The ring of hammers and the smell of hot iron and burning coal filled the air behind the Equi-Plex at Spruce Meadows on Wednesday, as farriers from around the globe competed in the 2025 Blacksmith World Championships. The event, presented by Halo and staged alongside the Spruce Meadows Masters, has drawn 65 competitors from Canada, the United States and abroad. They are hammering it out in categories like forge welding, shoeing and speed forging. It all culminates in a Sunday finale where the top five will vie for the $75,000 prize. Watching the competitors, there’s no doubt it is a physically demanding job, but farrier Joe Whitehead – here to compete from Wales – says the mental preparation is equally important. “It’s hard going through every aspect that you need to go through to make sure you do as good a job as you can,” he said. “Everything has to be prepared from home, so all your tools are immaculate and work perfect.” “You practice your trimming your shoe sizes, and you hope it goes through right on the day.” Whitehead says artistry comes into play when matching shoe to hoof. “You’re drawing a picture,” he said. “You’re sculpting a shoe to suit that horse. That’s where the artistry comes into that.” “Sculpt the foot at the beginning to as good a shape as you can get out of that foot, as best you can, and then you make your shoe to fit around that foot.” Canadian competitor Caleb Green of Chilliwack, B.C., said his day-one nerves were on display Wednesday. “It’s nerve wracking,” he said. “You don’t know any stories from other competitors of what they’ve said that the judge maybe liked or didn’t like, so it’s a clean slate,” Green said. Green stressed that strength alone doesn’t make a winner. “There’s a lot of small guys who are world champions, and they’re just fit and they swing the hammer quickly, efficiently, accurately,” he said. “Strength helps for sure, if you know how to use it, but I would say strength has not been a consistent pattern in making a great competitor.” Judges watched closely for technical perfection. Canadian judge Ian Ritchie said competitors are marked on multiple components, adding Wednesday’s task of creating a ‘bar shoe’ presents competitors with challenges. “This is broken into four different phases,” he explained. “The guys are trimming the feet, they’re making the shoes, they’re fitting the shoes and they’re nailing them on ... They get four different scores.” Ritchie said spectators will find plenty to marvel at. “It’s fun. It’s fun watching these guys after putting the practice in for months in advance, then they come and put it all in here.” New Zealand’s Andrew Reader Smith, currently based in Britain, says he enjoys carrying on a centuries-old tradition. “It’s the most cost effective, simple method of putting shoes on horse and nailing them on,” he said. “Nailing your set of shoes on is still the simplest, cost-effective way of getting a horse shod.” The competition continues through the weekend, with the world champion to be crowned Sunday.
