Forge Museum
Elburg - Gelderland
In the Smithy Museum in Elburg two brothers - Dirk and Aart de Gunst - keep the old craft of farrier alive. The fire of the 400-year-old forge burns regularly, boosted by the age-old bellows to strike while the iron is hot.
As those of our own, the 'feet' of horses need looking after as much could go wrong such as laminitis, hoof pulley inflamation, cancer etc... A good blacksmith can prevent many deceases from starting by fitting new hoofs and replace the horseshoes every eight weeks.
There are about 700 different horseshoes. For small and large horses; for left and right front and back legs and for driving, racing and jumping horses. For tensioned horses, Brabançon and elegant dressage. And also fittings for summer or winter and horseshoes used for specific circumstances like marshy pastures or snow.
The profession of forging exists since people started to mine and rig metal in approximately 3000 B.C. (Anatolian Peninsula and Middle East). The blacksmith was highly respected by the Germanics and Celts.
