David van den Broek AWCF
I first became interested in horse-shoeing in my early teens. I'd seen farriers working at the Royal Show and was immediately captivated. I served my nearly five-year apprenticeship with a respected farrier in Oxfordshire where I gained experience in a wide range of equestrian disciplines. I set up my own practice in 2013 in Oxfordshire which grew quickly with a particular focus on maintaining two riding schools, several polo strings and a good number of heavy horses. But my constant interest in understanding more about equine locomotion and the positive effect that good farriery can have in equine comfort, health and performance drove me to keep investing more time in my own further education as well as in teaching.
I went on to qualify as a training farrier and my team soon grew providing new opportunities for learning and developing different skills.
Opportunities arose for me to work alongside some of the best Oxfordshire vets and this stimulated an increasing interest in remedial farriery and in the skills needed for utilising the wide range of shoes, pads and other products that are now available to the modern farrier. I've documented some of my work on my Instagram feed that you can access from this site.
I continued to be an active part of the Oxfordshire equestrian community until spring 2024 when I moved to South Wales.
I have a wide (and by some standards, weird) range of interests. I absolutely love the horse's hoof - I genuinely believe it's one of the best designed and most under-rated structure in the natural world and I've spent many hundreds of hours studying it.
But I also love watching my crazy dogs discovering the world. I love watching the local coastline change with the tides and spotting new birds or bugs. I love reading. Almost anything, from a good novel to the encyclopedia of zoology. And I love listening to music from Tchaikovsky to Coldplay.
I'm currently studying for a degree in Christian pastoral care at Union School of Theology because I've decided it's ok to love doing more than one thing.
Elsa and Daisy
Elsa and Daisy are the trusty hoof hoovers that every farrier needs. Elsa's been at it for a while so she likes to have plenty of sleep time. Daisy, on the other hand, hasn't learned how to stand still yet.
