Hall of Famers Share Gems of Wisdom for Young Farriers

Farriery is a never-ending journey of hoof-care education. It doesn’t matter how long one has been tending to horses’ feet, there’s always something to learn. There’s no better way to learn than to sit at the feet of your elders and listen as they share their wisdom.

American Farriers Journal established the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame in 1992 to honor farriers around the world who have made significant contributions to the profession and left a permanent, positive impression on their peers and clients. As you begin your journey in hoof care, here is some helpful advice from seven members of the Hall of Fame.

Avoid Isolation

Learning takes a ton of humility. In today’s day and age, people are very particular about the way they are spoken to and they get indignant. “Well, I didn’t like the way he talked to me.” That’s just tough. When you want to extract something from this individual, if they talk demonstratively, if they talk down, if they do anything — that’s part of getting those little gems of wisdom.

The biggest obstacle to learning for established farriers is isolation. When you put yourself by yourself, you are the greatest, most awesome farrier in the whole world. The beginning of the truth, though, is when you put a picture up on a wall and you have a group of people who can identify, “Yes, that is a beautiful front foot.” There are so many people who don’t even know what a beautiful healthy foot looks like. A person off by himself starts seeing this kind of deformed, wrecked foot as the norm. That’s when you have to get that person back into the mainstream to where he can realize the carnage that he’s actually performing. In that regard, the biggest disease of all farriers is isolation.

— Craig Trnka, Edgewood, N.M.

The responsibility is on the farrier to learn common veterinary nomenclature and planes of reference to establish a reasonable, professional discussion about a case in the same language with a veterinary surgeon, Mark Caldwell says.

Basic Anatomy is Critical

Very few farriers have a basic un­derstanding of common veterinary nomenclature, anatomy and planes of references. I believe the responsibility is on the farrier to address this problem and learn common veterinary nomenclature and planes of reference so we can have a reasonable, professional discussion about a case in the same language with a veterinary surgeon.

Farriers don’t need to remember all of the Latin words, but they need to learn the basic anatomy of the lower limb and common muscular groups. Then farriers will be able to describe the location of those groups and the other structures they are associated with.

— Mark Caldwell, Alsager, England

Open the Lines of Communication

Communication is going to be critical to your success. A great first step is listening to what someone is saying and not assuming that it’s bad. You will have people who will say, “Well, my horse needs X” or “My horse needs Y”; “He needs this kind of shoe” or “You need to leave more heel.” My response used to be, “Well, here are the tools. You do it. I’ll rent them to you.” I’d get to be a real prima donna about it.

The more effective approach is to treat these requests as an invitation into a conversation and move away from prescriptions. Ask the client why they think that. Why do they want it? Drill down to the reason. The question is what is the desired effect they are looking for? Not, how am I as the horseshoer going to get there? I think that’s critical.

Oftentimes people who don’t actually know what they want will tell you something very specific because they’ve researched and found that “everybody” who has this problem seems to do “this.” They look for generic fixes. You have to steer them back to the causes and effects. What is it you want to achieve — not how do you want me to achieve it for you? It forces people to re-evaluate what they are asking for. Before you know it, they are asking you what you think, which is what they should have said in the first place but didn’t know how to ask.

— Danvers Child, Lafayette, Ind.

It’s a Business

The business practice that I see a lot of farriers fall into is that for some reason they’re scared to raise their prices, to keep up with the economy, inflation, insurance and stuff like that. When they break things down from horse to horse, and what their profit is per horse, then out of that profit they have to supply their kids with lunch money and go to school, stuff like that. They don’t figure those little tiny things that eat away at that profit. The cost of nails goes up a little bit and they will eat that little bit of increase in their cost. They don’t think of the big picture. They think, well, if I raise my prices on this account, I’m going to lose my client. They’re going to get somebody else.

I think it should be just the opposite. I think you should automatically raise your prices every single year, according to your area. It should be standard and your customers should know that. I do that every year. They know that every April I am raising my prices. It used to be every January, but that’s when it seems like all the suppliers start their increases.

— Richard Becker, Lapeer, Mich.

Own Your Mistakes

One thing I have always communicated to my clients from day one is that I am just a human being. I will make a mistake.

When that does happen, I will stand behind my work and I will correct it. We all need to own our mistakes and correct that mistake so we have substance and credibility with our clients. Even though it was a negative notch in your belt, you’ll still come away a winner if you’re very open, honest and willing to help fix whatever that mistake was. It’s happened in every breed and disciple that I’ve shod.

There are a lot of farriers and trainers out there, and the equine industry is full of very boastful people who claim they are the end-all, do-all person. Sometimes clients fall for the smoke and mirrors. If for some reason you lose a client — and you will, it’s just something that happens — keep a good attitude.

You need to have a willingness to communicate with that person and say, “If anything changes in the future and I can ever be of any service to you again, please let me know what I can do to start up another relationship.”

Clients come and go, but you want them to come and go on a good note. You can make that happen by projecting a good, positive attitude and being honest.

— Dave Farley, Cochocton, Ohio

It’s important to be disciplined and prac-tice your craft every day, says Grant Moon, a farrier from Rugeley, England.

Discipline is the Key

Discipline is developed and comes from the decision to practice. I had good practice ethics when I was an apprentice. It wasn’t that I always got it right, but I practiced regularly. I made sure I accomplished tasks, and then would go back and improve the tasks.

When I practiced, I practiced pieces. If it was something I hadn’t done before, I’d practice one piece and learn what that had to look like before I continued with the rest. When we really breakdown shoes, it’s the extras we have to work on. Shoes only come in two types: fronts and hinds. They can come with fullering or punching. They can come with a list of other features, but the list isn’t long: clips, upsetting, drawing down, making shoes concave, welding the heels together to make bar shoes, and putting lumps on the end to make heel calks or wedges. After all, a wedge or heel calk is just a piece of material that’s been shaped. I think of it like a child’s piece of Play-Doh. You can make that into any shape you want. If we create material, then all we have to do is form it.

People say they don’t have time to practice — but I find very few people, really, when it comes down to it, can honestly say that. As I got older and competed at a higher level, I would still prioritize the time to practice on top of my normal workload. My days often started at 4 a.m. to practice before I had to go out and do a full load of shoeing horses to make a living so I could go to the competitions. I think it all comes back to discipline.

— Grant Moon, Rugeley, England

Pace Yourself

Many farriers — especially the young ones — will push themselves to shoe more horses in a day than what they should. I know I was guilty of that.

The key is to get to the point where you can shoe fewer horses and charge more money. That would have been a lot easier if I’d had that ability in the ’60s and ’70s. When you start out, set your schedule for a reasonable day’s work. Don’t do like I did with 10 and 12 horses. Your body will last longer and you’ll have a longer shoeing career. Beyond that, you’ll be able to choose better horses to shoe and you can get better customers. A lot of people work until they wear out and then they are in trouble financially.

The successful farriers are those who have some kind of a retirement plan. They save and invest their money. But it’s more than just that. It’s using sound financial judgment throughout the course of your entire career. A successful farrier is one who does not get in debt. Don’t purchase things that are not necessary, like big fancy trucks or boats. Don’t spend your money somewhere else that you can’t hold onto. It’s not going to come back to you.

You need a cushion. Everybody needs a year’s income in savings at all times. It’s good discipline to save, but also if you get hurt or fall ill, then you have a year’s income there when you need it. When tough economic times hit, you don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you have overspent or over-extended yourself, because those are the times when horse owners can’t afford their horses and then everybody is in trouble.

— Lee Green, Yucaipa, Calif.

2019 Getting Started in Hoof Care