Paul Goodness has long been a big believer in helping young farriers learn more about the trade. And now, he and his partners in the Round Hill, Va., shoeing practice, Forging Ahead, have taken that belief one step further by setting up an unusual apprentice program that some other farriers might want to look to as a good working model.

Just about any equine veterinarian who specializes in hoof care or farriers who do a lot of therapeutic shoeing will tell you the thing they most rely on to do their work isn’t found in a toolbox, mounted on a shoeing rig or installed in a workshop or veterinary clinic.