About Us

Mike and Horses and what?...

Hi, I'm Mike Hayward.

I began my farrier career in a stranger way than most! In a BIG way! When I was at college I studied for a national diploma in animal care. During college I attended a wild life park twice a week, I went out on all the different animal departments, and spent time with big cats, apes, paddock animals, monkeys reptiles and everything you could imagine! I spoke to my college tutor and explained my love for the elephants and horses! and that I only wanted to spend time with them! After college I was offered a full time job with the elephants! This is where I started to develop a love for feet! I have worked in wild life parks, safari parks, and zoos in England. I even helped in the raising of the first ever successful penguin birth at Woburn safari park (now you think having a puppy at home is hard work). Anyway that lead me to Ringing Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus where I was a head elephant trainer. As I traveled around the United States I would consult with other foot professionals and spend as much time as I could with other professional farriers. I would show them how to trim elephants feet and in return they would expand my knowledge with horses feet! I spent my vacations with other farriers mainly in CA and TX where I spent some time with CJF Jake Whitman who was recently one of the Farriers at the world games! I then attended farrier school at Pacific Coast Horseshoeing school under Bob Smith (educator of the year) where I graduated high point of the class with the second highest score in the history of the school!

Being a farrier is the best job in the world! You could say I get a kick out of it! Its a hard working honest way of life! Horses don't lie!