Bo Poulsen. Born in Denmark, Bo’s natural curiosity led him to travel the world. He was involved with horses for most of his life and learned to shoe as part of being a horseman. He used shoeing as a way to pay for his first trip to the United States. When he arrived in the U.S., he first worked for Jim Farrand, and during that time he decided to start shoeing for a living.

His first trip to the U.S. was for the winter in Florida (“the Florida season”). On that first trip, he met Ruth, a prominent FEI Dressage rider. They dated for the season. They both were interested but Bo’s home was Denmark, and Ruth’s was Vermont, so it seemed too early to ask either to make such a big move. So, Bo surprised Ruth by taking a job in Vermont for the summer. Ruth also had a surprise for Bo: she took a job in north Germany at the late Herbert Rehbein’s barn, in order to be closer to Bo in Denmark. So they spent the summer commuting between Vermont, where Bo was, and Germany, where Ruth was.
Ruth and Bo have been married for the past 10 years.

The next season in Florida, Bo was shoeing in the same barn as James Gilchrist and then became his apprentice. Bo then apprenticed for James Gilchrist for 5 years. Bo has been shoeing for the Piaffe-Performance barn for the past 2 years and has made a positive contribution to our horses health and happiness!