09/26/2026
To the new and young farriers putting yourselves out there and building your books:
Please find a mentor.
And not just someone who will tell you that you’re doing great. Find experienced farriers who will look at your work critically, explain what they see, challenge your decisions, and occasionally make you realize you have absolutely no idea what you’re looking at yet.
Because one of the most dangerous stages of learning this trade is when you know enough to do the work, but not enough to recognize when the work isn’t good.
I see advertisements fairly regularly from newer farriers accepting clients, accompanied by photos they are clearly proud of and sometimes those photos show significant imbalance, poor hoof preparation, inappropriate proportions, distorted feet, or shoeing/trimming decisions that should not be advertised as examples of quality work. Us veteran hoofcare pro’s are CRINGING.
And what concerns me most isn’t that the work isn’t perfect…. None of us started out doing perfect work. None of us DO perfect work every time.
What concerns me is when someone doesn’t yet have the education or trained eye to recognize the problems in their own work.
That is why mentorship, certification and continuing education matter so much.
Certification isn’t about collecting letters after your name. Preparing for certification forces you to study anatomy, biomechanics, balance, forging, shoe fit and the fundamentals of this trade and then asks you to demonstrate those skills to an objective standard.
Continuing education matters because this profession never stops teaching you. Clinics, contests, certification prep, riding with better farriers, working alongside veterinarians, studying radiographs, dissecting limbs, asking questions and having other professionals critique your work are how your eye develops.
And mentorship may be the most valuable piece of all.
Find someone better than you. Then find someone else better than you. Ride with different farriers. Ask them WHY. Hand them your finished foot and say, “Tell me what you would change.”
Learn to become comfortable hearing the answer.
The goal isn’t to never make mistakes. The goal is to develop enough knowledge to recognize your mistakes.
There’s an enormous difference between confidence and competence, and early in a career it can be very difficult to know which one you have.
Horses deserve practitioners who are humble enough to keep learning.
So advertise. Build your business. Be proud of your progress.
But before you post that foot as an example of your best work, show it to someone whose work you respect and ask them what they see.
You might be surprised by what you don’t know yet and that’s okay.
The scary part isn’t not knowing.
The scary part is not knowing that you don’t know. We can see a mile away what you don’t know.
Therapeutic farrier since 2012, graduate of Mission Farrier School, AFA Certified Farrier, IAPF credentials, Gait Biomechanics/locomotion certificate by Hoofbeat/Dr Hagan.
