Wallace S. Rohrer, a member of the International Union of Journeyman Horse-shoers, created 14 handmade shoes specifically crafted for the Thoroughbred racehorse. The California Thoroughbred Foundation is honored to have this extraordinary example of his work in the form of a unique horseshoe board on display at the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association. It demonstrates Rohrer’s abilities as well as pays tribute to the IUJH, which dates back to 1874.
Rohrer, the son of a blacksmith, shod horses for some of the finest California trainers from the 1950s-70s. He later became the paddock horse-shoer at receiving barns of California racetracks, requiring him to check every horse for every race to confirm the runner was properly shod for that surface. He served on judging panels for the IUJH journeyman exam, a requirement for licensing as a farrier at California Thoroughbred racetracks. The rigorous test took five hours in the forge and one hour under a horse. The candidate had to make four different shoes (announced at the start of the test), beginning with a straight piece of light steel, and then had an hour to shoe a horse with aluminum plates. Th is was not a test for the faint of heart, but it assured that only top craftsmen worked on racehorses.
Many of those shoes are part of the Foundation display board. The board also includes an explanation of the various shoes and the remedies they can provide, such as keeping a horse’s front feet from hitting his hind feet during his stride. Such remedies lie in the hands, skill, and mind of the thinking blacksmith, important because there is no margin for error.
To be a journeyman farrier is backbreaking work that requires high-quality tools specific only to this trade, and the intelligence of the craftsman whose manual skill is both a science and an art. It is an honor to own and display this beautiful board of Thoroughbred racehorse shoes made by a master.
—Ada Gates Patton, farrier and an IUJH member since 1977