At 60 years of age, I finally did what I should have done thirty years prior. Being a farrier in the rural Bismarck area, my experience has been incredible. Here is how it began.

I realized I needed to be better, so I sought out whatever clinics I could get to; we live in a very rural state and primarily have rodeo horses and lots of back yard horses. Good farriers were few and far between when I started shoeing horses, so there were not a lot of highly skilled farriers. There were some looking back, I should have approached. In those days, farriers were busy, didn’t get together and share information. So, I just did my thing and strove to improve where I could. When the International Hoof-Care Summit began, I became a regular attendee and that certainly, advanced my knowledge.

I was 58 years old and very late in my career when I committed to completing certification in the American Farriers Association (AFA). I began my work career graduating from trade school with a degree in machine tooling and welding with an emphasis on maintenance on industrial equipment and had a 14-year career with a machine shop that primarily worked on surface coal mines and coal fired power plant equipment. When I was married in ’82, my wife was into horses, money was tight, and with my skill set it seemed natural to do the shoeing myself. So, with the rudimentary guidance from a friend, I was able to take care of our own horses. Looking back on it now, I likely did more harm than good, but I only did ours and a couple others for about 10 years. In ’94, I took a job with North American Coal as a welder and millwright, and it was less demanding. I had more time, and I could see there was an opportunity to make a sideline career of shoeing horses.

In the summer of 2018, Jake Whitman, Certified Journeyman Farrier (CJF), did a pre-certification clinic in Sturgis, S.D. where I met a few AFA guys. One of those was Jake Stonefield. They were inclusive, helpful, and friendly. Jake Whitman posed the challenge that I should pursue certification. At the time, I didn’t see the importance of this; looking back I should have tried to belong sooner. At 59, I jumped in with both feet.

So, Jake Stonefield and I decided to get serious about this certification process. Bouncing back and forth from each other’s places every other week to practice bar shoes and written tests, we both managed to pass certification. Classes and testing took place in Kansas and Texas. At 60 years of age, I finally did what I should have done 30 years prior.

They say you do it for yourself and not for your clients, but I believe for myself, I felt I owed it to my clients, who haul from incredibly long distances and trust me with their horses.

Jake has since chartered the AFA High Plains Chapter, based in South Dakota and North Dakota. It has been very instrumental in mentoring young farriers. Achieving certification empowers us to mentor young people coming into the industry that are needing direction. Giving back is truly the most rewarding part, as a rising tide floats all boats.

I look forward to sharing some farrier insights with those who prefer to have hooves under them for all the right reasons.