By Amanda Moses
It starts and ends with a simple sound—the clatter of hooves. For NYPD’s farrier horseshoer, Marcus Martinez Jr. this one sound can help him determine the stability, comfort, and even health of a horse.
“I get to work with these wonderful animals every day. And I get to make sure that they’re well taken care of in terms of their feet, safety, they’re safe out in the street, and I get to look out for their health overall,” Martinez said, showcasing that with over two decades experience he has become extremely in tune with these majestic animals.
“My job is to balance the foot to the horse, his spinal cord and skeletal structure, so when he lands, he lands as flat and as comfortably as possible. I can also hear it; I can hear the footfall and hear when they are working too hard or when they are not landing as flat as they should be. I also pay attention to their walk, I can see that, I can almost feel that,” he added.
Martinez works at 530 West 53rd Street, an area that one would not think houses horses. Sandwiched between a luxury apartment building and a Mercedes car dealership, the NYPD’s Mounted Unit Troop B headquarters holds about 27 stalls (along with amenities to make the horses feel comfortable and an indoor ring for them to roam).
As Martinez brought out Montauk, a beautiful brown and black seven-year-old horse, the farrier’s unbridled passion could be sensed. A specialist in equine hoof care for the NYPD’s four-legged hefty patrol, he ensures that these creatures are comfortable while patrolling the city streets with their riders.
While some may think the mounted unit is a part of a bygone era, the NYPD proudly showcases horses as an important part of the department.
“They’re approachable. If you see an officer on horseback, you’re gonna walk up to that horse because everybody is interested in horses. They’re beautiful. They’re unique,” Martinez said.
However, just because Martinez gets to hang out with horses doesn’t mean he’s horsing around all day. His day starts at 6am, checks a note board to see if anything is going on specifically with the animals, and then follows a full schedule of horse care. Martinez assures that at the NYPD’s Mounted Unit Troop B headquarters each of the horses receive 24-hour care and interaction with humans.
“So, they have constant observation, and they are interacting with humans constantly, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Martinez said.
In fact, much of Martinez’s time is spent hunched over a horse’s hooves and legs, feeling the muscles, filing and scrapping around the hooves all in order to prepare them for their new horseshoes (which can be replaced as often as every five to six weeks). The whole process is similar to a nail manicure, albeit with a blacksmith element.
Martinez measures up a horseshoe to the horse’s hoof, and then heats it inside of metal furnace so that he can take his time hammering away at it upon an anvil to make sure it has the most optimal fit.
“So basically, what you have is an unprotected hoof on a very hard surface on New York City streets. That’s really hard macadam blacktop cement. Also, what happens is these horses carry weight, they carry a rider. So, if you were to take just a regular plain shoe and put them on, they’d be sliding everywhere. I put a shoe on, and I also add traction so that these guys can walk back and forth comfortably. The horse is confident and the riders are confident, which makes everybody safe,” Martinez said.
Photo by Amanda Moses
