The Lockdown Farriery Podcast

David Gulley FWCF

On the 2nd of May 2024 we received the sad news of the passing of David Gulley FWCF.

Born on the 4th of August 1939 in Plymouth Devon, David grew up with an obsession for horses, his mother once telling him of his fascination of the Shire horses working in the streets Plymouth. When David reached the age of 15 due to the lack of farriery apprenticeships being available due to mechanisation, David took on a 4-year apprenticeship in Blacksmithing and Engineering. 

On completion of his apprenticeship in 1960 he was called up for National Service into the British Army. As he signed up, he asked about the possibility of being an Army Farrier, of which the ill-informed Army recruiting Sergeant replied, “there was not such a thing anymore”. David then opted to become a Driver. 

Whilst in basic training Davids unit was visited by a recruiting officer from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC), looking for recruits. David asked the officer did they have Farriers? The officer replied “yes”. At that point David told the officer that if he could transfer to the forge, he would instantly sign up for 22 years’ service, the maximum engagement you can sign up for. In late 1960 David moved to Melton Mowbray and started working at the Remount Depot, now known as the Defence Animal Training Regiment, and started his life as an Army Farrier Apprentice at the old Army School of Farriery (ASF). 

Coincidently David joined the school 1 day after another farriery legend and lifelong friend David “Slim” Symons FWCF (hons). David was lucky enough to be taken under the wing of Jock Green a very well-regarded Army farrier instructor who pushed David to excel through hard work and determination. David managed to achieve the uncompressible feat of becoming a B1 Army farriery instructor and the rank of full Corporal in under 2 years.

After 9 years of being based at the ASF teaching and competing David took the decision to leave the army and set up his own business. These were the days pre regulation, which would not become an act of parliament for a few years. At the time there was a lack of good farriers in the Leicestershire area servicing the fledgling equine leisure industry, with many untrained farriers cold shoeing applying shoes poorly. David was lucky enough to get the opportunity to repurpose a disused cattle shed into a forge, which is where he remained for the rest of his life in Thorpe Satchville, Leicestershire with his partner Judy. 

It wasn’t long before David had built a busy business and the requirement for more manpower, so started his long list of successful apprentices. The first of which was Andrew Speck RSS, which went on to include the likes of Cecil Swan, Gary Darlow, Kevin Green, Joe Bryan and Andrew James. He went on to train 24 apprentices in total and was always proud of the achievements of all he trained and had said countless times that his proudest achievement was training his own son Micheal. On retirement he was presented a “Family Tree”, by some of his ex-apprentices, starting with David, his apprentices, their apprentices and so on. To this date there are 5 generations of farriers with lineage back to David, over time this will grow and will remain one of Davids Legacies. 

After leaving the Army David’s involvement with the National Association of Farriers, Blacksmiths and Agricultural Engineers (now known as BFBA) began. Joining his local branch, Leicestershire, David became an active member and very quickly rising to the position of chairman. With the registration act looming on the horizon, David was proactive in putting on training and testing for farriers in the area to achieve their Registered Shoeing Smiths (RSS) exams. In Davids own words this was all about trying to make farriers better. David always held horse welfare as the most important part of farriery.

He went on to sit t

I’ve just got back from a very busy summer period. Back to school for me now! Last week I spent the week in Canada with my awesome friend Brian Mullins CJF. Week spent the week fine tuning and preparing for his upcoming AWCF exams. I met Brian back in lockdown through our respective podcast passion projects. As we were together we decided to chat with microphones and this is the results.

Check out Brian’s podcast if you haven’t already as it is the best one out there. That’s not to say all the Farriery podcasts are all awesome.

Check out the podcasts amazing sponsors 

https://silverbackchaps.com/

https://theshoeinglab.com/

Tom Smith FWCF GradDIP ELR (Dist.) (RVC) is a working farrier from Hampshire England, and is also the current Chairman of the Farriers Registration Council.
Tom previously spoke to me about doing this podcast not just to make farriers aware of the upcoming council election but to also promote a better understanding  of the role of the FRC and how it functions.

Big shout out to the sponsors of this episode

Silverback Chaps – silverbackchaps.com

The Shoeing Lab

Sat down one evening and spoke to my good friend and research partner Abby Bunyard AWCF about the BFBA of which she is about to be the new president and our Fellowship journey so far. We go off on tangents, we discuss the state of the industry, and we drunk a lot of Gin in the process! This was a great conversation.

To hear more about Abby’s route into Farriery, listen to her episode with the Mullins Farrier podcast, it’s a great listen.

Please check out the sponsors of this podcast

https://silverbackchaps.com/

https://theshoeinglab.com/

And checkout the BFBA

https://www.forgeandfarrier.co.uk/

Today I'm at what can only be described as farriery's equivalent of Area 51. The Shoeing Lab is owned by Kelvin Lymer DipWCF, and he has been in a previous episode talking about Endurance Racing. Kelvin is one of the most innovative that I have met over the years, not just as a horseshoer but as a business man. Kelvin is the type of person who is always spinning plates and looking to improve equine performance and comfort.

For over 10 years he has been working and evolving his approach using 3D printing and has developed many products already and has even more not yet released.

For further information click the link below for The Shoeing Lab Web Store and take a look at the products mentioned in the Podcast.

The Shoeing Lab

This Podcast is sponsored by
Silverback Chaps – silverbackchaps.com

Please support the Farriers Foundation
News (thefarriersfoundation.co.uk)

Pads, Packers and Bar Shoes,

Today and my good friend Wayne Preece FWCF have a catch up and we discuss Pads Packers, Bar shoes and other hoof care packages. Like most of our chats we go off on tangents and discuss other farriery subjects.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did making it.

Don't forget to subscribe on your podcast platform.

This podcast is sponsored by Silverback Chaps. Thank you to Danny Elliot for your continued support.

Silverback Chaps – silverbackchaps.com

Welcome to 2024

This year I aim to be a lot proactive with the Podcast. Last year was challenging to find time as it can be a time consuming, plus there was a lot of things going on in the world of Farriery.

This episode has been on the wait list for a long time.

Dean Lewis AWCF is a passionate and highly skilled Farrier and Blacksmith from Australia who's background in Harness Racing as a Racer and farrier served him with some excellent insight.

This is a subject I personally know nothing so I will definitely be claiming some CPD points for listening