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Stowe, Vermont - February 12, 2010

On a quiet hillside farm in Stowe, Jim Hurlburt's doing just what he loves to do. "I'm the type of guy who likes to get my hands dirty," he chuckles.

He's getting his hands dirty working on his line of knives that are meant to use caring for horses. "I've been shoeing horses for 20-plus years," Hurlburt explains.

He's a farrier, someone who trims horses' hooves and puts on horseshoes. It's work that needs to be done every 6 to 8 weeks. Hurlburt says, "I actually shoe horses by day and make knives by night!"

He wanted a single tool that could both pick manure from the horse's fingernail-like hoof -- then trim the hoof, too. He developed the knife as a sideline between stops into barns. The farrier has tinkered and made tools since he was a kid on a dairy farm. "There, when something breaks, you have to fix it!" he says.

If you think this must be a tiny little industry, think again. Jim Hurlburt travels to trade shows around the country, advertises in specialty magazines and over the past six years has shipped more than 2,500 of his $85-$100 knives around the world.

"I have people in the Midwest, in Colorado, California, Seattle, Washington. I have a dealer in England," Hurlburt says.

Wherever there are horses, Jim Hurlburt says there's a need for his product, and he hopes farriers will choose his blade that's "Made in Vermont."

"You've got to keep things local. I think that's the best thing!" the businessman beams.

Click here to visit the company's website.

Jack Thurston - WCAX News - Made in Vermont