Millwater Books In Print 2025...

 

Millwater's Farriery:
The Illustrated Dictionary of Horseshoeing and Hoofcare:
Encyclopedic Reference for Professionals, Students, and Horseowners.

The encyclopedic dictionary of the art and science of farriery, designed for cross-referencing. Well illustrated with appendices of full-page illustrations, historical reference material, and resource guides.
This is the culmination of out farriery lexicon project started in 1994.

Paperback $22.50     Hardcover $36.50    Kindle eBook $9.95
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1466444819/




Shoe Your Own Damned Horse!

 SYODH! is comprehensive but good-humored primer for horse owners who want (or need) to learn how to trim or shoe their own animals, written by a veteran professional farrier and horseman.

Well illustrated, and with emphasis on practical economy.

Sections on hoof and limb anatomy, essential biomechanics, hoof handling, trimming for barefoot, tools and their functions, horseshoe choice/modification and application, cold and hot shoeing, managing common faults and pathologies, and even how to build a forge.  Lots of practical, insider hints sprinkled throughout.

Paperback $9.95
https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Your-Own-Damned-Horse/dp/B0DGF3CZVD





The New Dictionary of Farrier Terms and Technical Language.
The 9th and final "New Dictionary" of the series before the jump to MILLWATER'S FARRIERY. 

Paperback $18.12
https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Farrier-Terms-Technical-Language/dp/1449594689/






The New Dictionary of Farrier Terms and Technical Language.
The tenth anniversary edition, coil-bound, no-less.  For the completionists out there.

Coil bound $13.42
https://www.lulu.com/shop/dave-millwater/new-dictionary-of-farrier-terms/paperback/product-1k9gr6.html




MILLWATER'S FARRIERY:
Deluxe Hardcover.
The AMAZON hardcover is a bit less expensive, and pretty nice.  But, as of the production of my proof copies, the LULU production quality was a little better.  (Amazon's hardcover printing might have improved, it was in beta then.)  Though they did manage a humorous SNAFU by sending me one copy with our cover wrapped around a completely unrelated book.  They make good on such errors quickly though.

Hardcover $50.00
https://www.lulu.com/shop/dave-millwater/millwaters-farriery-the-illustrated-dictionary-of-horseshoeing-and-hoofcare/hardcover/product-1wzpq4rz.html


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Guild of Professional Farriers Publications.

   The Guild has been dormant for some time now, but was an influential player in American farriery in the '90s and first part of this century.  These booklets are maintained for historical reference.  The .PDF downloads are free.  (Sorry about the hassle of checkout.  That's the PoD service's hang-up.)  The printed versions are at the PoD production cost.

   Note:  URLs an mail addresses in these old publications are out of date.




Registered Journeyman Farrier Exam Guide

$4.72 Paperback
https://www.lulu.com/shop/dave-millwater/rjf-exam-guide/paperback/product-1zdrpk.html

Free Download
https://www.lulu.com/shop/dave-millwater/rjf-exam-guide/ebook/product-1rgy5d8v.html

New Guild Chronicle #1

Includes the content of the RJF Exam Guide, other Guild material, and articles from Guild President Henry Heymering on the Strasser barefoot trim fad and weight-bearing mechanisms of the hoof.
 
$7.53 Coil bound
https://www.lulu.com/shop/dave-millwater/guild-chronicle/paperback/product-1jzpw6.html

Free Download
https://www.lulu.com/shop/dave-millwater/guild-chronicle/ebook/product-1qzp6zjn.html

New Guild Chronicle #2

Includes the Guild's constitution and bylaws as they stood in 2005.

$5.88 Paperback
https://www.lulu.com/shop/dave-millwater/new-guild-chronicle-2/paperback/product-1qvwjr.html

Free Download
https://www.lulu.com/shop/dave-millwater/new-guild-chronicle-2/ebook/product-1gv6rnwd.html

. . .

-30-

Merry Christmas!!!

   Of course, we never have a White Christmas 'round here. But this picture is from some years back when we came kinda' close.

   It snowed every week of December. Still managed to be snow-free for Christmas, then it snowed on Boxing Day!

~ ~ ~

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Black Friday Coming...

 

   Okay...  The big political circus has wound-down a bit, now we look-up and see that the holidays are coming at us fast!

   So let's get a head-start on Black Friday sale pricing by knocking Millwater Publishing's newest release "SHOE YOUR OWN DAMNED HORSE!" down to $11.50 on Amazon.

   All Amazon Prime delivery, reward points, and other discounts apply.

https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Your-Own-Damned-Horse/dp/B0DGF3CZVD

- - -

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Handy Tool for Farriers!

 FARRIERS!

   Do you have some of 'those' clients?  Always thinks you're doing it wrong, because of something a trainer, vet, riding instructor, Social Media expert, or random person at the tack shop said? 

   Here is a succinct way to reply...

   Hand them a copy of, or at least forward them a link to...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGF3CZVD

   Maybe they'll take the hint.  ;)

#farrier  #hoofcare  #horsecare
.

Why would you want or need to shoe your own horses?

 Excerpt from Shoe Your Own Damned Horse!

Why would you want or need to shoe your own horses?

   I'd be the first to agree that a good, professional farrier is worth twice his fee.  But, with things going the way they are, a lot of horseowners are liable to have trouble coming up with half of what a pro farrier has to charge to stay in business, or may not have the option of hiring one at all due to career shoers needing to consolidate their services to the most lucrative stables.

   It's been said that equines are a luxury in modern times.  So, if folks can't afford to pay for essential things like hoof care, they just shouldn't have horses at all.  But I'm not too crazy about the idea of restricting the Horse World to just the wealthy elite as the Middle Class withers away.  Heck!  With petroleum prices as volatile as they've become, ordinary Americans might just be back to horse and buggy anyway.

   Even during the boom years of the 1990s, when I was an officer of a national organization of professional farriers, I frequently received calls from horseowners telling me that there were no real farriers available in their areas.  Sometimes what these callers really meant was "Nobody wants to come shoe for beer money."  But often their claims proved true and I couldn't find a decent journeyman taking on clients within a hundred miles of them.

   The ever-increasing standards of pro farriery, as well as the advancements in the science, have since contributed to the stratification of the trade between expensively equipped, trained hoofcare technicians and jackleg shoe-horsers. 

   So horseowners may find themselves with few options:  Expending considerable effort and treasure to haul their horse to the nearest qualified farrier willing to take them on...  Settling for the local Cheap John horseshoer and hoping for the best...  Or resorting to one of the magic barefoot trim or horseshoe alternative fads.

   Or you could learn to do it yourself.  Of course, no collection of printed pages can teach you to do that without some real world training.  But this book may give you some idea of what you're getting into.

- - -

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Fire... So easy a caveman can do it?

 

Excerpt from SHOE YOUR OWN DAMNED HORSE!

   At our regional farrier group's first public clinic, one of our
guys broke out his most recent acquisition. An antique, but fully
functional roll-out coal forge. Like most horseshoers circa 1990,
his experience was almost entirely in gas forges. He poured the
pan full of green (uncoked) coal, stuffed some paper in over the
grate, lit it, and started cranking away.

   In a few seconds the paper was blown away as ash and the
forge was still cold.

   So he tried again. With more paper, harder cranking. After
several attempts with no success, he got a bit frustrated and
went for the gasoline.

   I backed up several steps.

   Coal got soaked with gas, match was tossed-in, and our guy
cranked the blower like a madman, resulting in a spectacular
pillar of flame straight out of The Ten Commandments... For the
twenty seconds or so it took for the gas to burn away. Then our
intrepid blacksmith was left with non-burning coal, singed
beard, and a smoldering cap brim.

   At this point he seemed ready to accept assistance, so I got a
scoop of burning coke out of my forge, put it over the grate of
his, mounded-up the coal around it, wet-down the outer stuff,
and cranked easy 'til we had a proper fire going.

- - -

.

SHOE YOUR OWN DAMNED HORSE! Release.

 

Press Release

MILLWATER PUBLISHING
Dave Millwater
SYODH@MillwaterPublishing.com

For immediate release.

SHOE YOUR OWN DAMNED HORSE! LAUNCHED.

Comprehensive yet good-natured paperback primer for horse owners who want (or need) to learn how to trim or shoe their own animals.  Written by a veteran farrier and horseman. Well illustrated, and with emphasis on practical economy.

[Dateline: Albemarle, NC, September 23, 2024]  --  Sometimes there really isn't a professional around when you need one.  Social and economic trends are likely to make it difficult for many horseowners to access the services of competent farriers.  SYODH! is designed to be a light overview of what is involved to adequately service one's own horses, as opposed to a heavy textbook intended for aspiring professional horseshoers.  It includes basics of hoof and limb evaluation, hoof trimming for barefoot or shoeing, shoe selection, modification, and application.  Also covered are tool selection and production. 

Millwater Publishing was started thirty years ago to release the first modern lexicon of farriery, The Pocket Dictionary of Farrier Terms and Technical Language (LCCN 94158685), which was followed by eight, ever-expanding editions of The New Dictionary of Farrier Terms and Technical Language, and finally culminated in the illustrated, encyclopedic Millwater's FARRIERY.  (Dave Millwater's extended bio is available on his Amazon author page, linked from the aforementioned book pages.)

Shoe Your Own Damned Horse!
ISBN: ‎ 9798338547410
Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGF3CZVD

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Download Press Release PDF.