One of the reasons horses wear shoes is so their hooves don’t chip. Their hooves grow just as human toenails do and need to be trimmed every 6 – 8 weeks. At that time, the horses shoes are replaced.

The horses at The Shea Center wear conventional horseshoes, but there are many shoe types including special shoes for performance horses and therapeutic shoes that help distribute a horse’s weight. Although most horses wear steel horseshoes, light weight aluminum shoes are often used on English jumpers and racehorses.

The name for a person who shoes horses is “farrier”. The term comes from the Latin word “ferrum” meaning iron, although iron shoes are no longer in use.

Rick has been a farrier (horseshoer) for 30 years and has dependably invested his time and hard work at The Shea Center. He offers his services to the Center at a generously discounted rate and strives to keep our horses happy and healthy.

Rick has also been an excellent ambassador for The Shea Center by spreading our mission to the community and introducing new farriers to the Center. In his free time,  Rick is an avid golfer.

The Shea Center is deeply grateful for our relationship with Rick and thankful for his work with our horses.