Class will be 9am-5pm Monday-Friday. We will start in the classroom and move to the forge. Safety glasses and apron must be worn at all times when in the forging area. While at the forge horses will be brought in for trimming and shoeing. We will also watch horses move to learn how to recognize gait, lameness and how a shoe effects the movement of a horse. Based on the advancement of your skill we will work toward each student working with their own horse. Majority of time will be spent in the field trimming and shoeing. We will teach you how to trim horses, donkeys, goats, sheep and maybe even a pig. There will be demonstrations by other farriers. Just because I do something one way does not mean you have to. There is more than one way to reach your goal and you need to find what works best for you.
Week 1
Classroom: Introduction to the school and curriculum. Basic horseshoes and tools used to shoe a horse. Construction and function of the hoof. Basic anatomy of the horse's leg and hoof.
Forge: Forge safety and tools used to work with steel. Assignment of forge and tools. Plain punched handmade front and hind shoe pattern.
Hands-on: Basic horse handling. How to position yourself under the horse. Use of tools. Pulling shoes and trimming feet.
Week 2
Classroom: More detail about anatomy. Function of tendons, joints and ligaments. How the shoeing of a horse relates to how it moves.
Forge: Rocker toe front pattern and blocked heels hind pattern.
Hands-on: Shoeing and trimming
Week 3
Classroom: Evaluating a horse’s conformation.
Forge: Front side clip shoe and hind quarter clip shoe. How to modify a keg shoe for clips.
Hands-on: Shoeing and trimming
Week 4
Classroom: Continuation of conformation.
Forge: Plain front shoe with borium and square toe and trailer with quarter clips, hind pattern shoe.
Hands-on: Assessing conformation, trimming and shoeing.
Week 5
Classroom: Different types of lameness, their causes, signs, treatments and prognosis.
Forge: Front and hind pattern egg bar shoes, drilled and tapped.
Hands-on: Using hoof testers, trimming and shoeing.
Week 6
Classroom: Continuation of lameness. We will discuss ringbone, scratches, sesamoiditis, sheared heels, shin buck, shoe boil, sidebone, splint, stifle lameness, suspensory sprain, thoroughpin, thrush, upper fixation of the patella, weak flexor tendons, white line disease, windpuffs, wobbles, yeast infection and white line disease.
Forge: Straight bar front pattern shoe with pad and a hind pattern shoe with lateral heel extension.
Hands-on: Trimming and shoeing.
Week 7
Classroom: We will discuss causes, signs and treatment of the following faulty gaits: forging, overreaching, front limb interfering, hind limb interfering, winging out, scalping, cross firing, toe dragging, speeding cutting, elbow hitting. We will go over shoeing techniques for different disciplines.
Forge: Front pattern aluminum shoe with clip and slider shoe hind pattern.
Hands-on: Resection and when they are needed, proper use of rotor tools and hoof reconstruction using acrylic hoof repair materials.
Week 8
Classroom: We will discuss bookkeeping, advertising and scheduling. How to handle yourself professionally in any situation and the positives and negatives of being self-employed.
Forge: Review
Hands-on: Trimming and shoeing
Each student will receive the following tools: Shoeing box, driving hammer, clinch block, apron, knife, rounding hammer, nippers, clinchers, shoe pullers, clinch cutters, nail pullers, rasp, hoof gauge and divider. These supplies are included in the tuition price and are yours to keep at the end of school.
Students will be responsible for keeping living space and their work area clean. You will also be responsible for the care of the horses on site.
