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The Shoer Goes to School

Ohio farrier Bobby Menker and the University of Findlay Equine Program enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship


ABSCESS TREATMENT. Farrier Bobby Menker of Findlay, Ohio, speaks with horse owner Jody Brown as he treats her horse for an abscess during a call. At the right is a portable light stand, which Menker sets up, helping to ensure that he has a clear view of the hoof he’s working on.

The typical Ohio college student doesn’t go to class wearing cowboy boots and spurs.

But then the students in the Equine Program at the University of Findlay aren’t typical college students. Findlay — located in a small city by the same name about an hour’s drive south of Toledo — has a pair of off-campus equine facilities where students who are interested in various equine fields ride, train and work with horses.

That means the university has a lot of horses — and where there are horses, there are farriers — including Bobby Menker, the subject of this issue’s “Shoeing For A Living.”

9 a.m. I meet Menker at the staff barn at one of the school’s two equine facilities. The barn is where full- and part-time instructors keep their horses. Many of the instructors are still active in training and showing horses. On this late October day, the American Farrier’s Association (AFA) Certified Journeyman Farrier will be shoeing a number of horses who are being prepared for the World Quarter Horse Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Menker has already pulled his small shoeing rig into a wide barn aisle and set up his gear. He tells me…

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Pat tearney

Pat Tearney

Pat Tearney is a long-term newspaper and magazine veteran writer and editor. Before retiring, he served for a number of years on the American Farriers Journal staff and continues to share his writing talents with our readers.

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