From June 26-28, the Kentucky Horseshoeing School offered its second Advanced Shoe-Making Workshop of the summer in Richmond, Ky., featuring small class size and an individualized program. The first workshop was help earlier this summer from May 15-17.

“The three day clinic is designed to be whatever the participants need,” says Sam Gooding, a teacher at the Kentucky Horseshoeing School. “We keep the numbers small so that it is very individualized with a one-on-one feel.” They cap the clinic off at 10 participants, but for this particular clinic, they only had three participants.

Sam Gooding, CJF and Mitch Taylor, CJF, AWCF, were the leaders and teachers for the workshop. Gooding is Taylor’s former apprentice and an accomplished farrier in his own right. He was a member of the American Farriers Association U.S. Horseshoeing Team in 2005 and was one of the top 10 finishers at the 2005 World Championships in Calgary, Canada. Taylor is the director of education for the Kentucky Horseshoeing School and has been named the AFA’s Educator of the Year twice, as well as Clinician of the Year.

For the June 26-28 clinic, “our participants were looking for a refresher and introductory lesson on hand-making shoes,” says Gooding. “We started with basic heels and moved through toe bends, turning the branches, punching nail holes, fixing tools, setting up tools, maintaining tools, how to break tools in and did a little bit of forge rodding and fullering. The last day, we worked together to shoe a few horses in the shop.”

Gooding says the clinic focused on the basics and that his greatest advice for the participants was to “be honest with yourself and where you’re at in the learning process.”

The entire reason for the workshops, Gooding says, is “so that horses receive more well prepared, more qualified horseshoers.”

The Kentucky Horseshoeing School will be offering one more Advanced Shoe-Making Workshop for the summer on Aug. 14-16, 2014.