Why Farriers Nails ?

 Why Farriers Nails? Very good question.

The horseshoe has long been a symbol of good fortune across the world, so much so that the Germans have a saying in their folk law which roughly translated says :-

No Nail, No shoe, No Hoof, No Horse, No Knight, No Castle,No Kingdom

I think that says it all, our evolution as been entwined with the horse for generations and surprisingly even the Romans shod their horses. That makes horse shoes and farriers nails a pretty important part of our heritage.

With that in mind, I also thought about my own heritage

My mother was Irish of Scots decent and loved horse racing with a passion, my earliest memories were being taken to Sandown and Lingfield to watch racing.. I was about 4,when  I started to ride, however the love affair with the horse had started well before then. No great surprise as a love of horses is a common theme  throughout the family, recently my great niece added "horsey" to her vocal repertoire  as soon as she could speak.

  I  was lucky enough to live with  the ponies on the Isle of Inch Kenneth (now the Earray herd of Shetlands from Mull)  at 12 I was given my own pony.  Ceaser was kept on a farm where a young lad called George West Lived. Later when I had moved on to a horse and George had become a young farrier, he practiced  his shoeing  skills on that horse. George is now a well  respected farrier in Perthshire, I still carry a photo of that horse in my purse today. When I decided to make my own range, it was Georges Nails that were used to get the proportions and  details right for the very first pieces.

I have shared my life several horses but it was that little  TB mare that George learnt to shoe on,who taught me  important survival  skills. Mostly that the ground hurts when hit at speed, but getting back on is always worth it.  I grew up wanting to work in Racing, offered a job at 16 my parents said NO WAY!  So I went to  catering college instead ( I like Cake almost as much as Fergal O 'Brien does) !  in the late  1980's  I became a hotel manager for Stakis Plc. The operations Director who signed my contract was one Collin McGrath, the same Colin Mc Grath who is know as the man who gives the bag of carrots to every winner at Kelso Racecourse. The horse world is very small and I am so glad to be a part of that family.

So the answer to why Farriers Nails ? They represent good fortune, for some they are also a  symbol  of faith. They are also symbol of the importance of the horse in our history. For those that love horses they are a nice connection to the horse with out being obviously "horsey"
 The shape is a great shape for jewellery and lends it self to balanced simple designs., suitable for day and evening wear, in  town or country.

For me the farriers nail has  bought  so many  people back into my life  for a second time and allowed my childhood dreams  of working  in the horse world to become a reality.
 Today I had a visit from the lovely Ann Gage and her lovely Mum, we met through the Equine Business Assistant  Jenni Bush and her group on Facebook. As Ann lives in Canada  it just proves the equine world is truly tiny and filled with fabulous people.

​ Next week I plan to talk about leaving the shops behind and Tarrag Naegel's creation.

Don't miss us this weekend Saturday Kelso Racecourse!