American Farriers Journal
American Farriers Journal is the “hands-on” magazine for professional farriers, equine veterinarians and horse care product and service buyers.
Australian farrier Rachael Kane uses her website to provide prospective customers with case histories, testimonials and answers to common questions.
There is no argument that farriery is a male dominated industry. Being female is part of my experience as a farrier. To give you a bit of context, in Australia we have trimming schools filled with female recruits. In our farrier schools, of which there are only six, we have a total of four female apprentices over the entire 4 years of study for the country. So in Australia, as a female farrier, I’m rare.
There are biases that may put you at a disadvantage. You might be too small or too big or too young or too old. We’re more complex creatures than just our gender, and my solution isn’t one-size-fits-all. In many respects, biases can present challenges to launching and maintaining a farrier practice. I believe that the solutions that I applied to my situation can be applied to the difficulties that any farrier may find in a career. There are many aspects of farriery that will challenge you mentally and physically. Becoming a farrier is all about developing grit. But if you stick at it long enough, a bit of that grit will work its way into your soul.
When starting out, there are three questions you need to answer:
The first two are part of any good business plan. The third was the most important for me to answer. Understanding why…