【我的中国梦】为马儿打造“金靴”

爱尔兰钉蹄师亚瑟·贾奇在重庆的工作台前展示他的铁锤。

Equestrian sports have always been considered elegant. It is a pleasure to watch a chestnut thoroughbred easily lifting its feet, walking freely, cantering, trotting, raising its forelegs and jumping over fixed obstacles.

When the audience applauds a brilliant performance by the rider and horse, they may forget to give credit to another important person - the farrier.

Arthur Judge is one of those workers behind the scenes. Instead of being a rider, the 27-year-old Irishman puts on an apron and shoes horses.

"I can make horses more comfortable by giving them appropriate shoes," he says.

Judge takes care of about 60 horses at the Phoenix Club in Chongqing, an exclusive equestrian club in this southwest municipality of China. He spends about 15 days a month in Chongqing and on other days, he flies around the country to care for horses in other cities, including Chengdu, Beijing and Guangzhou.

Judge has two work spaces in a stable in Chongqing. One is filled with his tools, including a toolbox stand, a blacksmith's work stand, a forge, a gas tank and a working table. The other stall, across the aisle, is empty. The latter one is for Judge's client, horses.

Judge does not mind being confined in a room that's no more than 8 square meters.

At 1.92 meters tall, he still looks petite when standing next to a medium-sized racing horse.

"This is Ameng," Judge introduces a thoroughbred from the United Kingdom. "He is a good boy - a quiet one, always calm."

Judge shoes four horses a day on average and works four days a week. He charges 800 ($133) to 1,200 yuan to shoe one horse, depending on the hoof conditions.

"I can do it faster," he says. "But that will lower the quality."

He usually takes a horse to walk around before the shoeing, and they walk again after the work is done to see how the shoe fits.

"It is like when you are buying a pair of shoes, you have to try it on first," he says. Horses don't talk and they can bear much more pain than humans. It requires a farrier's experience to determine whether the shoes fit.

Judge lifts one of Ameng's feet, clamps it between his thighs, takes off the old shoe, cuts and polishes Ameng's nails, and then picks up a horseshoe that's the nearest size from his studio. He adjusts the shoe by firing and hammering it, puts the shoe on the horse, takes it off to adjust again, and finally positions it again and nails it in.

The whole process takes him about 15 minutes.

"The key is to choose the right size shoe and adjust it with my eyes," Judges says.

"I wear size 9, so I pick up size 9. But there is no standard size for horses' feet..

Deng , the sales director of the club, says that Judge is the only master farrier in China.

"Only 144 farriers are certified master farriers in the world," Deng says.

Judge gained the status in 2010, becoming one of the youngest master farriers in the world. He was 23.

In Ireland, a farrier must pass a three-day exam to become a master farrier. The test includes shoeing five horses, completing a written test about shoeing and anatomy, and explaining horse dissection to experts.

"It was probably the most difficult three days in my life," Judge recalls.

Judge was born on a farm in Ireland and grew up among horses. His father breeds horses and owns about 120 to 130.

Judge can tell the name of "his" horses by looking at their faces, though he only sees them at four - to five-week intervals, when the shoes need replacing.

He got his first taste of the occupation when he was 7, during a trip to England with a family friend, a farrier. He started to work with him on vacations once he reached the age of 12.

In the UK and Ireland, farriers are required to have formal qualifications. Judge received his four-year college education at the Irish School of Farriery, one of the world's most respected schools in the field.

The curriculum includes shoeing practice, anatomy and dissection.

Having received a bachelor degree in 2009, Judge worked globally to improve his skills, including in the UK and the US. He then passed the exam to become a master farrier.

Judge says his Chinese opportunity came by chance.

An equestrian club in Beijing called an Irish farrier federation in 2017 for help, asking for a farrier to shoe their competition horses. The federation turned to Judge, who said no at first.

"Why China? Chinese people don't care about horses," Judge recalls thinking, adding that he later took the one-month job because no one else was able to go.

He saw the worst feet he'd ever seen on competition horses in Beijing, Judge says, adding that some were virtually lame. But he liked the opportunity to provide the remedy and to stay in China.

"You are never working with the perfect shoes. But my shoeing can help them. I can see my improvement by their feet getting better," he says.

Qin Benchao, the chief veterinarian of the club, says Judge is an expert on horses' feet.

Although working as a vet for 12 years, Qin says he has gotten plenty of useful advice from Judge on horses' feet.

"For example, we have a horse which suffered bad shoeing for years and walked with an awkward gait. I had nothing to do with it. But Judge made him special shoes, lifting the injured feet and allowing the injuries to heal in a good way," he says, adding that he speaks little English and Judge speaks no Chinese.

"We use sign language in daily communication and diagrams at work," Qin says.

In China, equestrian sports have become popular in recent years as people become more affluent and seek a high-class lifestyle.

However, there is no school or qualification for farriery work in China.

"If I can teach two, and they can teach another two, hopefully we can pass the professional standards to more in China," Judge says.

马术一直以来被看做是贵族运动，看着经过训练的纯种栗色马闲庭信步，小步快跑，接着抬起前蹄越过固定障碍真是一种享受！当观众为骑手和马匹还有优雅的表演鼓掌时，又有多少人想起为钉蹄师这一幕后英雄喝彩呢？

亚瑟·贾奇

贾奇在重庆凤凰湾马会工作，这是重庆的一所贵宾专属马术俱乐部。他在这里照料60头马匹，每个月，他会在这里呆上约15天，其他时间他会奔波于成都、北京、广州等城市，为这些地方的马匹服务。

贾奇在重庆的马厩里共有两个工作点，一处用来放他的工具，包括工具箱和马蹄匠锻造台，一个锻铁炉，一个煤气罐，还有一张工作台。通道的另一边是他另一个工作点，那里目前是空着的，用来招待他的顾客——马。贾奇丝毫不介意在这个不足8平米的房间内工作。尽管身高1米92，但往一匹中等个头的马边上一站，他还是显得有些矮小。

“它叫Ameng，”贾奇向我们介绍道，“它来自英国，像是一个文静秀气的小男孩。”

贾奇每天平均可以为四匹马打造铁蹄，每周平均工作四天。制作一匹马的铁蹄需要800到1200元，具体要看马蹄的特征。他说，他本可以做得更快一些，只不过铁蹄质量就降低了。在打造铁蹄前，他先会带马去遛弯，便于装上新铁蹄后观察马儿行走是否舒适。

贾奇说：“这就好像人买鞋一样，你要先试穿。”马和人不一样，他不会说话，忍耐力也比人强，观察新蹄是否舒适得看马蹄匠的经验了。

贾奇抬起Ameng的一个蹄子，之后夹在自己的大腿间，取下旧蹄，帮Ameng修理指甲，之后他在自己的工作室中找了一个型号最接近的蹄铁。贾奇敲敲打打，反复给Ameng调整试穿铁蹄，最后定位将其钉上，整个过程耗时约15分钟。贾奇说：“技术的关键是选择合适的型号和用眼睛来判断和调整。我穿9码的鞋，所以到店里我直接拿9码就行了，但是马不一样，没有标准的尺码。”

凤凰俱乐部的销售总监邓菲菲说，贾奇是国内唯一拥有钉蹄师硕士学位的人，世界上也仅有144人获此学位。2010年，贾奇获得学位，那年他23岁，成为世界上最年轻的硕士钉蹄师。

在爱尔兰，获得钉蹄师硕士学位需要经过为期3天的考试，考试内容包括为五匹马制蹄，技术理论笔试和解剖理论笔试，还要向专家介绍马匹解剖。贾奇回忆道，这可能是他人生中最煎熬的3天。

贾奇出生于爱尔兰农场，从小在马群中长大，他父亲饲养了约120至130匹马。虽然平时只在换蹄时与马有过几面之缘，但他能够辨认这些马，还能叫出它们的名字。贾奇第一次对钉蹄师这个职业感兴趣是在他7岁的时候，当时他和家里的一个朋友到英国旅游，那位朋友就是一个马蹄匠。他在12岁时开始在假期与这位家庭友人一起工作。

在英国和爱尔兰，马蹄匠都要经过正规的资格认证。爱尔兰钉蹄师学校是这一领域最负盛名的学院，贾奇在这里经过了四年的学习，所修课程包括钉蹄师技术与实践、解剖学等等。2009年获得本科学位后，贾奇在世界各地工作提高技艺，到过美国、英国。之后，他又通过测试获得了钉蹄师硕士学位。

他说他来到中国是机缘巧合。2017年，北京的一家马术俱乐部邀请爱尔兰钉蹄师联合会推荐一名钉蹄师为参赛马匹制蹄。联合会推荐了贾奇。一开始，贾奇的态度是拒绝的。他回忆道他当时说为什么是中国？中国人根本不在乎马。后来由于没人应邀，他便接下了这个为期一个月的活。

在北京，他看到了一些参赛马匹近乎一瘸一拐，他从未见过这样糟糕的景象。于是他决定留在中国，为这些马提供服务，照料这些赛马。贾奇说，这里的马没有钉上合适的铁蹄，我可以帮助它们，当马儿踩着我的铁蹄时会感到舒适，从它们的步态中可见一斑。

俱乐部的主治兽医师秦本超

秦本超说在日常交流中自己基本不会说英文，贾奇也不会说中文，“我们一般用手势和图表进行日常交流，进行工作。”

近些年，随着国民经济水平提高，人们开始追求高品味，国内马术运动越来越热，然而在中国却没有钉蹄师学校，也没有钉蹄师资格认证机构。

贾奇说，如果我能带两个徒弟，他们就能带出四个徒弟，这样不久后我就能把专业的钉蹄技术在中国传播开。