{"id":1363,"date":"2018-08-07T18:39:15","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T22:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1363"},"modified":"2018-10-28T13:49:46","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T17:49:46","slug":"horses-need-shoes-story-of-josh-twomey-farrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1363","title":{"rendered":"“HORSES NEED SHOES”” Story of Josh Twomey, Farrier"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HORSES NEED SHOES \u00a0JUST LIKE \u00a0YOU DO<\/div>\n
(Josh Twomey\u2026FARRIER)<\/div>\n
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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
august 2018<\/div>\n
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No good reason why a city bred \u00a0person would \u00a0want to read \u00a0this story. \u00a0Unless the reader is curious and likes to see and read \u00a0something extraordinary.<\/div>\n
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This \u00a0is \u00a0a \u00a0story about Josh \u00a0Twomey\u2026a \u00a0farrier. \u00a0 Josh spends his days \u00a0motoring from horse stable to horse stable across Southern \u00a0England in his truck which is \u00a0loaded \u00a0with brand \u00a0new shoes \u00a0for horses. \u00a0And \u00a0he has \u00a0a tub full of \u00a0cast off \u00a0horseshoes \u00a0which \u00a0he gives to kids \u00a0who watch him. \u00a0Blacksmith are supposed to be older men with big\u00a0 beards and \u00a0tobacco \u00a0stained \u00a0teeth, gnarled \u00a0hands, perhaps \u00a0bad \u00a0limps. \u00a0Limping \u00a0caused a kick from a horse who did not like nails \u00a0pounded \u00a0into his or her foot. \u00a0 \u00a0Surprise. \u00a0Josh is \u00a024 years old \u00a0and has been shoeing \u00a0horses since he was sixteen. \u00a0He has a smile that goes from ear to ear. \u00a0And \u00a0the confidence that horses understand. \u00a0 He does \u00a0not limp.<\/div>\n
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On a hot July afternoon, we \u00a0watched Josh \u00a0at\u00a0 work as \u00a0he shod Nolan Skeoch\u2019s \u00a0horse , Mello.<\/div>\n
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Josh Twomeys\u2026Farrier \u00a0 (Blacksmith)<\/div>\n
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Gabriela Skeoch, Horsewoman<\/div>\n
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Horse stables attract eccentric people. \u00a0Good \u00a0people. \u00a0This young lady for instance is a \u00a0horse \u00a0rescuer. \u00a0 She has rescued \u00a0three racehorses. \u00a0Perhaps \u00a0you \u00a0did not know that racehorses \u00a0who lose<\/div>\n
their races ultimately are discarded. \u00a0Some slaughtered. \u00a0A few are rescued and \u00a0become family pets \u00a0like this \u00a0one.<\/div>\n
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I have lived around \u00a0horses \u00a0all my life. \u00a0That does not mean I trust them. \u00a0Mello is \u00a0kissing \u00a0me \u00a0in this \u00a0picture but I<\/div>\n
feared he \u00a0was getting ready \u00a0to take a \u00a0chunk \u00a0out of the back of my \u00a0neck. \u00a0I \u00a0am not a hero.<\/div>\n
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Asj Josh \u00a0got his tools \u00a0ready, \u00a0the horses began to assemble. \u00a0 They need new shoes every six months. \u00a0Better shod \u00a0than \u00a0I am. \u00a0The horse above is a male\u2026perhaps a \u00a0gelding but certainly a male. \u00a0 Or did<\/div>\n
you notice. \u00a0 The stable owner brought us all cups of tea.<\/div>\n
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Josh \u00a0set up his anvil while Marjorie washed up the \u00a0dishes in the \u00a0fancy stable kitchen.<\/div>\n
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A rescued racehorse name \u201cLucky\u201d\u2026my name for the horse.<\/div>\n
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Just in case you saw the pomp and circumstance when Prince Andrew recently got married. \u00a0Lots \u00a0of horses. Fancy horses. \u00a0Our horse stable<\/div>\n
was \u00a0somewhat less than fancy as \u00a0the picture above testifies. \u00a0This is not Buckingham Palace.<\/div>\n
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Morgan Skeoch, one of our grandchildren, is doing service as \u00a0a \u00a0hot walker. \u00a0 Horses like dogs \u00a0need to be walked regularly. \u00a0They<\/div>\n
also \u00a0like having a shower from a \u00a0garden hose. \u00a0 And they also \u00a0remember faces\u2026those they like and those they don\u2019t like.<\/div>\n
Not sure \u00a0where I fit in there.<\/div>\n
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The stable owner has \u00a0these three abandoned \u00a0horse stalls that I find charming. \u00a0Hope they never \u00a0get demolished.<\/div>\n
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Talk about being relaxed. \u00a0This horse dropped \u00a0a \u00a0collection of \u00a0\u2018road \u00a0apples\u2019 while nails \u00a0were being pounded into his \u00a0foot. \u00a0 Josh \u00a0pushed \u00a0the pile to<\/div>\n
the wall with his boot. \u00a0 Horse manure is an excellent growing medium for mushrooms. \u00a0You may not know that. \u00a0Years ago Marjorie and I gathered<\/div>\n
up a \u00a0huge pile of horse manure and \u00a0attempted \u00a0our own mushroom business. \u00a0 It did not work. \u00a0Hope that bit of knowledge does not put you off<\/div>\n
mushrooms.<\/div>\n
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Here Gabriela and \u00a0Kevin get Mello ready for new \u00a0shoes. \u00a0 In the distance is \u00a0Morgan. \u00a0And the photographer is \u00a0Kevin.<\/div>\n
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Where was Nolan? \u00a0 Riding. \u00a0Nolan \u00a0Skeoch spends all \u00a0her \u00a0spare time \u00a0at this horse stable in \u00a0North London\u2026all her time. \u00a0She lives \u00a0and breathes horses. \u00a0She shovels \u00a0out the<\/div>\n
horse stalls every \u00a0day. \u00a0New bedding. \u00a0Having horses means \u00a0having lots to do. \u00a0 (Nolan on right in pic.)<\/div>\n
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Nolan \u00a0with Mello doing jumps\u2026Olympic material? \u00a0 Mello has \u00a0new shoes\u2026proud of \u00a0them\u2026thanks to Josh. \u00a0The new \u00a0shoes<\/div>\n
sparkle \u00a0as Mello and \u00a0Nolan canter, gallop \u00a0and JUMP.<\/div>\n
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This \u00a0is just a few miles \u00a0from the centre of \u00a0London \u00a0England\u2026from Buckingham Palace. \u00a0And yet it could \u00a0be the setting for<\/div>\n
a Thomas Hardy \u00a0novel or for verdant rood \u00a0in Charles Dickens \u00a0novel Great Expectations. \u00a0In the heart of London!<\/div>\n
You do not believe me, I know that. \u00a0I could \u00a0hardly believe it myself.<\/div>\n
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There you have it. \u00a0Josh Twomey, Farrier\u2026in action in North London on a \u00a0hot July \u00a0afternoon.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HORSES NEED SHOES \u00a0JUST LIKE \u00a0YOU DO (Josh Twomey\u2026FARRIER) alan skeoch august 2018 No good reason why a city bred \u00a0person would \u00a0want to read \u00a0this story. \u00a0Unless the reader is curious and likes to see and read \u00a0something extraordinary. This \u00a0is \u00a0a \u00a0story about Josh \u00a0Twomey\u2026a \u00a0farrier. \u00a0 Josh spends his days \u00a0motoring from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1363"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1625,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363\/revisions\/1625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}