HORSES NEED SHOES JUST LIKE YOU DO
(Josh Twomey…FARRIER)
alan skeoch
august 2018
No good reason why a city bred person would want to read this story. Unless the reader is curious and likes to see and read something extraordinary.
This is a story about Josh Twomey…a farrier. Josh spends his days motoring from horse stable to horse stable across Southern England in his truck which is loaded with brand new shoes for horses. And he has a tub full of cast off horseshoes which he gives to kids who watch him. Blacksmith are supposed to be older men with big beards and tobacco stained teeth, gnarled hands, perhaps bad limps. Limping caused a kick from a horse who did not like nails pounded into his or her foot. Surprise. Josh is 24 years old and has been shoeing horses since he was sixteen. He has a smile that goes from ear to ear. And the confidence that horses understand. He does not limp.
On a hot July afternoon, we watched Josh at work as he shod Nolan Skeoch’s horse , Mello.
Josh Twomeys…Farrier (Blacksmith)
Gabriela Skeoch, Horsewoman
Horse stables attract eccentric people. Good people. This young lady for instance is a horse rescuer. She has rescued three racehorses. Perhaps you did not know that racehorses who lose
their races ultimately are discarded. Some slaughtered. A few are rescued and become family pets like this one.
I have lived around horses all my life. That does not mean I trust them. Mello is kissing me in this picture but I
feared he was getting ready to take a chunk out of the back of my neck. I am not a hero.
Asj Josh got his tools ready, the horses began to assemble. They need new shoes every six months. Better shod than I am. The horse above is a male…perhaps a gelding but certainly a male. Or did
you notice. The stable owner brought us all cups of tea.
Josh set up his anvil while Marjorie washed up the dishes in the fancy stable kitchen.
A rescued racehorse name “Lucky”…my name for the horse.
Just in case you saw the pomp and circumstance when Prince Andrew recently got married. Lots of horses. Fancy horses. Our horse stable
was somewhat less than fancy as the picture above testifies. This is not Buckingham Palace.
Morgan Skeoch, one of our grandchildren, is doing service as a hot walker. Horses like dogs need to be walked regularly. They
also like having a shower from a garden hose. And they also remember faces…those they like and those they don’t like.
Not sure where I fit in there.
The stable owner has these three abandoned horse stalls that I find charming. Hope they never get demolished.
Talk about being relaxed. This horse dropped a collection of ‘road apples’ while nails were being pounded into his foot. Josh pushed the pile to
the wall with his boot. Horse manure is an excellent growing medium for mushrooms. You may not know that. Years ago Marjorie and I gathered
up a huge pile of horse manure and attempted our own mushroom business. It did not work. Hope that bit of knowledge does not put you off
mushrooms.
Here Gabriela and Kevin get Mello ready for new shoes. In the distance is Morgan. And the photographer is Kevin.
Where was Nolan? Riding. Nolan Skeoch spends all her spare time at this horse stable in North London…all her time. She lives and breathes horses. She shovels out the
horse stalls every day. New bedding. Having horses means having lots to do. (Nolan on right in pic.)
Nolan with Mello doing jumps…Olympic material? Mello has new shoes…proud of them…thanks to Josh. The new shoes
sparkle as Mello and Nolan canter, gallop and JUMP.
This is just a few miles from the centre of London England…from Buckingham Palace. And yet it could be the setting for
a Thomas Hardy novel or for verdant rood in Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations. In the heart of London!
You do not believe me, I know that. I could hardly believe it myself.
There you have it. Josh Twomey, Farrier…in action in North London on a hot July afternoon.
alan skeoch