Farrier gallops to success on world stage

A Dargaville farrier has won third place in the world blacksmith championships with a shoe he specially forged for the competition.
Matthew Breed, 29, was one of only two New Zealanders in the "mail-in" section of the world championship held  in Canada  last month.
It is the second time Mr Breed, a fourth-generation farrier,  had entered the competition.
Last year, he took sixth place so he  was "pretty rapt" with his third place result out of  32 blacksmiths from around the world.
The competition is held over four days as part of the annual Calgary Stampede. The mail-in allows those unable to attend the event to participate in one of the forging (making the shoe from a steel bar) competitions. Specifications are posted several months before the Stampede, giving farriers time to perfect their shoe before forwarding it to the Calgary judges. Points are allocated for the forging, dimensions, nail fit and placement, level and finishing of the shoe.
Horses and blacksmithing are almost an inheritance in the Breed family so it was only natural that Mr Breed picked up the trade.
He started pulling shoes when he was about 13. His late father, Jim, and a few family friends showed him the ropes.
Back then it went in hand with the breeding and training of the standardbred horses owned by the family.
However, at 18 with a few spare hours in between harness driving as a trainer and junior driver, Mr Breed decided to pick up a few dollars by doing a bit of shoeing around the district.
 Eleven years later, he now operates his own business and   still owns and races horses in partnership with his brother and step mother.
 Keen to learn more, he has joined the New Zealand Farrier Association as a trainee and will be fully qualified in September.
It's a job he loves. "Couldn't imagine doing anything else," he says.
"One day I want to get to Calgary and compete - that would be a real buzz."
Intending to enter the New Zealand competitions at Masterton in September, he hopes to continue on his previous successes and may look at the draft horses competitions at a later date.
He now employs another farrier for three days of the week and, between them, they shoe  about 50-90 horses a week.
Mr Breed's wife, Shannon handles the bookings and administration. .
The other New Zealander, Mark Gumbley from Matamata, who is working in Canada, made 11th place.