Kerckhaert Reaches Another Milestone

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Kerckhaert, the world’s largest and oldest independent manufacturer of horseshoes reached another milestone in 2006. The Dutch manufacturer, founded in 1916, has been operating continuously for 90 years.

The founder, Honore Kerckhaert, a blacksmith and farrier by trade, began by producing workhorse shoes in Vogelwaarde, Holland. The headquarters and main manufacturing facility are still in Vogelwaarde - managed by a fourth generation of Kerckhaert family members. Since their beginning, Kerckhaert has always worked to bring quality and innovation to the forefront of their efforts. This effort is recognized worldwide and in all disciplines, including jumping, racing, pleasure riding and event horses.

The growth of the company in recent years finally pushed them to look beyond the village boundaries. Vogelwaarde, primarily a residential village, refused Kerckhaert’s request to expand the production facility within the village limits. Not to be deterred, Kerckhaert now has a tremendous new shipping and receiving facility 10 minutes from the factory, allowing them to utilize 100% of their space in Vogelwaarde for production.

In recent years, they have installed state of the art machining centers to ensure every piece of tooling is uniform and precise. In addition to tooling, they fabricate many parts for the machinery that has been developed by Rudy Kerckhaert, (third generation and still involved in design). The equipment may well be the most sophisticated horseshoe manufacturing equipment in the world, able to produce 30+ shoes per minute. But Rudy Kerckhaert is most proud of the fact that the basic principles of today’s equipment were the same as those of his grandfather in 1916.

When you open your next box of Kerckhaert shoes, be sure to think of the history and tradition of the family owned business – and their focus on producing high quality product for your use.

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