It’s far from normal for a camel to wear sports shoes around the yard, but then, it’s far from normal for a camel to wander around the UK.

So when cobbler Stuart Moss got a call about Lady Chichester making a shoe for a camel, he thought it couldn’t possibly be real.

“I thought it was one of my friends, you know, prank calling me or something,” Moss said. As it happens. Hosted by Neil Coxall.

“As we got further into the conversation, I realized she was dead serious. And Temujin the camel had a bit of a problem.”

Timojan is a 27-year-old camel who lives at Little Durnford Manor, a property owned by the Earl of Chichester in Salisbury, UK.

Lady Chichester, also known as June Chichester, told Moss that Timojan had pulled tendons in both of his front feet, and was struggling to walk.

A doctor suggested that she put the animal down, but instead, Lady Chichester looked elsewhere for a solution. And Moss was willing to help.

“I tried a few people (saddlers, upholsterers, leather workers) before I found Moose (shoe repair) in my local town of Salisbury. No one else noticed,” Lady Chichester said in an email to the CBC. Can they help?”

Making shoes

Temujin is one of four domesticated Bactrian camels on the estate, which come from northern Asia, and are cold-adapted. They can live up to 50 years.

Lady Chichester says she has had camels for 24 years, as well as other animals including horses, ponies, donkeys, goats, sheep and pigs.

“But these (camels) are most cunning,” said Lady Chichester. “Each one has a very individual personality. They are especially kind and good to children, the elderly or the sick.”

After seeing Temujin, Moss realizes that he can actually help the animal. But since he didn’t have a mold for camel shoes in his workshop, he had to make one.

He made Timojan’s new shoes from high-grade box calf leather, along with surgical memory foam, to provide comfort to his pads and the tendons in the back of his feet. Kai also stitched on a custom rubber sole for grip.

“So he doesn’t slip and slide around,” Moss said.

Since Temujin isn’t one to tie his shoes, Moose laces the kicks with Velcro. And Lady Chichester says the shoes are a hit.

“It’s great to see our dearest Timojan able to walk so freely and happily again. It’s great to see how proud he is of his newsbots,” said Lady Chichester.

Pairing with camels

Although Moss doesn’t usually work with animals, he seems to bond with creatures, including another camel named Luna.

“The first time I was there, Luna came up behind me and put her head on my shoulder and then proceeded to lick my ear, which obviously startled me,” Moss said.

Moss was impressed by his interaction with the camels. Temujin was not a troublesome client, he says, and was in fact very easy to work with.

“After the first fitting when I met him, it was almost like he knew I was trying to help him,” Moss said.

Mass is up-to-date on Timogen and its new high peaks. They say that before shoes, Temujin resisted walking, and was very stubborn. But shoes have changed that.

“Since walking freely in my new shoes, everything has been better,” said Lady Chichester.

“The swelling in his feet has gone down considerably and the wobble in his knees has disappeared. The exercise is doing him so well that he enthusiastically joins the other three camels for daily walks. is.”

And while Moss doesn’t expect to make more camel shoes, he’s open to it.

“One of the signs in my shop window states that no job is too big or too small. I never thought for a minute that I would be approached to make camel shoes.” Moss said.

“But I’ve always had the attitude that, you know, if something can be done, why not?”