down on a horse, learning the bones of the foot, how the hoof grows and how to trim and shape hooves. Then of course the different types of shoes, and how to correctly shoe different horses with particular jobs - a racehorse will have very different shoe needs to a working heavy horse.
very determined - showing that whatever sex you are you can do it. Being successful in a job that you love has it’s prblems though “I love shoeing horses so much it took me a very long time to work out how I could still be a farrier and have a baby!” In November 2020 Hayley had her first child, managing to shoe very sensible calm horses nearly to the end of her pregnancy thanks to some help from a great farrier friend who would go out shoeing with her.
“Now I’m a mum and a farrier, I “I shoe all just needed to get very organised different with how to fit it all in. types of But it is so great to be able to be horses from Shires to Shetlands, shoeing with my baby sleeping lots of show in the van, jumpers, “I love shoeing horses happily eventers, watching in so much it took me a the yard or hunters and happy very long time to work going on a hackers. out how I could still be a walk. I’ll be Whatever until farrier and have a baby!” flexible the horse, she is ready to it is always go to nursery so important to make sure for a few hours and I can get they are moving as straight as back to shoeing a few more possible. This is done through horses in a day!” foot balance, and supporting the Farrier or Blacksmith? whole leg not just the hoof. Historically, the jobs of farrier I feel very passionate about and blacksmith were practically this, and really enjoy working synonymous. A farrier’s work in with local vets to sort out hoof problems. pre-Industrial Revolution Europe would have included shoeing Over the years Hayley has built horses, as well as the fabrication up a great client list purely and repair of tools and so on. through word of mouth - she Modern-day farriers specialise in hasn’t ever had to advertise, and horseshoeing, focusing their time has no website or social media. and effort on the care of the horse’s hoof. For this reason, farriers and Being a female in a man’s world blacksmiths are considered to be in has always just made Hayley separate, though related, trades.
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