Much to the dismay and frustration of my wonderful marketing director, Kia, I am just sitting down to write this blog on the 30th of April, its due date. It is currently sunny and 60 degrees with a high today of 70. Perfect weather. Definitely not the kind of day to sit in an office. I don’t think there are bad days to be a farrier. There are frustrations of course, every job is going to have its downsides, like paperwork, but the combination of science and art coupled with being outside working with horses in a different place everyday makes this job well worth it.
Monday mornings are set aside for office work. Appointment reminders are sent out, bills are paid, supplies ordered, bookkeeping done, shoes are built for the week ahead, the trailer is cleaned out if it wasn’t on Friday, and shoeing starts at noon. On this particular Monday I have already been out to get a shoe put back on a horse that lost it over the weekend and now I am sitting on the tailgate of the truck enjoying the sun while getting my office work done. Soon I will be on my way to the next stop where I have a new horse to see. Days like this are some of my favorite, a mix of business work, specialty shoeing, simple trims, miles behind the wheel of the truck, and a beautiful day.
In 2006, it was the combination of horses, anatomy, physics, working in a different place everyday and a healthy dose of being pushed by the farrier at one of the two barns I was managing that got me interested in this trade.
Now that the sun is setting, I am finishing up this blog then heading to the shop to build shoes trying to get ready for a forging contest this weekend. Again, there may be difficult parts to the job or parts I am not as good at, like writing, or speaking, or getting my blog turned in on time, however it is definitely worth the hard parts to get to do this job. Hopefully you also already have a job you enjoy, and if you are considering becoming a farrier ask to get in the truck with someone for a few days, it is well worth learning what this trade is all about.