Rigaud blacksmith frantically searching for lost anvil

A blacksmith in Rigaud, Que., is taking to social media in search of the prized anvil he lost last Friday.

The anvil fell out of Michael Appugliese's trailer when he was in nearby Hudson, leading to a frantic search and an appeal on Facebook.

"Losing the anvil was terrible because it is very personal for me," Appugliese said.

"It was my first anvil, and I grinded it and grinded it. And it was exactly the way I wanted it."

A homemade anvil, of sorts

Appugliese bought the anvil in San Francisco for $1,000 and has been beating it into shape for the last 15 years.

The anvil was an essential part of the Greystone Equine horse-riding school he runs with his wife in Rigaud, west of Montreal.

Appugliese shoes the horses himself, a service he also provides to the dozens of clients who rent stable space at his farm and to area farmers at their farms.

He was at a horse show in Hudson when he got word that someone had seen an anvil at the side of a road nearby. He quickly deduced it was his.

"I retraced my steps and it wasn't there, which is probably a good thing because if someone had hit it they would have done some damage to their car," he said.

Making do without a favourite tool

Appugliese is hoping whoever found it will get in touch. 

"Hudson is a small, honest community and I'm relatively confident that someone's going to hear about it through the grapevine and get a hold of me," he said.

In the meantime, with his beloved anvil missing, he's using an old piece of rail that he found on his farm.

"Any good blacksmith can work with any solid surface," he said.

But no surface can fully replace his perfectly ground anvil.

"No two anvils are the same," he said.