Horse people are fussy and particular who they trust with their babies.

I had the chance to meet some new people at The Tri-State Horse Festival in Sioux Falls at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds. One of those people was Jeremy Cass. Jeremy as it turns out is a pretty well known farrier.

A Farrier? What? Yep, a good old horse shooer. A modern day blacksmith of sorts. Kind of like Newly on Gunsmoke. As I talked with Cass I found out more and more about horses hooves, the foundation of the animal and what is indeed the most important part of the horse.

Cass said, it all starts with the feet. If the feet aren't correct, the horse is going to put undo stress and strains on other parts of it's body. He said, these horses in many cases are true athletes and it more times than not starts with their feet. Soundness starts with how the horse hits the ground, it's gotta be right, cause if it's not, the stress goes out of the body somewhere else and shoes something else out of wack.

Cass said he works for people like Jake Reinhart, Matt Zinkanella NFR Team Roper and Junior Deez. Locally he shoes for barrel racer Shelby Vinson (Shelby's babies pictured) Cass said, these are people that count on their horses to help them win. I'm actually taking care of their babies!

Cass also had some good advice. If you own a horse, you'll want to call your local vet clinic and get more information. large animal vet to get more information on a good farrier. He said, it's going to be an on going expensse of owning a horse, but worth every penny you invest.

Cass is also enjoying some of the fruits of his year of hard labor. He now is able to Travels all around to shoe horses. Customer who bought a set of tools and fly him to Ardmore, Oklahoma Triple U Quarter Horses.

Jeremy Cass grew up working on large cattle and horse operations in central SD, He learned first hand the meaning of the phrase “no hoof…no horse” at a young age. Upon completion of high school, he attended Oklahoma State Horseshoeing School. He was then certified and from there, he continued his study and hands on farrier work in Australia at Coolmore Stables and Woodland Farms. He has also worked extensively with veterinarians at Littleton Large Animal Clinic, in Littleton, CO. With 19 years of experience balancing the hoof to the limb, he now specializes in performance horse hoof care, and has had great success treating and reversing laminitis cases, and other lameness issues in horses.

 

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