A few years ago, Stefan Sebastiani attended a clinic in Three Rivers, Mich. Speaking with a group of younger farriers during a break, a recent shoeing school graduate asked Sebastiani whether the largest rig in the parking lot was his truck. Sebastiani replied no, and pointed to the SUV he drove from his home in Lake Geneva, Wis.

Sebastiani was curious why the young shoer thought the massive truck and shoeing body was his vehicle. Aware of Sebastiani’s business, the young farrier assumed that it must be an established farrier who would drive an expensive, fully-loaded vehicle.

“He told me that in shoeing school, he learned that a farrier must look like a professional,” recalls Sebastiani. “While that is true about carrying yourself as a professional, it isn’t necessary to go to that extreme with a shoeing rig.”

Sebastiani found out that the novice farrier had gone tens of thousands of dollars into debt because he assumed a new truck and body were required for becoming a professional farrier. With only a few days of work per week, the young shoer would have a difficult time keeping up with that loan payment schedule.

“Don’t sink yourself into debt if you don’t have enough business to sustain what you need to pay,” Sebastiani says. “We start with…