When he was young, Russell Floyd developed an interest in cowboy culture. At 16, he watched a farrier shoe a horse and was intrigued.He sought advice from school counsellors in his small hometown of Honeymoon Bay onbut they had no idea what a farrier even did. “It was kind of a dead end,” Floyd says.
At the same time, 67 blacksmiths from 11 countries are vying for a prize pool of $136,000, $75,000 of which will go to the winner. Both the horse jumping and shoeing of horses conclude on Sunday.a former world champion and organizer of the event, said a majority of the contestants come from the United States, Canada and Britain. The latter he calls “the Mecca of horseshoeing.”Considered the Olympics of blacksmithing, the world championships were first held in 1979.
Floyd, Iain Ritchie of Pitt Meadows, B.C., Chad Lausen of Strathmore, Alta., and Jack Ketel of Kelowna, B.C., are among the top Canadians to receive invitations to demonstrate their skills in Calgary. Each contestant participates in a variety of disciplines that include shoeing live horses, forging a shoe from scratch, making different types of shoes to specific qualifications and replicating some created by judges.
Floyd, who drove the eight hours to Calgary from Prince George, was champing at the bit for the event to begin.