Patrick Finnegan is an experienced horseman, farrier, and engineer, that understands well the “no feet, no horse” saying.
For decades, his mission has been to help horses have better feet.
After retiring as an engineering lecturer, he created simple teaching tools to teach basic hand and manual handling skills to veterinary students.
Patrick wished that they could pass them on to horse owners to reduce avoidable feet problems and handler strains and injuries.
During his many visits to The University of Liverpool’s Leahurst Campus on the Wirral, Patrick met students who had volunteered abroad, mainly in African countries.
They explained to Patrick that one of the main problems for equines in developing countries was the lack of simple tools to enhance the welfare of equines and their owners’ lives.
Patrick also had the opportunity to work with the charities Gambia horse and Donkey Trust and Horse Sense Wirral offering humane handling and equine welfare training while he travel to UK mainland.
While working with the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust he realised that improving the lives of equines had a powerful effect on the income of the owners of those animals, as they stated it on their website:
It was during the lockdown while researching in-depth equine welfare problems in the developing world that Patrick realised the severity of it.
He learned that simple tools could help people to better care for their donkeys, mules, and horses. This is when Finnegan Tools was borne, as not only he was going to produce hoof stands, in his former Finnegan Equine company aimed for the care of horses in the British Isles, but he wanted to use his expertise as tool maker in creating some tools which could make life easier for communities in need.
In the last 3 years and thanks to the power of social media, Patrick has been able to make connections with different groups and individuals who are working with the same mission as him.
One of the first tools that Patrick invented is a simple loom to make humane harnesses to help animals avoid developing skin wounds due to poor harnesses.
Finnegan tools’ business model is simple, every hoof stand you purchase provides a full starter pack of loom kits so that a class of 60 students can learn how to hand weave harness belts using baler twine as the main component.
We send the looms overseas to well-established welfare training groups that become partners in the mission.
Last year Laura Finnegan joined Finnegan Tools to help Patrick in this mission, helping him to consolidate it as a Social Enterprise. Laura, a Veterinary Surgeon graduated from the prestigious School of Veterinary College from the National University of Mexico, has worked most of her professional life as welfare advocate for stray dogs and as a lecturer in Animal Management and Care in the Further Education Sector in the UK, advocating for the welfare of animals of any kind. Laura is also an advocate for the empowerment of women, so she is nothing but delighted to be part of this project!
If you think that would like to help this project too do not delay buying a hoof stand today so Finnegan Tools can send more tools to whoever needs them!
