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"The Dummy Leg" - invented by my grandfather Captain Charles Budd
Captain Charles Budd, inventor of the "dummy leg"
two photographs, a medal and a certificate of MBE
This photograph is of my grandfather Captain Charles Budd MBE on a mobile farriery unit in Abbeyville, France on the Western Front. He fought in the second Boer War. Captain Budd was first trained in farriery in the Curragh Camp in Co. Kildare, Ireland and then Arbor Hill Barracks in Dublin. At the outbreak of the Great War he was commissioned and made chief instructor of farriery at Nursery Camp, Aldershot. His great achievement, for which he was awarded one of the first MBEs, was the invention of a dummy horse leg. His device was a detailed wooden reproduction of a horse's leg, showing each joint and terminating with an actual hoof (from a casualty horse) which could be easily detached. the trainee farrier was thus able to learn shoeing in a much more convenient manner without a horse. (They were SO valuable on the field of battle). This device revolutionised the teaching of farriery and was used all over the world. It can be seen in the R.A.V.C. Museum, Keogh Barracks, Ash Vale, Aldershot, Harts. GW12 5RQ. Tel. 01252868820. Today, I brought two photographs of Captain Budd(in group photo, Captain Budd is on the left, the other two men are unknown), a medal and his MBE certificate.