I NEVER SURRENDERED MY SWORD

The labor of ‘learning’ to shoe horses and actually farriering of said equines has, as of this date, consumed some forty three years of my life. Although, I have used other interests to fill in the gaps, I can honestly say that I have been faithful to this art of animal husbandry. If the reader wishes to calculate my start, it was in the late sixties. Therefore, I must consider myself a member of the ‘OLD GUARD.’ True to form then, there were no ‘formal’ horseshoeing schools available to me, therefore, this one needed to go to work for an established shoer. I ‘fell’ into shoeing because of work related circumstances. I was working for a walking horse trainer that happened to shoe the ‘broke’ show horses himself. He hired a local to come in and work on the young and unwilling ones. Because he was a large man and I was a young lad of fifteen, he added breaking the two year olds to saddle to the list of my responsibilities. He refused to get them trimmed and when they would stumble or trip and I would complain, he would ignore the situation. An older black gentleman that also worked there suggested we trim them ourselves. He would twitch them while I made a mess with the trainers’ confiscated tools. When I quit whining and he noticed his tools had been moved, he put it together and asked me about the situation and I confessed. I believed this to be the end of my job; however, he simply said he would make sure that I was with him for the next ‘shoeing’ day. His purpose was for me to know what he knew. He later made arrangements with the local shoer to further my education. Both of these men had the same thought process. THERE IS NO USE IN DOING ANYTHING, UNLESS YOU DO IT RIGHT.

Thus, the humble beginning to my shoeing career. I had NO intention of making this my life’s work; therefore, I continued with my ‘formal’ education and attended college. Moving from mechanical engineering to computer science, I was brain washed into thinking that I could work inside a building to make my living, and enjoy it. I kept falling back on the shoeing to make ends meet thru college. When I graduated, I went to work for a bank. That job lasted for three days. Remembering a fellow I had met before I graduated; and he had invited me to work for him, I decided, much to my mother’s chagrin, to take him up on his offer, and learn how to really shoe horses.

AH, the good ole’ days….I started to learn about the horses’ foot quickly. The “way to’”, but mainly the “ways not” to shoe a horse was a daily struggle for me until I got a grasp of the techniques of ‘building’ a shoe for a foot. Since there were no horse shoe manufacturers to speak of, an essential cog in the gears of learning to shoe, was the practice of EVERYONE having to be able to make their own shoes.
Even back then, some farriers were better or more polished than others at the making of shoes. Sometimes the shoe would go straight onto the foot and sometimes there was a pad or a stack of pads needed to fulfill the requirements. Much attention was placed upon the shape of the shoe, nail hole placement, nail hole size and number of holes was considered elementary by my mentors during this part of my education. Even though the shoe making took a long while to reach mediocrity, the other parts of my education were not over looked. There was always a reason why a procedure of trimming and/or the use of different pads or shoes were necessary to achieve the desired effect. There was also the occasional horse that managed to create a maximum learning experience. I remember a horse named ‘MR. MAGIC’. This horse, at the National Walking Horse Celebration, managed to tear his right front shoe off and could be easily trailed from the practice ring to the shoeing barn by his blood trail. A matter of seven and one half hours later, my mentor and I had two new shoes, a new stack of pads, a fabrication of tin stripes secured by screws to the foot, covered by wood dough filler to hide all this mess. The horse won his preliminary class, qualifying him to the championship class later on that same week, with absolutely NO NAILS in his right front foot! The shoe and pads weighed nine and one half pounds. This incident convinced me that there is so much more room for failure to occur if knowledge and technical abilities are not present when an incident likes this one arises and you are the chosen one to fix the problem. My efforts were doubled to become as “good” as my mentors. Looking back now, I can acclaim that this was my point of no return. I had subjugated myself to the task of being the best farrier I could become. I seemed to have pledged a loyalty to the craft and a craving for knowledge, along with unabridged desire to expedite my abilities in the forge. Some of this may seem exceedingly trivial to the reader, but believe me when I tell you I can look back and point out that moment when I realized what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. Another realization became apparent to me. There is a wide difference between being a ‘farrier’ or being a ‘horseshoer.’ The definition’s comparison is; ‘horse shoers’ shoe to live while ‘farriers’ live to shoe.

For many years, the passion had served me well. I worked at many shows in the official farrier capacity, met many people that appreciated the dedication to improving my abilities, and managed to shoe horses in thirty seven states. I have witnessed quit a few changes in the years. I am as guilty as anyone for turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the soul of our beloved craft. The unfolding of supply and demand creped upon us as more and different shoes were being manufactured. The result of demand rendered a product that permitted the shoer more time to shoe more horses by having to spend less time in the forge. The trade off was very tempting. I realized this phenomenon in time and was able to correct my error. I chose only those products that would ensure my continuance in manners taught to me by my mentors. I respectfully admit my shoeing ‘soul’ was saved.

Would you dare to guess what our soul’s name is? Its’ name is ART! I wish to now guide the reader to Mr. D. Webster. Art (1) the quality, production, or expression, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.(2) the class of objects subject to collective criteria.

There is now a new generation of shoer, a ‘New Guard’ if you will. This person seems to rely upon technology rather than mental and physical dexterity. I suppose the nature of the beast goes along with the type of child rearing the older generation hear about today. The mere number of manufacturers today guarantee that a person no longer has to know or be capable of the first step in making any kind of a horse shoe anyone could imagine. In some instances, however, I have been aware of individuals that could make the most perfect specimen shoes one had ever laid an eye on. However, when it came to ‘shaping’ any shoe for application to a foot, this person became instantly lost. Their work in this area never improved. The technology that has put all of our daily conveyances’ at our finger tips has also played a major role in the near death experience of our soul, ART. Integrity is a large part of ART. Integrity has been sold off and replaced by lust. Leave us revisit Webster a moment. Lust: (1) ardent enthusiasm, (2) a passionate or overmastering desire. Ardent: characterized by intense feeling or devotion.
What do I mean by ‘lust?’
I AM GOING TO GET UPON MY BOX NOW AND COMINCE PREACHING.

The overwhelming desire for money is a form of lust in its purest form. The perverted scarification of convictions and the murder of common sense for the singular gratification of monetary expedience drives a stake thru the heart of ART. More simply put, these people do not consider that they are killing the very thing that the whole shoeing industry is based upon by trading off ‘art’ for lust.

There are three separate things that have arrived at this location of time and space that is the catalyst for the current calamity regarding the world of farriery! First, a person has no requirements attached to themselves for knowing any anatomical equine values. Second, they do not have to have any credentials allowing them to perform the work. Third is the easy accessibility of products made available to anyone. Pour all of these ingredients together and you will have a ‘technician’ armed with very little knowledge, no longevity of experience to back up decisions, and a product line available to them with no idea how to apply correctly much less how to ‘make’ that same product. The ‘cart before the horse’ syndrome reveals itself. To my personal dismay, this type of person also sets up their business on a 4 or 5 week repeat basis. The untold truth is this usually is the time limit for their work. The intent is to establish a schedule or route, which is completely correct by definition, only incorrect by length of time. I have witnessed many horses being ‘shod’ that absolutely did not need shoeing. My position is that integrity with the client has been forfeited for the ‘lust’ of the account, at the same moment throwing ‘art’ under the bus. Next on the agenda is the complicated concept of keeping the client satisfied and welcoming the shoer back. Even the more seasoned shoer will now bend or ignore their ‘standards’ for the ‘lust’ of the account. They may use any number of crutches to try and explain away their endeavors. There may be a position taken that the horse is very special, with bad conformation, quality of hoof, or maladies that only the shoer can see and certainly, he is the only one qualified to render the animal useful. Owners should be held accountable also. There are uneducated request placed upon the shoer. The results are the thought pattern, ‘If I do not do this their way, they will get someone in here that will.’

This is the point in conversation where it screams to be said if all shoers held themselves to a higher standard, whom would these clients call next? The reader now realizes I am reaching into a fantasy world. The ‘lust’ has solidly taken over this industry. Some of our seasoned shoers have fallen into a 5 week prostitution ring, not just the newcomers. They label this as just conducting their business or ‘feeding’ their family. Any notion of being called a ‘farrier’ has been ‘lustfully’ rendered to the status of a ‘shoer.’ Their highest regard is to run their route, gather the money, go home and repeat the thievery again tomorrow. YES, I called it thievery. What would the reader call it? Performing any task that actually does not have a necessity to be filled or required at the present time for monetary gain is a form of stealing. If the tires on your truck were taken off and the same ones were placed back upon your truck while charging your account full price for a new set, I would bet a loud protest would occur. Loyalty to the horse, integrity to the client, and most of all the reverence to the ‘art’ of ‘farriery’ has been replaced. The use of ‘balanced pre-fabricated’ product this or ‘natural pre-fabricated’ product that, whether ferrous or non-ferrous materials are used, has lowered the clients expectation of most any ‘technician.’ Here is a resemblance to the old six gun. If everybody has one, then everything is equal. Since most clients are very unaware of the different levels of competence from one shoer to the next and they have observed that they all carry the same shoes, the next logical thought is, being everything is equal, we need to find a ‘cheaper’ shoer. Generally, the horse owning public is not aware of the difference between ‘shoers’ and ‘farriers.’ The realization that the newest ‘shoers’ are usually the ones with the lowest prices are also the least experience. A percentage of the horse owners are educated and are aware of differences but they are also subject to propaganda concerning their horse. Sometimes, the ‘farrier’ can go about his craft with all of his dignities in tact and still have to circum to prejudices brought on by other authority figures that are not on the same page as the ‘farrier’ to the welfare of the horse and/or the integrity to the client. This scenario will cause concern to the ‘farrier’ and tempt them into ‘surrendering his sword’ and allowing these uneducated authority figures control. In a predictable way, the ‘farrier’ may not have circum to ‘lust’ in the normal way, but yet he will circum in order to retain the account.

The ‘conscious’ of the craft has been ‘hollered’ down by the ‘lust.’
I can honestly say that I, and a very few others, are still here, yelling back, at the top our voices. To do ones’ level best using craftsmanship for the horse while earning the clients’ respect with integrity as to ‘when’ the horse needs tending for a fair price keeps ones’ possession of his sword in tact. The reader should recognize that there are a few horses that may need tending on a monthly basis. The numbers of these animals are very low. In most cases, the owner should have their horse ‘shod’ six times in a calendar year, not twelve times. If the OWNER desires more tending than is really necessary, the ‘farrier’s’ integrity is still in tack with the client and his ‘loyalty’ to the ‘art’ has been preserved.

Pursuing any endeavor, as a man worthy of his hire, is a simple way of putting what I have tried to convey. There are forces working among us that tempt us and acclaim that if everybody is doing it this way or that way, then I will too. This reminds me of things that are going on in this country today. People are making decisions that greatly affect us daily. Standards have been lowered to a dangerous level. Holding up ones’ pride in ‘a job well done’ has been diminished. The procedures of doing business as cheaply as possible while cutting all corners in order to ‘steal’ as much as we can is the theme of today’s’ culture.

I, personally, may not have made the most money or acquired as much fame as the possibilities that were presented to me, but I can honestly say that ‘I NEVER SURRENDERED MY SWORD.’

These thoughts are my personal opinion.

THANK YOU FOR READING!

LYNN JEAN