Less than a week after the groundhog proclaimed that 6 more weeks of winter are on the way, the prognosticating rodent’s forecast is holding up. While it’s a cold and rainy early February day in North Central Texas, Danny Anderson has a big day ahead of him — and he’s hoping for a sunnier outlook with one horse in particular.

Danny is joined today by his son Jarred, who has been shoeing on and off with his father since he was 14 years old. After a stint in the military, Jarred cowboyed and worked in other professions before restarting his shoeing career when the COVID pandemic hit. He reintegrated into the North Central Texas shoeing clientele by splitting time between his father and brother Matt.

“If you ride with farriers long enough,” Jarred says, “eventually you’ll pick up some clients.”

Like many farriers around the country, Danny’s business spiked among recreational riders.

“It got busier because people were working from home,” Jarred says. “It gave them an opportunity to ride more.”

As a result, scheduling appointments became easier.

“We didn’t have to wait until horse owners got home from work,” Danny says. “They were already working from home. It was easy for them to go down to the barn during the day while I shod their horses. It was a plus.”