HE’s the master farrier employed by top show jumpers and has now established himself in China where the job offers continue to roll in. And while he may have the Asian world at his feet, you quickly discover that Arthur Judge is still the same likeable, obliging individual as when he worked around the east Galway area.

Catching up with Ahascragh-born Judge though proved to be a challenge. ‘First World problems’ from phone networks to cancelled Lufthansa flights and delays at Heathrow meant touchdown at Beijing coincided just before his departure to Korea, where his skills are also in demand.

Judge sees a lot of Beijing airport as this year he has clocked up 84 flights within China. Air travel is often the quickest means of transport for the only qualified farrier in China as his customers are spread around a country greater in size than Australia.

Another form of transport is his new truck which, as he explains, has also led to further acceptance: “In January I bit the bullet and bought my own truck and once I did that, people have more confidence as they know I’m here to stay.”

Not only is trust an essential part of doing business in China, there are also the complexities of car ownership. In a bid to reduce traffic in the main cities, prospective owners must first apply using a lottery system to obtain a number plate. Access to Beijing city centre during rushhour depends on which digit the number plate ends in, a system which rotates throughout the year.

These and other regulations, including a ban on social media sites such as Facebook, are part of the Chinese culture shock for expats living there. Arthur though has settled in since he arrived in August 2012 after 18 months working in America. This was mainly on the Florida show circuit, where coincidentally one of his four-legged clients was Cedric, Laura Kraut’s Beijing Olympics team gold medallist horse.

“When I went to Wellington, you see many different cultures. I was also shoeing for all the Irish show jumpers - Shane Sweetnam Richie Moloney, Darragh Kenny, Darragh Kerins and Andrew Bourns,” he lists.

“I came home and was waiting for a new American work permit to come through. Then I got a call from Jeremy Stanley who said there’s someone in Beijing who wants a farrier for two months.” That was Austin Melia, who had contacted Damian McDonald in Horse Sport Ireland, who in turn put Melia in touch with Stanley, chairman of the Irish Master Farrier Association.

“So I came here for two months and I remember on the first day I wanted to go home! I was about an hour and a half from Beijing, in rural, rural China, no Western food and only Austin and Dandan spoke English.”

Melia’s assistant Dandan Huang is another reason Arthur has since settled in. “I met her about four hours after getting off the plane in China, she was sitting outside my room trying to get Wi-Fi sorted for me,” recalls Arthur. The couple have been to Ireland twice when Dandan met his parents Arthur and Patricia and sister Louise, plus the family’s coloured Talarias stallion, Millenium Star.

“Ireland was really nice and so green, I loved it,” says Dandan, whose interpretation skills proved invaluable at the Horse Fair. “I’ve an understanding of the Chinese language but unless you went to school here or study it full-time, its difficult to learn,” added Arthur. The language barrier, when one word can have four different meanings depending on the Chinese intonation, is one hurdle. “And then ‘Horse English’ is completely different from ordinary English. I don’t think there’s a person in China with better ‘Horse English’ than Dandan as she also knows her horse anatomy, whereas other translators just wouldn’t know a tendon from a ligament.”

MASTER CRAFT

Diagnostic work and remedial shoeing are part of a master farrier’s craft and Judge works closely with top French veterinary surgeon Vincent Goudin, who pays frequent visits to China. “He was at the Beijing and Athens Olympics but there are very few vets here. Every Chinese stable has a farrier but he’s also grooming horses, cleaning stables, teaching and doing general work. So each yard would already have the fire and anvil, I just need to carry the hand tools.”

Nutrition is another area which dovetails with Connollys Red Mills foothold in the Chinese market. It’s a product Judge was already well acquainted with from his former Saturday job in Joe Murray’s feedstore in Ballinasloe.

“I could not speak more highly of Arthur Judge. He is today considered the master farrier of China and has been offered all sorts of opportunities. What a wonderful way to bring horsemanship into China than two great guys like Arthur and Austin Melia,” Michael Connolly said the following day at the Horse Fair.

The respect is mutual.

“Michael is one of the soundest ‘foreigners’ I’ve met in China. You can ask him anything and he’ll tell you what he thinks, he’s seen all aspects. We have the perfect working relationship – not financial – but if Michael goes into a yard and sees an opportunity for me, he’ll let me know. Likewise, if a yard is having a problem with feed, I’ll have some brochures in the jeep and say ‘there you go, contact their nutritionist’. Good feed makes the horse’s body and feet better, that has to make my job better,” said their roving ambassador, who proudly wore his Red Mills jacket to the Horse Fair reception organised by Paul Kavanagh, the Irish ambassador to China.

Also lightening his workload, which includes shoeing for the Mongolian show jumping team and Coolmore, is the arrival of newly-qualified master farrier Rory Giles from Summerhill. “Rory’s grandfather trained Niall Foley in Dunshaughlin who trained both of us. Basically I’m self-employed and now Rory is here to see what it’s like for two months. He’s got other job offers from Newmarket and America but here is such an undeveloped country that if you’re first in the door, you have a serious chance.”

Job opportunities from as far afield as Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong are other options for Judge.

“There’s lots of offers floating around. Do I switch to consulting, carry on shoeing or is there a happy medium? With Rory behind the anvil making shoes – and he topped his class making shoes by a country mile – it’s now a complete package. So if he likes it here, I’ve said ‘you’ll work with me, not for me.’”

How is he coping without his former Irish pastimes of fishing and following his favourite football team Manchester United?

“Struggling! I don’t have time to think about fishing and while we get football on Beijing television, I watched one Man United match recently and it must have been the first time in a year that I’ve sat down to watch TV.”

Success stories often mean days off are a rarity. “This year so far I’d say I’ve had eight or nine days off. We don’t go by days of the week off like Saturday or Sunday, we go by dates.”

Some of that free time was spent showing his mother and sister around when they visited him and Dandan in August. So what essential Irish treats did they bring over? “Jaffa Cakes and Dairy Milk chocolate! Louise was here before in 2007 before the Olympics but not to Beijing and it was my mother’s first visit to China so it was a great chance for her to see the country.”

He had another of those rare nights off to celebrate his 28th birthday recently with the other Irish expats, “And that was 21 years after I helped put my first horseshoe on” added the popular farrier who proudly flies the Irish flag in China.