There’s a hard-working, yet beautiful secret hiding among the dirt roads and vast expanses of trees in Addison Township ? The White Horse Forge owned by Dr. Robert Becker.
Dr. Becker, a well-known equine veterinarian in Addison, has been blacksmithing since 1981. He became fascinated with the skill during a trip to Greenfield Village.
‘I went there and saw the iron work and said ‘Wow, I’d like to learn to do that,?? he remembers. ‘To shape something that is so permanent, that will be around for 100 years – it makes you stop and think.?
Dr. Becker is a long time resident of Addison Twp. He first moved to Lakeville with his family when he was eight years old – ‘I grew up right on Lakeville Lake,? Becker smiled.
After graduating from veterinarian school in 1964, Dr. Becker served in the military and then returned to Michigan to open a veterinary practice in Rochester in 1967. In 1971, he moved to Leonard, and in 1973, moved again to a property on Curtis Rd. Today, the 64-year-old vet still lives on the property with his wife Carol. The couple have four children and five grandchildren, and Dr. Becker still practices veterinary medicine, specifically for horses.
‘This property was just a field when we first bought it,? explained Dr. Becker. ‘Now look at it.?
Dr. Becker’s White Horse Forge is also located on the Curtis Rd. property. He built his own forge and has spent years collecting, creating, designing and building his tools.
‘Learning to make the tools is a very important part of the skill,? said Dr. Becker. ‘You spend most of your time on that. You have to make the tool shape and then you have to temper them the way you want them. All of this takes time, years.?
Dr. Becker learned his craft by studying under world renowned smiths such as Francis Whittaker. The Addison Twp. vet says he studied with the master for around six years.
Now Dr. Becker is a nationally known blacksmith. He teaches for up to three weeks every year and has been featured at well known blacksmithing institutions such as New England School of Blacksmithing in Maine, Touchstone in Pittsburgh and John C. Campbell’s Folk School in North Carolina. The local vet even travels to give state, national and international demonstrations at conferences.
‘I do this for the personal satisfaction that I’ve created something with my own hands,? Dr. Becker emphasized. ‘I don’t want to run a business, I want to create things with my hands.?
In fact, the hardest part about his love is the lack of understanding he often encounters from today’s ‘have it now? society.
‘The hardest part is that people do not realize the time it takes to make something by hand,? he stated. ‘They don’t appreciate it, unless they appreciate the art or that its handmade, the time it truly takes.?
An example Dr. Becker gives is when he’s asked to do a railing along a staircase in a new home. He noted that in Europe, the cost and the time needed for the ironwork is thought about and included during the planning stages, but in the U.S. the railing is nothing more than an after thought.
‘The builder will just suddenly ask ‘Do you want a wood railing or an iron?? and if the people want an iron, they often don’t realize they have to wait sometimes months,? said Dr. Becker. ‘They’re ready to move into the home and their just thinking about it. It just can’t be done the quickly.?
‘Most of my requests are individuals who want the pieces from an art standpoints, not a utilitarian perspective,? he elaborated.
Of all his designs, Dr. Becker enjoys making ‘the horse’s head? the most. The skilled craftsman learned the technique from a Seattle instructor during a conference in southern Ohio. He puts the design on almost anything.
‘The horse is a creature that I’ve enjoyed since I was a little child,? explained Becker. ‘I love being able to create them to look as much like their natural appearance as possible.?
However, Dr. Becker’s favorite piece doesn’t have a single ‘horse’s head? on the design. His favorite work belongs to a customer in Bingham Farms who requested a screen door for the front of her home.
‘I spent about a year on that one,? said Dr. Becker. ‘It was very rewarding. I was extremely proud of it. That was a hard one to let go of.?
Dr. Becker can make almost anything to suit any taste, even from scratch with no design or pattern. For more information on the White Horse Forge, please go online to www.whitehorseforge.com or e-mail whitehorseforge@sbcglobal.net.