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By Charlie Spiering
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
After commuting from Pennsylvania to work in Virginia, Farrier Chris Volk decided to move to Rappahannock County with his wife Cynthia.
“We are both horse people and we both like open space,” said Cynthia who added, “we ended up leaving Pennsylvania because of over-development.”
Volk first traveled to do work in Virginia about five years ago after an area horse trainer, Sharon White, pleaded for him to shoe her horses. “I told her to find a days worth of work for me and I would make the trip,” Volk said with a chuckle. Word spread, however, and Volk found himself spending more and more time in Virginia’s horse country. “It was getting to a point where I was picking up more business in Virginia and losing business in Pennsylvania,” he said. Ready for business
Now Volk plans to continue his farrier business, Homeville Forge, in Rappahannock County and the surrounding areas.
“A farrier does the job that used to be part of a blacksmith’s job,” Volk explained, noting that a farrier professionally trims hoofs and shoes horses.
Volk keeps all of his equipment on his Ford F-250 work truck, and travels to where ever he is needed. If necessary, Volk has the ability and tools to forge special shoes to fit a horse’s particular needs on the spot.
“People have put a lot of money into their horses,” Volk said, noting that there is a slim margin for error in the farrier business. “It all has to be right from shaping the shoe, trimming the hooves, and nailing the shoes in the right place.”
Volk is certified at the highest level offered by the American Farrier’s Association (AFA). Although England requires a license to be a farrier, America does not require a farrier to be certified.
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