In March 2025, the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine announced that Hall of Famer Travis Burns was stepping away from his role as the head farrier at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital for a more administrative position within the college. Hired to fill the void is Victoria Protasenko, CJF.
Protasenko began her career in Pennsylvania, apprenticing for four years with Red Oak Equine Associates, a multi-farrier practice specializing in three-day event horses. In this role, she traveled across the East Coast, learning from veterinarian and farrier Todd Meister and farrier Dan Martzall.
Virginia farrier and mentor John Kern introduced Protasenko to the American Farrier’s Association and the World Championship Blacksmiths, which she says opened many doors for her.
“That’s how I came to know Travis Burns,” she says. “Countless farriers have opened their shops to me in order to give guidance and critique my work. I am incredibly grateful for them.”
In 2024, Protasenko became an apprentice at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital under Burns. She is now assuming the role of Associate Farrier.
"Working within a university environment, being surrounded by vets and research and getting to see everything on the forefront of both the farrier and the vet world, it creates so many opportunities," she says. "You're constantly surrounded by people who know so much more than you, and you just want to participate in any way you can and learn from them."
A big portion of Protasenko’s daily work is educating fourth-year veterinary students during their podiatry rotations. This helps them understand how shoeing prescriptions translate to practical applications. In addition to education, Protasenko trims and shoes all of Virginia Tech’s horses while developing her own clients.
When it comes to professional development, Protasenko makes sure she’s always learning and growing as a farrier by attending clinics and contests nationwide. Closer to home, she’s focused on expanding the program’s community education by hosting clinics for local farriers at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
