Frequently traveling  to big horse shows made Dave Farley think twice about his shoeing rig.

It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with his rig. But poor gas mileage and cumbersome size made it difficult to efficiently and economically shoe at out-of-state shows and events. So Farley decided something had to give.

“It just wasn’t financially working out with my big rig,” the Loveland, Ohio, farrier explains. “So I got the idea of using a golf cart to shoe out of.”

With this idea in mind, Farley called up Brent Chidsey of Stone Well Bodies and Equipment to explore the possibilities.  Since he had previously built a larger shoeing rig for his truck, Farley had little doubt that Chidsey could pull it off.

“It was a challenge, but he did a fine job,” Farley says. “I didn’t even give him blueprints. I just gave him the golf cart and trusted him. He knew I wanted access from three sides, up his “pocket rig” for less than $3,500, one-third the cost of a regular rig.

“I still use my truck rig, but for these big horse shows, it really saves me time and money,” he says. “I can leave it in Florida and come back every three weeks to shoe. I can fly down, rent a car, get in the pocket rig and go to work. Clients love it.”

Transporting the rig isn’t a problem, either. A tilt trailer allows easy loading and unloading and can be pulled with a car.

“I’d definitely do this again,” he maintains. “Anyone who works horse shows or travels should entertain the thought of having one of these. You can’t become better by staying the same.”