He came to us, not us to him.
Thus is tradition altered
Beneath the hammer of the modern age
And in the butane-roar of the van-portable forge.
He gave a soothing stroke upon the flank.
Thus is tradition maintained
Beneath the hammer in the farrier’s hand
And in the ageless clang of iron upon iron.
Horseshoes glowing incandescent, malleable.
Thus are tradition and technology wrought as one in stabled calm.
Horseshoes shaped, and fashioned to the hooves
By this modern and blue-jeaned analogy
Of that fusty, dusty, coal-black magician,[1]
Half-remembered in the reminiscent haze and tempered hiss
Of singeing hoof-smoke’s redolence, that steaming cools;
The which proclaiming: “Shoes complete;”
All that’s remaining: – nail them to the feet!
The hands that clipped and filed,
And calmed the fractious horse with understanding pats,
Now beat staccato -
twankydillo – [2]
ratatats -
As -
nails in teeth -
the farrier’s quavered rhythm taps -
An eight bar hammer on each shoe he  raps -
Then ralantando,[3] four bar crotchet rasps.
Thus goes this modern magic!
Thus goes the blacksmith’s twelve bar blues![4]
And ‘Hadley Chase’, ex-hurdler,
Has four brand-new shoes!

[1] cf. The traditional English folk song: ‘The Two Magicians’, in which the blacksmith pursues the witch for her favours, each shape-shifting to achieve their opposing aims.  In folklore all smiths were believed to hold magic powers.

[2] cf. The traditional English folk song ‘Twankydillo’, being a romanticized account of a blacksmith’s day to day existence.  It is purely a piece of onomatopoeia, as is the more modern ‘ratatats’, while staccato is a musical instruction producing a similar effect.

[3] A musical instruction to slow down.  N.B. The crotchet note is twice the length of the quaver.

[4] A musical form commonly found in traditional jazz.  The melody,is covered in 12 bars. cf. ‘Frankie & Johnny’.