AS the saying goes “what’s for you won’t pass you by” and this is certainly the case for Wicklow farrier, Paul O’Reilly. Based in Wellington since 2019, he is considered one of the best in the field, with many titles to show for it.

In January, he won the Florida state contest, claiming two of the three classes and also won the best shod foot and the overall title. In addition to a thriving business in Wellington, Paul is firmly settled in America with his wife, Jessica Forend-O’Reilly and his son Emmet, who is just 15 months old.

Paul met his wife at a barn, while shoeing dressage and sport horses. The two purchased a farm in Loxahatchee, which is now the home to Jessica’s impressive dressage training business, Noépe Dressage.

Born in Donard, West Wicklow, O’Reilly has always had an association with horses. As an early teen, he did a lot of endurance racing and also fox hunted with the Kildare Hunt. With the encouragement of the family farrier, Micheal Byrne, he pursued this career path. Paul would go out with Michael on Saturdays and learn the early stages of the craft.

With a keen interest now planted, Paul attended an open house at the Irish School of Farriery and it was there that he met Martin Leahy, the farrier at the Irish National Stud.

Although Paul was eager to attend the prestigious programme, he had yet to secure the required apprenticeship. As summer drew to a close, he received an unexpected call from Mia Malley, the head of the Irish School of Farriery, informing him that he would be starting that fall. Martin Leahy had agreed to be his master farrier and so this success story began.

Paul would later go on to work in the most prestigious barns in the world and win some of the most coveted titles. The interest in the competitive side began in Ireland. “I was probably the greenest out of my class, when I started at the shoeing school,” Paul told The Irish Field. “We were there for seven months before we started our apprenticeship.

“One of the instructors, Mr John McLoughlin was over the Irish team at the time. He was the one who encouraged some of us to go to a contest in Clonmel. I was three months in school and by far the most inexperienced out of the bunch. I competed in the first- and second-year class and won. From there on, I had been bitten by the bug.

“Before we finished shoeing school, John yet again encouraged me to go to the apprentice team trial up in Enniskillen.

"It was just six months into my shoeing career, when I became the alternate on the Irish apprentice team.

"My four team mates were all fourth years. From there on out, and guided by John, I didn’t miss a contest around Ireland and even took in the odd one in Scotland.

“I competed for the next three years in Ireland and, shortly after my apprenticeship finished, I got the honour of representing Ireland at the Euro skill contest in Rotterdam, Holland. There, myself and teammate Rauri Brennan finished second and I took home the individual bronze medal.”

Paul O'Reilly with Blake Schaefer (left) and David York

American dream

Between school and competitions, Paul spent four years building a solid foundation in forging, toolmaking and shoeing, before looking for opportunities outside Ireland.

“I left Ireland in February 2009 for a year,” he said with a laugh. “My original plan was to go to America and fill a position as a broodmare farm farrier in Lexington, Kentucky for a year and then go on to Australia, New Zealand and then back home and set up my business.

“After a year doing the farm work, I was offered a job I couldn’t pass up with Dc Brian Fraley. Brian was an equine podiatrist, who had just joined forces with the largest equine hospital in the world, Hagyards. I stayed with Brian for three years learning. It was fascinating, as we only worked on lameness cases and usually just from the knee down. It was there that I really got to witness the effects farriers can have.

“Towards the end of the third year, I started shoeing some lame show jumpers around Lexington and, all of a sudden, I was shoeing about 40 or 50 and the riders asked me to travel to Wellington to continue shoeing their horses. At this stage, I had never heard of Wellington. And the rest is history!” Paul explained.

Eyes open

The skills Fraley helped instill were invaluable. “Brian really opened my eyes to what we can do as farriers for lameness issues. When you can see an x-ray feed and see what you’re doing with mechanics, that’s a huge help. I can talk to these top vets and use their terminology. And we can come up with a good solid plan, instead of ‘let’s try it and see’.”

One of the biggest draws for Paul was that he is his own boss and that there was no end to how far you can go in a career as a farrier.

“There’s so many paths within the industry itself. From shoeing specific disciplines to travelling the world showing or to a quiet life of just shoeing around at home and still being able to set your own hours and make it work around you.

“The best part is you are never finished learning. It’s endless, so there’s always something exciting around the corner.

“I would highly recommend to anyone who has finished their apprenticeship to seek out a job with one of those big clinics for even six months or a year. It has forwarded my career by probably 30 years. All the new technologies and just getting to see strange case after strange case and how to communicate with veterinarians and clients/riders was huge.”

Paul is the first to admit that riders are now more in tune with what is required and they are aware of the consequence of bad shoeing. “Nowadays, top riders are very tuned in to their horses’ feet! And the rider can be unbelievably valuable, when trying to figure out something tricky with a horse.

“A rider with a good feel is as good as having three vets looking at the horse. They do research on every new thing that pops up on the internet, so it’s our job to try what makes sense and to steer them away from what doesn’t. You have to be able to communicate with your rider and vet and make a plan that’s best suited for the horse. If you all make a plan and the horse improves, so does the rider’s confidence and that’s a winning formula in my book.”

Paul is another example of a success story in Wellington, Florida. With hard work and dedication, he has built up a strong business. Although firmly rooted in Wellington, he enjoys the influx of Irish around the winter months. Over the years, he has shod for many of the Irish riders, such as Conor Swail, Daniel Coyle, Captain Brian Cournane, Conan Conway, David Blake and even filled in for Cian O’ Connor, when his farrier wasn’t there.

“There is never a dull moment when the Irish crew is around and it’s a time I look forward to every year.”