When Great Western harness racing trainer Michelle Wight retired her durable pacer Wheatsheaf Avaball nearly three years ago, she wanted to have something unique to remember her old mate.
She picked up the welder to make something to keep from the last set of shoes "Charlie" had raced in – and a passion for rustic horseshoe art was born.
Michelle's been welding and creating ever since – with orders coming in from "friends of friends of friends" and her work now being sold at Central Highlands regional markets and a local winery.
"I just wanted to make something special for Charlie, because he is special," Michelle said.
"We retired him after start 200 and we knew he was going to retire then. So I got some photos taken that night, I took his shoes off and I made a picture frame from the shoes," she said.
Michelle’s most enjoyable projects are photo frames requested by owners for their “special horses”
"Now I make all sorts of things, but still the ones I really enjoy most are where people ask me to make something from the shoes of their special horse or horses."
Wheatsheaf Avaball (Presidential Ball – Dontsayawordbut (Safely Kept) retired with 17 wins, 26 seconds and 35 thirds to his name – the 35th third was at his final start at Melton, driven by Michelle.
To watch the video replay click here.
"I didn't do much more with the artwork at that time, although I did make a frame for Frances Annie (Safely Kept – Sunelle (Sundon) when she retired about a year later (15w-8-13 for $100,779 in stakes) because she was pretty special too," Michelle said.
"Dad (legendary Great Western horseman Peter Manning) showed me the basics of how to weld, and I've never had any lessons – just trial and error.
"But I really got going with the art when I came across a guy in Stawell about a year ago who was using horseshoes to make spheres. It just twigged something in me, and he was good enough to explain how to do them and I just started – and I've never really stopped!"
Michelle said the horseshoe spheres are made using a plough disc as a mould.
"The shape of the plough disc basically means that if you keep following the mould, the horseshoes will join up and form a perfect ball," she said.
"But that first one was probably the hardest job I ever did because I unfortunately chose a big plough disc – which meant a big ball, and a lot of welding! I can do small, medium and large balls now, but I think I've only ever done one more of the large ones!
Garden Art by Michelle
"I love making the flowers, and people seem to like them because they're really popular. But I like to make one-off sculptures, as well. I have quite a few on display and for sale at Best's Winery, which is just down the road."
Michelle said finding the resources for her art creations was sometimes a challenge.
"With the garden art, I don't always know what I'll make, and often it's a matter of creating what you can. I find bits and pieces of scrap metal, often from dad's junk pile, and form them into something. It's a bit like making a cake from the ingredients you have, rather than the other way round!
"But I'm always happy to receive steel shoes from anyone who wants to get rid of some. As well as what I had here, I had a couple of big 44-gallon drums of shoes from dad to get me going and a couple of trainers have dropped me off some bags of shoes.
"Any size, any shape, pony shoes, hack shoes, pacing shoes – any sort of steel shoe is great, because I need different sizes for different jobs," she said.
"I use up the good ones first, but when you get down to the rustier ones, there's a lot more work in getting the rust off so that you get a good hold with the weld. Actually, a lot of the time is taken up in preparation, getting rust off, getting nails out and straightening out the shoes."
Some of Michelle’s creations
Michelle, who works as an estimator for Hotondo Homes, said busy times at work had caused her to reduce her team back to three.
"I've only got one racing at the moment, Outback Shadow (Shadow Play – Charlotte Church (Christian Cullen) who's a half-sister to Wrappers Delight. She's a very honest bread and butter horse who's doing a good job for us," she said.
"I still like to find time for the artwork though. There's nothing better than heading out to the shed and being a bit creative. And I am getting better as I go – I originally had an arc welder, but last Christmas I asked for a MIG welder, and that's meant my work's better, and there's a lot less swearing!"
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura