Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

(coco) #1
Military farrier

TheHouseholdCavalry’sLanceCorporalofHorse

AdamCooperonAfghanistanandworkingforTheQueen

Jouster
Dominic Sewell

NEXT
WEEK

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Asa childI probablydidn’teven
knowwhata farrierwas—I had
nothingtodowithhorsesbefore
I joinedthearmyafterschool,at
theageof16.Afterbasictraining
inHarrogateI onlydecidedtojoin
theHouseholdCavalrybecause
it wasbasedincentralLondon,
whichis obviouslya niceplaceto
live,andoneofmygoodfriends
wasgoingthere,too.

ForthreeyearsI worked
intheHydeParkBarracks,
Knightsbridge,asa trooper,
andthenI wentofftothe
armouredregimentinWindsor,
whichis whenI didtwotours
ofAfghanistan.I domissthe
excitementofbeingawayontour
andonexercises—I lovedthefear
of the unknown, whether it was

parachutingwiththeItalianarmy
orcommandinga CVR(T)[form
oftank]throughthedesert.But
themajorityoftheforgehavealso
servedinAfghanistan,andsowe
sharestoriesovera beerortwo.

I havebeena farrierwiththe
HouseholdCavalryMounted
Regimentforfiveyearsnow.
WiththisjobI knowwhatI’m
doingdaytodaysoit’sperfectfor
spendingtimewithmyfamily.
I chosethefarrieryrouteasit’s
goodtrainingif youeverdecide
toleavethearmy.Thereare
definitelyeasieroptionswithin
thearmy,butI likethehardwork
andthelatenightsinthe forge.

Thearmyfarriery
apprenticeshipisthree-and-
a-halfyearslong,duringwhich
timeyoualsocontinuewith
normalmilitaryduties,suchas
fitnesstestsandstateoccasions,
soit canbestressful.Attheend
oftheapprenticeshipyou
sitthediplomatestat
theArmySchoolof
Farriery in Melton

Picture by Peter Nixon

Mowbray;if youpassyouthen
workintheforgeinKnightsbridge
asa fullyqualifiedfarrier.

Themostchallengingpartof
thejobisthenumberofhorses
intheregiment.Thereare
around 260 horsesandthey’re
alwaysoutontheroadinLondon,
whichmeansthatbetweenthe
ninefarriershereit’sa never-
endingcycleofshoeing.Because
they’rereallybig,heavy horses
itmeansthey
chewthrough
theirshoes
prettyquickly.
Wehaveone
thathasto
beshodevery
twoweeks,but
roughlytheygo
foraboutfive
weeks.

Ifa horseislame,thevetwill
tellyouwhat’swrongwiththe
horseandyouhavetoshoefor
thatcondition,whichI thinkis
whereyougetthesatisfaction.You
havetotakeintoconsideration
thehorse’sconformationandits
footfall,soit canbetricky.It’snot
justa caseofgettinga shoehot
andnailingit on.Butwhenyoudo
fixa problem,it’sthebestfeeling.

Weusuallysendoutabout
120 horsesfora holidayat
theDefenceAnimalTraining
RegimentinMeltonMowbray
atonetime,andsoovera couple
ofdaystheyallneedtohavetheir
shoesoff,andfeettrimmed.And
whentheycomebackinforthe
ceremonialseasonwithThe
Queen’sBirthdayParade,wewill
haveaboutthreeorfour days to
shoethemallagain.

I haveriddenonplentyofstate
visitsandoccasions,suchas
TroopingtheColourandtheState
OpeningofParliament—
asa farrieryourideattheback
oftheparadewitha poleaxe.
I enjoyputtingonthe
ceremonialuniform,
andyoufeelan
enormoussenseof
pridebeinginthe
publiceyeandin
frontoftheRoyal
family.H&H
●Astoldto
Madeleine Silver

‘Thereareeasieroptions,

butI likethehardwork

and late nights at the forge’

16 Horse& Hound1 August 2019

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