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Australia's Top Apprentice 2008

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The Result

The search for Australia's Top Apprentice Farrier for 2008 has been conducted. In a spirited competition held at the University of Qld Gatton, Tim Heeb representing Scone TAFE NSW (pictured left) showed that he was the best man on the day. Second was Glyn Haag of Victoria and Dan Philip of Qld was third. Congratulations to Tim and well done also to Glyn and Dan. Tim is currently in the third year of his apprenticeship under Steve Riggs at Hervey Bay. Tim makes the trip to Scone once a month to do his training with Bob Sim and Dave Adams. This usually consists of a block period of 3 days a month which Tim coincides with spending a few days with another farrier in the Tamworth area to get ensure he gets input into his training from other respected tradesmen.

Tim checks his shoe fit during the competition.

The Judges Talk

The competitors started the day by being treated to a demonstration by judge for the event Craig Jones. Craig made the same shoe the competitors would be making and shod one foot on a horse to give them a perspective on what he was looking for from them when it was their turn. As a man who hand makes every shoe he puts on as well as being an avid competitor, Craig is well placed to demonstrate these types of shoe making skills. The other apprentices who were spectators for the day were also able to watch this display and I'm sure they would have picked up a few pointers from Craig for their own shoe making exercises.

Event 1

The first event for the competitors was the shoeing of the front feet of a horse with Victory Racing Plates. This proved top be a very interesting part of the competition as none of the competitors regularly shoe racehorses. So with the shoes being put on cold and clips let in with a knife and not burnt in they set about their task with vigor. Below are photos of the front feet completed by each competitor.

Event 2

While craig started to judge the front feet, they set about making the fullered double clipped hinds for their horses. This is where they all showed why they had been selected as the best from their state. With all of them having spent a lot of time on their fronts they had a big job to get 2 shoes made and nailed on in the time remaining. For quite a while it look as if none of them would have a completed job at the end of the time limit. We need not have been concerned as when the time started to diminish they simply stepped up their work rate to get finished in the nick of time.

Event 3

After some lunch and a well earned rest the boys set about their next task which was the forging of two shoes. The first shoe was a concave egg bar and the next was a lateral toe extension on a hind shoe. The latter of these shoes was a judges choice, so the competitors had no idea what they would have to make prior to the day, so they had to make sure all their skills were up to date as they didn't;t know what shoe they would need to practice.

Below are some examples of the shoes produced in the Forging Event

Event 4

The final event of the day was an Eagle Eye. For those of you who haven't heard of one this is how it works. Each competitor gets a 10 second look at a prepared hoof. They can't touch or measure the hoof. After each one has gone and cut the amount of steel they think will be required, they have 15 minutes to make the shoe, with the best fit being declared the winner.

Australia's Top Apprentice 2008

Mail-In Shoe Competition

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Whilst each state sent their best apprentice to compete, all the other apprentices in Australia were invited to compete against apprentices from their own year by mailing in a shoe to be judged. Congratulations to the winners.

1st Year: Concave Front: Les Dwyer (Queensland)

2nd Year: Plain Stamped Front: Tom Sedger(Queensland)

3rd Year: Fullered Double Clipped Hind: Mitchell Brace(Queensland)

4th Year: Straight Bar: Michael Saunders(Victoria)

To all the apprentices who entered, thank you and hope to see your entry again next year.