Stephen Morris

I believe it would be warranted to recognize Stephen Morris of Oxford Mills, Ontario, as a talented, experienced and knowledgeable farrier. Steve has been in our barn for several years maintaining balance and soundness, which has contributed to our barn being competitive in the cutting circuit. Farriers/Journeymen with Steve’s attributes are very hard to find. He has even been pleasant to deal with the hundreds of questions I’ve thrown at him!

— Steven Neville
(Mountain, Ontario)

Steve was recommended to us over a decade ago. Over that time we have come to know Steve as the consummate professional, an experienced horseman and a exceptional journeyman farrier. I have no specific story to tell but can only recall the numerous times he has been to our farm, every 6 weeks, to shoe our teampenning, sorting and cutting horses. His punctuality in a world where every minute counts is huge. His knowledge base on horses in general is only surpassed by his knowledge of the western performance world. He has fielded hundreds of questions by myself while bent over under a horse in the cross ties. I cannot think of a time he could not give me an answer and usually there would be a follow-up email the next day giving more information on the questions I asked. On more than one occasion when the shoeing and trimming was finished, he would take the time to watch the horse under saddle to help with any issue I had.

When my foal was born I made two calls ASAP. First was to the vet and the second was to Steve to come take a look at the foal and his legs. Like clockwork, two weeks later, Steve was there to observe my foal and start corrective methods to help straighten one leg.

Months later when the foal was having regular trimming and was not always compliant and well behaved, Steve always ease my mind by saying, “that is just baby stuff.”

Then there were all the times that at the last minute one of our horses lost a shoe a day before a competition and in rolled Steve, after a panic call, to fix the problem. Each time we would have money in hand and he, to this day, will refuse and say I guarantee my work and my shoes to stay on.

Farriers of his quality are a dying breed in our area. I do not know what we will do when he decides it is time to hang up his snips. We joke all the time and tell him he simply cannot stop. I do not say that lightly. There simply is no one of his caliber in our area to replace him. A journeyman farrier with the experience Steve Morris has is a rare commodity and the western performance horse world would not and will not be the same without him.

Over the years he has become a trusted farrier and friend. He deserves more than the tribute of my words.

— Raegan Zingbeil
(Mountain, Ontario)