About
A lifetime spent
listening to horses.
Member of the International Union of Journeyman Horseshoers. Fifty years of Thoroughbred racehorses, hunter jumpers, cow horses — and the horse tied to the tree behind the barn.
- Hall of Fame, 1978 pioneer
- Santa Anita
- Hollywood Park
- Del Mar
- 1984 Olympic Games
The Record
Biography
Ada Gates Patton is a member of the International Union of Journeyman Horseshoers with over 50 years’ experience shoeing Thoroughbred racehorses, hunter jumpers, cow horses, and the horse tied to the tree behind the barn.
Born and raised in New York, Ada rode in horse shows and foxhunting, settled in the Western Rockies, studied horseshoeing to care for her own horse, and continued a career in California shoeing the top racehorses at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, and Del Mar.
Ada was inducted into the American Farriers Hall of Fame and received the Edward Martin Humanitarian Award.
Ada consults on farrier work to improve the comfort of horses privately, in clinics, and internationally through live online platforms.
Listen
The Path
From a New York show ring
to the shedrow at Santa Anita.
“The horse’s opinion is the only opinion that matters.” Ada Gates Patton
Today
Legendary farrier.
Full-time educator.
Ada’s work now is consultation and education — farrier to farriers to owners, trainers and veterinarians who stand at the other end of the lead rope.
A case can be reviewed by video from anywhere on earth. A ruler can be shipped. A clinic floor can hold sixteen farriers who all leave measuring the same way. A lifetime of expertise, made transferable.
