Member Spotlight: Mike Isles - Official Farrier of the FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, NC

In the fall of 2018, local rider and farrier Mike Isles traveled to the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, NC as part of the team of official farriers. Mike was kind enough to answer some questions about his trip, and about the event! 

• Tell us a little bit about your history as a farrier. What sparked your interest in becoming a farrier?  What is the education process like?

     After spending almost 10 years working in healthcare, I became tired of the routine and the environment. I had been introduced to horses several years prior and had a growing interest in everything horse. Somewhere I came up with the idea to explore careers in the horse world. I have always enjoyed working with metal and I liked the idea that as a farrier your routine is much more varied than in an institution type setting.   
     In the US there is no formal education requirement to become a farrier. There are many farrier schools throughout the country but most only provide a very basic level of instruction, after which most students will become an apprentice and work with an experienced farrier for a period of time as well as continuing their education through conferences and clinics. I wasn’t able to attend a farrier school at the time so I began working with a local farrier as a helper. After a while I got “promoted” to pulling shoes and finishing feet, and slowly from there I worked my way up to doing what I do now.    

• How did you end up on this trip to WEG? 

     I was offered the opportunity to be an “official farrier of the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games” through one of the professional organizations that I belong to, the American Association of Professional Farriers (AAPF). Interested farriers were required to submit a resume to the AAPF and final selections were made by the board of directors. Farriers selected to work at the WEG had to have experience working on higher level horses in the disciplines that were competing and be willing to take time to travel to the games.

• Tell us about the association that organized the farriers at WEG.  What is its background, and what was its job at WEG?

       The American Association of Professional Farriers is an organization based out of Wellington, FL. The group was founded in 2011 by a small group of farriers that felt that there was a need for an organization that put more emphasis on continuing education as well as promoting a more professional image for farriers. The job of the AAPF and its farriers at the WEG was to provide any hoof care related assistance that was necessary. We had 4 fully equipped shoeing stations set up around the facility as well as multiple satellite stations which were stocked with any tools and supplies that may be needed. Our job varied from simply providing supplies and support to team farriers that were there with their team horses, all the way to shoeing horses that had travelled from other countries without the luxury of a team farrier.   
  

• How many farriers were involved, and how many horses did they take care of?  Was it primarily the Show Jumpers, or did each discipline have their own farriers? 

     There were about 24 farriers from the AAPF that were divided up to cover the two-week event, as well as several industry representatives.  There were several dozen horses that came in needing work done. Sometimes the horse had just a sprung shoe that needed to be fixed, sometimes they had lost a shoe and needed a new one made, and some horses needed to be shod all the way around before they travelled home. The AAPF provided farrier coverage for all disciplines, not just the showjumpers. A lot of the teams do travel with their own farriers but for the ones that did not, we were happy to help whether it was a showjumper, a dressage horse, a driving horse, or even a vaulting horse.  

•  We’ve all heard the bad things about WEG, but tell us what it was really like (footing, rings, warmup, stabling, etc), bad AND good!

     There was a lot of criticism going around on the internet in the days leading up to my trip; I wasn’t sure what to expect. I drove down on the Sunday that hurricane Florence was passing through. I wasn’t even sure if I should be making the trip but everyone insisted that the event would go on, so I started driving. By the time I got there the storm had mostly passed, it was a little wet but overall the area seemed to have missed the brunt of the storm.  
Before anyone criticizes the facility, I think it’s important to remember that Tryon was not originally the host for these games. Bromont was awarded the games in 2014 but had to back out due to lack of funding in 2016. That meant Tryon had less than 2 years to prepare for hosting one of the most multi-faceted, highest caliber equestrian events in the world. Some would continue to argue that if they weren’t fully prepared to host this event they shouldn’t have offered but without Tryon offering to host this event there quite literally may not have been a 2018 WEG
     With that being said, when I arrived Monday morning for my first day of work I was very impressed with how the facility weathered the storm and how well it had been set up to disguise the fact that it was actually still under construction. The footing in the rings looked to hold up very well, the barns and other outbuildings were dry, and the walkways and roadways were well maintained and nicely decorated. There were banners set up to cover the ongoing construction, one area had huge banners hanging vertically that touted something having to do with the WEG or Tryon. I was several days into my stay before I realized that they weren’t just banners put up purely to be decorative, but that they were hung on the elevator shafts that were in place for a hotel that was under construction. Had someone not pointed it out I would have just thought they were great banners for an awesome event. There will always be critics, but in my opinion they did a fantastic job.  

• What were some of the highlights of your trip?

     There were many highlights of my trip, I met some of the farriers that shoe the top horses in the world, and I got to work on some world class horses. I really enjoyed watching the jogs. It sounds boring but if you’re interested in seeing how horses that are performing at the highest levels travel across the ground, you can’t beat an FEI jog.  
     By far the biggest highlight of my trip was having a front row seat, right at the in-gate, to watch the US win the team showjumping. Winning would have been exciting enough but to end up with a jump off to decide the winner was intense. As if all of that wasn’t enough, it all came down to the last horse and rider McClain Ward and Clinta. When they walked in the ring it was so quiet you probably could have heard a pin drop in that fancy synthetic footing. I’m pretty sure everybody was holding their breath, I know I was. To be so close, close enough to see the expression on the rider’s face or to be able to see the subtle aids that it takes to get the job done, that is a memory I will not soon forget.