The blacksmiths at the 29th Annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival over the weekend at William S. Hart Park in Newhall had continuous lines of people waiting to get inscribed horseshoes.  According to a blacksmith assistant who went by the nickname, Bit o’ Heaven, the group was busy all weekend and would go through about 400 horseshoes by the time the festival ended on Sunday.  “That’s 200 each,” Bit o’ Heaven said in an interview Sunday afternoon at the festival.  Two blacksmiths were doing the work. Their nicknames: Wishbone and Manflow. Bit o’ Heaven said she was assisting Manflow, who is also her husband. The three of them were with Weezee. Weezee is married to Wishbone, and she was Wishbone’s assistant.   Wishbone blacksmiths a horseshoe for a child at the Cowboy Festival at William S. Hart Park in Newhall, April 13, 2025. Kamryn Martell/The Signal And what do the assistants do? They’d hand their respective husbands/blacksmiths the letter rods they needed to inscribe each horseshoe.  Guests would approach the blacksmiths, purchase a horseshoe, and then, to the blacksmith in front of them, would say the name they wanted on their horseshoe. The blacksmith would heat up the shoe in a forge of hot coals as his assistant fished out the necessary letter rods.  Next, the blacksmith would place the hot shoe on an anvil, and letter by letter, hammer the guest’s name into the shoe. The blacksmith would then dip the shoe in cold water to cool it down, and for the final touch, often, he’d hang the shoe over his anvil, take one side of the shoe in his hand, the guest would take the other side of the shoe, and the blacksmith would bang out a melody on the anvil with his hammer so as to transfer good luck to the guest through the shoe.  Bit o’ Heaven said the two blacksmiths had been plying their trade at the Cowboy Festival for about 30 years. Manflow got into the business because he used to take part in chuck wagon cook-off competitions. In chuck wagon cook-offs, participants cook authentic chuck wagon-style meals. They’re judged — both their meals and their wagons — for historical accuracy, as determined by the American Chuck Wagon Association.   Manflow blacksmiths a horseshoe with fire at the Cowboy Festival at William S. Hart Park in Newhall, April 13, 2025. Kamryn Martell/The Signal “They (the association) set the criteria as to what should be on the wagon,” Bit o’ Heaven said. “And it needs to be a functioning wagon, with working brakes and all the right wood on it. You can’t just use plywood. And you can’t use hex-head bolts. That’s why my husband went to a blacksmith.”  It was through that blacksmith that Manflow was able to get the proper hardware for his wagon so that the wagon would be deemed authentic. He’d soon after start blacksmithing and he’d lure Wishbone into the hobby.  Wishbone and Weezee are from Lake Elsinore. Outside of the blacksmithing they were doing at the Cowboy Festival, they go by other names and grind out other trades. But they were in character during the event. Bit o’ Heaven and Manflow reside in the area of Calico. They, too, have alternate lives.   Bit o’ Heaven said she’s worked every single Cowboy Festival. In fact, that’s where she met Manflow in 1997. At the Cowboy Festival in 2000, Manflow proposed to Bit o’ Heaven before a crowd of people huddled around the blacksmithing area.  Bit o’ Heaven’s ring that was given to her by Manflow (her husband) at the Cowboy Festival in 2000, April 13, 2025. Kamryn Martell/The Signal “Even Wishbone was crying,” Bit o’ Heaven said. “He (Manflow) got down on one knee and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ By this time, I’m crying.”  As Bit o’ Heaven was wrapping up her story, Wishbone was wrapping up a personalized horseshoe for a young boy. Wishbone hung it over his anvil and grabbed one side of the shoe. The boy grabbed the other side, and Wishbone banged out a tune on the anvil. He played right along with the country music heard across the park.   Manflow, who was working on a horseshoe for a guest of his own, joined in, hammering out the same tune on his anvil.  The blacksmiths put on quite the show, entertaining two lines of people that never seemed to shorten throughout the afternoon. If precedent holds, the group will be back next year.  Wishbone (left) with Edward “Ted” Brown (blue hat), 8, hammers the “luck” into the horseshoe at the Cowboy Festival at William S. Hart Park in Newhall, April 13, 2025. Kamryn Martell/The Signal The post Cowboy Festival blacksmiths hammer out a good time appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal. ...read more read less