Among the items up for bid during the American Farrier’s Association Auction were a couple of birdhouses that are as likely to attract horseshoers as they are feathered occupants.

The birdhouses are the creations of Ron Dash, a farrier from Hohenwald, Tenn., who had to give up his shoeing business following a bad accident several years ago.

Dash, who did his shoeing in the Orlando, Fla., area, was kicked by a horse and struck his head. For a while, he was totally blind. He has since recovered some vision.

“I’m back to 20/80,” he says. “And after being where I was, that’s wonderful.”

While his health problems have kept him from shoeing horses, Dash had been using his handiwork to make birdhouses and other craft items. He was a skilled woodworker even before the accident, making handmade furniture in his Florida shop.

Three of Dash’s birdhouses were on display in the Marketplace at the International Hoof-Care Summit, two in the AFA booth and a third at the Nordic Forge booth.

The Dash creations included a birdhouse designed to look like an old fashioned village smithy, complete with an anvil and anvil stand out front. A second is an anvil and anvil stand design, while a third resembles a hoof, viewed from the…