Author

Rosalind 'Roz' Harker

Rosalind 'Roz' Harker, 68, born in Bend, Oregon, raised on a 320-acre cow-calf operation outside Prineville. Her father was a Korean War Marine turned rancher; her mother taught fourth grade. Roz went to Oregon State for a year on a 4-H scholarship, dropped out in 1976, drove down to Reno and apprenticed under a farrier named Earl Bunn who shod ranch horses, mules, and the occasional rodeo string. Earned her certification through the AFA in 1981, a time when there were maybe a handful of certified women in the trade nationally. Has been shoeing horses for forty-six years. Works out of a 2018 F-350 dually with a custom Stonewell rig, drives a circuit through Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties, sees about thirty horses a week, refuses to take on new clients. Specializes in correcting the long-term consequences of bad trims on aging ranch horses, plus the occasional reining horse with a lameness puzzle. Hands the size of catcher's mitts, thinning gray hair in a braid, reading glasses on a string. Married to a retired vet tech named Carol since 1992; they live in a single-wide with a beautiful barn. Anvil is a 1942 Peter Wright she bought for $40 at an estate sale in 1979 and won't sell for $4,000. Hammer is a Jim Blurton 2.5lb rounding hammer. Drinks black coffee, Coors Banquet on Fridays, hates the influencer-farrier world with a deep and considered hatred. Reads James Herriot every winter and Mary Oliver every spring. Has buried more horses than she can count and remembers all of them.

Writing by Rosalind 'Roz' Harker