Just a very normal day at work.. =)

Had to reset the shoes on the brown one today, after 8 weeks. A real charmer of an ex trotter, he is 16 this year I believe.
Always nice with an easy work day, especially when my 2 arabians at home are waiting for me to come home so that we can go out running
And then after all that I still have to go to my second job and finnish up 8 hours there....
oh well... gotta work hard to play hard I guess

and yes dark pictures I know...=) but just wanted to show that I do work

Do you mostly shoe cold? or just resets?

I always shoe cold =)
But I am hopeing to learn to use a forge (?) this year
Not alot of farriers here use it, and the ones that do only do competitions almost.

Gro How long have you been doing Farriery?

Only the past 2 years that I have been working out with clients

did you do an apprenticeship?

No , i really wanted to be an apprentice
But there are so few farriers here that takes on apprentices , and I was 28 when i wanted to start (31 now) so I was told I was too old to apply for one..!
So I have taken a course that took me about a year, but only weekend classes and way too few of them!
so the first 2 years I spent working on dead horse feet, and horses that belonged to friends and family that allowed me to try =)
It took me quite a while to work up the nerve to go out and do this for money, but with all the really bad work i see out there , mine turns out quite good I hope.
Never had a lame horse after i started shoeing it, and people and horse are happy, so i figure I gotta do something right =)

But its a really steep learning curve doing this alone, I read alot (ALOT!).
And if there is something i dont feel I have the competance to do, I refer to someone else.

So therefor happy to find and active forum, that gives new ideas and maybe some help =)

For once im glad i was born in this little Country of Ireland
and not else were

or in America, Smitty

you said it

We all had to start some place. You can only work with what you have. I went to a school here in America that turned out to be awful. I never knew until a few guys were kind enough to take me under there wings.

If you do not have access to a forge, which I would think you would want given the temps over there anyway! But until you can afford one, a set of half round nippers will make fitting your toe clips easier and faster.

ps i get to work in some pretty cold weather at times here as well. at least below 0 F. Not as cold as you. I have found that being able to hot fit warms the hoof up enough that they are not as touchy about nailing. As I am sure you know frozen feet dont always like being pounded on.

Do you go by Gro?

that is to be taken in the lack of education when it comes to horseshoeing ; we only have a few good schools and teachers only. we need people like you and the others to help make american education better when it comes to shoeing.

......Linda what's schools and teachers do you consider to be ( good ) Linda and how did you come to decide what schools and teachers are good..

Dr. Doug Butler, Cornell, Chris Gregory, Mitch Taylor, Meridith Manor, Danny Wards, and few I am missing. They encourage their students to learn, go for the whole course, forging forging forging, apprentice for years, encourage you to learn from the different associations and go to as many clinics as possible; and if you need help; They Are There!! To help you. they give refresher courses to anyone who needs them; if you are stuck on shoe making or forging they will have you over and they will help you; or give you references of the farriers who can in your neighborhood.
But we still need "more education" from the colleges in collaboration with these schools to make us as good as the WCF education.
Our few schools CANNOT do it alone. We need help in this country.

It is the fly by nite teach you in a weekend or 2 weeks, or learn to shoe on a DVD/or buy my book, and sell you a bill of goods, turn you loose; no support system at all/ and this atrocity combined with riding with someone for a few weeks and put out on their own; with no more learning, teaching, or a support system where they can go to.

Linda, how do you know that the criteria you enumerated above are actually being followed and to what extent? What about Midwest Horseshoeing School? Or Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School? Mission, Cowtown, Five Star, etc.? What is your personal involvement with the evaluation process? Do you know, for a fact, that other schools that didn't make your list, don't meet the criteria you have enumerated? Other than Cornell or Meridith Manor , how many colleges offer farrier science programs? How well do they stack up? Why? Where did you learn to shoe horses? What are/were the qualifications of the person(s) who taught you? To which associations do you belong? How long have you been a member? What was one of the main reasons that Walt Taylor founded the AFA? With all the educational opportunities available, in the last five years, how much Continuing Education have you availed yourself of? In the last five years, how many different farriers have you personally ridden with?

What metric are you using that shows that the education opportunities here in the US are not on par with the education available / provided for/by the WCF?

word of mouth plus I know some personally.
told you i was missing a few

Yes my name is Gro Anita (first name)

and I havent noticed any horse haveing trouble by being frozen, but then most my clients are very good at putting their horse in a stable atleast an hour before I get there.
And the ones that dosent have a stable for me to work in, where I actually have to stand outside in the snow to work....
well havent really noticed that problem there either=)

I see the downfall for horseshoeing schools in norway the next few years, there are new rules on the way.
And if they go through there will no longer be allowed to work as a farrier unless you take a 2 year apprenticeship and pass the exam.
This is all well and good ... I just have to learn to work with a forge and get ok at it so that I can pass this exam before this happens !! =)

is it possible in the US to just take a course in hotshoeing and forge work ?
or maybe Irleand UK ?

yes, there are some good courses in hotshoeing and forge work. Ireland....must meet Smitty; he's the man; England it is Chris Bunting.
Joining up with the WCB would be your best choice to, getting involved with worshipful company of farriers too.