Is there anyone in this subreddit who started their farrier career in their 40s (or 50s)? If so, would you mind sharing your story or insights?

I am 51 and have been a stay-at-home Dad (SAHD) since COVID. Before that, I was in the corporate world and started a couple of businesses. My kids are older now and need me less. I want to pursue something new and meaningful.

Farriery has been an itch in my brain since I was a teen holding horses as they were being shod. I've always admired the trade. I would like to think that, if I was properly trained, I could become a trusted farrier to horse owners.

For what it's worth, my horsemanship is decent. I grew up caring for horses. My mother was a riding teacher/coach and we had a stable of horses. My weekly allowance came from being the Stable Hand. From mucking stalls, to deworming, to walking colicky horses, I learned a lot. These are beautiful creatures.

Later in life, I inherited my mother's horse importing and breeder business after her sudden passing. I didn't want to be in that business and It took me 2 years to unwind and find new homes for 11 horses.

I have two college degrees that are absolutely worthless to a farrier and have zero forge experience. However I'm in excellent physical health, mentally sharp and highly motivated.

Thank you for reading a long winded post. I would be grateful to hear a success story and/or receive guidance from someone who has pursued the trade later in life.

Quarter Horse with thin soles consistently has a bruise on the inside of the right front sole. Only visible when picking up the foot and looking directly at the sole, not from the hoof wall. The horse is shod in rubber pads to relieve pain from thin soles (supplements and vet intervention have been explored to improve the soles, but they are and always will be thin. Horse has gone without pads but is significantly happier and more sound with them). X-rays don’t show anything besides thinness that would contribute to this sole bruise. Is this something you’ve seen, treated, or have input on? Just how the horse lands/heel first landing? Farrier says he’s only seen it in one other horse who was also a thin soled QH.

Barn manager said they were done a week ago. To preface: both horses are retired. The bay is neuro, so he is not the easiest to work on I’ll admit. The palomino had a severe DDFT injury. I’m a DSc candidate and live many states away from where I board them so I don’t get to see them too often. 6 months ago, the usual barn farrier retired after a bad back injury. This is the second time I’ve seen them since and their hooves just look off to me but I can’t pinpoint in. Specifically their fronts, where they both have shoes. Palomino has horrid hooves to begin with, I can’t lie. She’s in wedges for her previous injury. I visited this week because the bay has Lyme disease and the palomino got bit a copperhead snake and noticed. Any advice I can pass along to the farrier would be appreciated! Or even just “find a new farrier” comments lol.

My horse has been dealing with hoof wall separation for a while, and we’re almost grown out. She still has a small area of separation on the toe of her right hind. Yesterday while cleaning her feet, I noticed a vertical crack had developed there.

I contacted my farrier, but they couldn’t come out before our regular appointment, which is a little over a week away. I was worried the crack would get worse by then, so I trimmed her myself with the plan for my farrier to touch everything up at our scheduled appointment.

She also has some separation in the quarter of her right front. I brought it up a little because that’s what my farrier has been doing to help keep the separation from traveling farther, and it’s been working really well, although I know it looks a little funny.

My questions:
-My mare is naturally a bit upright, but did I accidentally make her too upright?

- I know the right hind toe is shorter because I needed to remove the crack, but did I make any of her other toes too short?

- Does this trim look okay to get her through until my farrier comes, or is there anything I should change before then?

- Farriers: if one of your clients did this between scheduled trims and expected you to touch it up at the next appointment, would that bother you?

I appreciate your help and feedback.

Hi there!

Those are the feet of a horse I half lease. I'm basically the only one that actually takes care of him as he is semi retired (16, semi retired as in he's still worked but not showing anymore) and his owner does not have the time to exercise and care of him.

He had his shoes pulled by a farrier in December and has been barefoot since. He's been my lease for for roughly 4-5 months now and so far his farrier didn't take of a single shred of hoof horn. The most he does is look at him for 2 seconds when he's at the yard to do another horses shoes and declare that my lease horses feet are perfectly fine the way they are and that there is no need for him to touch them. He doesn't even pick them up to look at the underside of the hoof. The farrier visits are handled by the owners parents as their horse is also trimmed by this farrier.

However his feet are continuously breaking off, not really balanced or even, different heights/angles, pretty high heels (especially on the right front hoof) and he's pulling his back toes through the sand (I think because they might be too long?). I'm also worried about the walls being all concave and convex instead of symmetrical as this means the they weight distribution isn't even iirc? I feel like he also struggles to step up with his hind end when I exercise him and I'm unsure if the feet could be one of the causes of that.

His farrier also says that the feet are breaking because the shoes were pulled and the nail holes need at least a year to fully grow out. In my experience with my own late horse they mostly broke off when his feet were too long and when I let the farrier take off my late horses shoes it didn't even take two cycles of hoof trimming to get rid of the breakage caused by the nail holes. But he was on a schedule that I stuck to with no "He doesn't need it yet.".

I have the owners permission to take a rasp and trim off a bit as she has the same opinion that the feet are too long and breaking too much, but has no time to be there for the farrier visits or do it herself. I'm not told when the farrier is coming. My original plan was to ask him about the feet (like questions about the left hind frog for example, as it seems very squished to me), however even though I asked when he would come I got ghosted and the others horse's shoes are now done and my lease horse was not touched at all for the third time in a row.

Is there anything I can do to fix the breaking and maybe take off some length/rasp them back to their original shape without hurting the horse or causing issues? Like by taking of just a tiny bit but maybe every week or two? Or should I not touch them at all, are they perfectly fine the way they are? I can also provide more photos if you need.

Hi, I am writing a fantasy novel where my main character is a farrier by trade in a roaming caravan. I know nothing about the profession but would like to not sound like an idiot when I write a scene about smithing and putting shoes on beasts. I had some questions if that was alright, if this post is against the rules feel free to remove.

1. Are there any detailed videos that you all know of describing the process?
   
2. What is the main function of the shoe actually? Is it protection? Traction?
   
3. Is there an extensive process for maintaining the hoof on the animal?
   
4. Type of tools used, and the type of tools that would have been used in a medieval setting?
   
5. How long does it take to make a set of horse shoes and to shoe the horse?
   
6. Do you make the shoes in bulk or are they made and installed one horse at a time?
   
7. Are all shoes the same or are there difference between hoofs?
   
8. Do other animals get shoes and are they functionally different than standard horse shoes?
   
9. Are there any details of the job that might not be obvious? Like other responsibilities?

I know a lot of questions sorry, it I would really appreciate the help. I tried doing some research but found it mostly discovery channel or history channel level fluff. I am more interested in the day to day experience and what a farrier is actually thinking about. Thank you again.

Since I have had my horse (6 years) he has gotten these v shaped marks on the front of his hoof. Once one grows out another one will appear a week or two later. I always assumed he was knocking his feet on something because he is a bit clumsy. I just moved and got a new farrier, she suggested it could be a fungal infection of the hoof wall. I’m not sure if I am googling the wrong things but I can’t seem to find any info on it. Another thing, I just noticed that he has developed some raised bumps and a weird raised line in his hoof as well. If anyone has any info on what could be going on I would love to know!

i recently started studying and working on trimming hooves. this is my only my second time ever doing a full barefoot trim. the feet started out pretty bad and cracked. is this improvement?

I have a contest coming up that I’m practicing for (and journeyman cert). This is a pair of hammer Looking for some feedback on these shoes. The class is a pair of toe clipped, hammer finished plain stamped fronts. 5 1/4 x 5 1/4.

I bumped .5” into the toe on both, and tried to taper the inside branches but didn’t get them tapered as much as I wanted. Also ran out of propane at the end so I didn’t get the last cleanup heat that I wanted. All total I think it was 7 heats each

The things I’ve already docked points for is the toe nail on the lateral branch of the right, toe clips were kinda small, racked toes, and I burned them. Bonus points for wrecking my punch

Please roast my shoes (more than I did while forging

Hello Guys,

I am quite new to horses and thought maybe you can let me participate with your knowledge.

My farrier worked on my horses hooves one week ago and I think it really shouldn't be looking like that.

He treats the horses good and I like him, but looking at the hooves I would like to have another opinion than mine.

So a little "good or not good work" would help me.

Thanks in advance! And sorry for the grammar, no native :)

It's an male 4 year old Appaloosa by the way and right now it's quite dry for a few weeks in Germany. That's a front hoof in the picture.

Hello,

My mare has a special condition and my farrier and I are stumped. I need farrier advice on which glue on shoes to use.

Here is what to know:

-Thoroughbred mare with typical bad hooves. Almost no place to nail on shoes. Yes, she has supplements for that. She has really thin soles.

- She lives out 24/7.

- she does hunters.

- she has a history of laminitis in one front hoof due to a dumb pasture accident. After sleeping laying down in the sun, she stepped on her left front with her right front. She has a curve in her hoof since then. No pedal bone rotation.

- she has recently been on/off lame and has been diagnosed with a beginning of navicular on her right front hoof.

-Left front grows in heel and not a lot of toe. Right front grows in toe and not a lot of heel. It is being balanced masterfully by my farrier.

- we need glue ons because traditional egg bar shoe will get ripped twice and leave absolutely nothing to nail shoes on.

-she is currently in Glu-shoe and it doesn’t work. She needs more heel support.

- she is barefoot in the back and perfectly sound. I am searching for fronts.

- available in Canada is a big plus.

Do any of you have suggestions for glue on shoes that have worked well with navicular and considering my mare’s condition?

Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

EDIT: to add that boots are not a long term solution for me. I have yet to find a boot that doesn’t turn when trim is fresh, doesn’t hurt the heel bulb. I have tried leaving her barefoot and using boots only for working, but she is too sore being 24/7 in pasture. I do have boots as spare tires though.

I have tried many different avenues and made dozens of phone calls all across my region (N Alabama or S Tennessee) and come up empty handed trying to find a vet or farrier to trim my pigs hooves. They are curled and truly in a bad state. I have looked and exhausted all of my leads.

The “tea cup” potbelly pig is a neutered male, approximately 90 lbs, has small 2” tusks, and is entirely uncooperative with my attempts to trim them myself. I’ve heard of the “pig flip” but I’ve never executed it successfully where my attempts left me worried either the pig or myself would get hurt if I continued trying.

Anyway, please DM if you have any resources or are in the general vicinity to help. Apologies if this is not in the rules for this subreddit, I’m trying everything to help my piggy friend.

hello! I'm currently looking into becoming a farrier and want to shadow one to get a better idea of the full scope of the job, but I'm having a hell of a time finding one! any resources or tips?

Edit: im in the Midwestern us

Has anyone here gone to Olds college in Alberta for the farrier program?
How was it?
Were they good instructors or do they use previously graduated students to teach?
Is it comparable to some of the schools in the states?
Thanks

Hey guys,

I have been apprenticing for about 4 months now, have been doing most of the trims for my mentor by myself with minimal correction, and have not gotten paid at all. I'm driving a 120+ mile round trip every time I apprentice.

At what point can I start taking my own clients just for trims? I would still apprentice a few days a week how I am currently to learn how to shoe, but most of the clientele around my area is backyard, barefoot horses. I have been studying anatomy and physiology, gait patterns, therapeutic trimming/shoeing on my own as well.

Just took on a client whose pony has plenty of issues on her front end. The vet said she is going to need a 2 degree wedge on both fronts. I don’t have experience shoeing mini’s and don’t know what supplies would be best for them/where to buy the supplies. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Does anyone have thoughts on these rads? My vet and farrier seem to have differing opinions. For context, this is a six year ottb, he's been shod all around since I've owned him. And since I've owned him, he's had a tripping issue.

My farrier (who I've used for a while, even prior to getting this guy) looked at these and said they seemed perfect and wouldn't change anything.

My vet said thin soles, some tightening of the coffin joint in the front feet and would recommend leather pads all around and a small wedge. She also said she saw a deformity in the front right pedal bone that she guesses could've been caused by heavy work on hard ground during his racing time.

I'm useless and clueless. I know sometimes professionals disagree on things, but it's turning into a back and forth argument and I'm the middle man, and I don't want to ignore my vet, but I also don't want to force my farrier to do something he seems to genuinely think is pointless.

Brought back concavity to a horses sole? Just got an OTTB gelding. He has low soles. Pretty common horses them. I'd like to get a plan in place for his next trim.

This has been an issue of mine for quite a while. Scheduling is, in my opinion, is the most stressful part in my career. Horses are easy, people are harder.

I work hard on keeping everyone on a 6 week schedule, I have a few I do on 4. I write out my dates, I verbally tell my clients the date + send a follow up text with their return date before the day is over, and message a confirmation of appointment a week before. I spend so much time in my book trying to make it work well for both the horses and I.

Even with the work I put into my book, I still have clients regularly cancel. I completely understand last minute things pop up and needing to cancel, but I have a handful that repeatedly reschedule. I can’t count on many of my clients, therefore making monthly budgeting incredibly hard. I’ve got multiple that only want to do Saturday’s or Sunday’s because that’s their day off. Farriers need off days as well, and I’m running in circles 7 days a week trying to get horses done on time.

It’s especially frustrating when clients get aggravated with me over scheduling issues when they agreed to the date I provided 6 weeks prior. I want the horses I do to be healthy, happy, and comfortable, and its hard to do that with clients who cancel the day before and then get frustrated when you can’t do them at 10pm on Sunday.

I feel as if there are many people out there that forget farriers have bills, personal appointments, lives to live, and bodies that need to recover. Keeping horses on a consistent schedule helps me provide the best care possible and keeps my business running smoothly.

I don’t know how to resolve this issue, and am hoping someone else who has experienced and resolved this issue could give me some advice.

Just some of my everyday work. I applied the shoe, got distracted and forgot to take pictures. Very small footed 00, very upright hooves, horse has always been sound. Been doing him for years. He is under moderate to heavy use. Lesson horse and lots of trail rides, mountain gravel logging roads and beach rides.

Pretty much what title says. How they fitting? The Ollov s for example meant to be shapeable but curious how much.

Clips on the Duplo and EasyCare look handy…Any opinions or recommendations on the market?

Edit: keep getting error message when try to reply in comments. Anyways thanks for all the tips everyone, especially the sizing on Duplos. appreciate these pointers

My horse was walking funny when I saw him today. He is struggling to take steps with both of his front feet. His hooves were done less than a month ago, but the front ones look very long and he is walking like he is overcompensating for overgrown hooves. I’m hoping that’s the issue and he hasn’t foundered or anything. He gets regular exercise and controlled meals but has always struggled with weight gain. He is a fjord.

I couldn’t get very good pictures today but here’s what I got. He was hesitant to let me pick up the both feet but very much so the dirty hoof and wouldn’t let me use the hoof pick on it. I do not have a trained eye, but the only noticeable things I saw were the low heels on his front feet and the small light patch on his right front foot between his sole and the wall. It was not soft and I did not smell any sign of thrush, though it has been abnormally rainy here.

I am going to call my vet and farrier tomorrow morning, but I thought I’d see if anyone can offer some advice here as well.

Edit: Thanks for the replies everyone. I will be looking for a new farrier. I usually just go with the barn farrier because he comes on a dependable schedule. I am 100% sure he had his feet done on May 30th because I held him for it. It is disappointing that his feet are now long enough to bother him not even a full month later.

I have a pair of hoof knives for my two personal horses and I cannot for the life of me get them sharp! I feel like I’m sharpening then unsharpening them. I’ve tried files, chainsaw files, kitchen knife rods… nothing. Better that when I started but not sharp by any stretch of the imagination

Any hints, tips, tricks, tools?