The air is cool in the Appalachian Mountains on this late May Virginia morning, but the weather has been dry and there’s a promise of higher temperatures later in the day. Farrier J.C. Maloyed and his partner, Travis Thompson, are eager to get their day of “Shoeing For A Living” started — hoping to get the majority of their horses done before the day gets too uncomfortable.

Even if you love shoeing for a living, remember that you’re in it for the money, warns farrier Brian Robertson of Owosso, Mich. “When you wake up in the morning, you have got to be a businessman; from the minute you wake up until the minute you are off the clock,” he says.

FARRIERS WILL HAVE the opportunity to see how their forging skills rate compared to those of their shoeing peers from around the world during this summer’s Mail-In Forging Exercise at the 2004 World Championship Blacksmiths’ Competition in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

LOOKING BACK at the first North American Horseshoeing Team, squad member Gordon Haight says, “We didn’t know what we we’re getting into.”