The Evolution of a Farrier. Why lameness,Why this blog
Have a quick story tonight - blame it on Starbucks, Venti white moca. A weekend story.
I graduated from what's considered by many to be the best horseshoeing school in the world. I graduated in 1991. I took the full three month mastery course offered and lived on campus. The school keeps a student enrollment of 50 students at all times with 12 revolving in and out every two weeks. The school offered a 2 , 8 , and 12 week course so every two weeks the next group would come in.
what made the school so great was being able to actually shoe live horses - ok - just to clear the air - some schools shoe no longer living horses - and the students place a shoe on "Detached from the horses body" legs.
The school was great - i was there in the dead of winter with the snow and ice so thick to get into your car took a pick to chisel into the door handle. Working out in the quansit hut with 25 burning forges for warmth in what was otherwise 20 degrees made for more enjoyable education.
About my 8th week into the program - the owner of the school came up , approached me and took me to the side to tell me he felt i was one of the best farriers he had come through the school in about 2 years. Of course his comment made me feel great as i really had NO Previous experience with horses . His kind words were a great boost of confidence to me.
The Dormatory was Co-ed. everyone under one roof with the girls on one side in their facility and the boys the other in theirs. I have to say with some humor "The girls can have some horrendous fights". Oh - i'm getting off topic - sorry bout that (-:
Well come graduation ( after some good outdoor snow football games ) i managed to graduate at and with the top of the class. All in all the group / graduates were a good bunch and as one might imagine some good friendships developed. However in spite of the comment i recieved from the owner of the school as to my capability i left the school somewhat puzzled and with a feeling like i was somehow lost - basically it didn't come to my full consciousness till later that what i was feeling was that there " Was something Missing in the education i recieved there. Can you imagine being taught something completely new to you ( 12 weeks mind you) and walking away feeling puzzled and confused ? I really didn't know what the problem was. I just felt odd but somehow i just knew "FELT" there was something missing that i wasn't taught.
I quickly discovered what was missing , and the reason it was missing. The reason it was ( what was taught me by the school ) was missing was because " They didn't know themselves " - well that's why it was missing DUH !!! (-: right ? you guys still with me ? (-: LOL
So straight up i found and discovered what the school was missing - The rest of the pieces of the shoeing puzzle so to speak ( well actually - exactly and precisely so ).. it was like becoming enlightened to shoeing. Except i didn't really realize how much impact and how much truth there was that had been found until later - years later - it all sorta matured and over time more and more lightbulb moments came to my mind about the shoeing world and shoeing itself became very fascinating / still is. One door opened and lead to another door opening which led to another and on and on and to be honest i was somewhat blown away by the discovery and how everything fit together and related to so much from so many different angles / including Farriers themselves, and the industry.
In a nutshell i spent years "Verifying" what i was to believe in. I looked deeply and more deeply into what i was doing while shoeing horses feet and handling the animals. I made comparisons , i took pictures , i studied everything inside and out until one day ( years later ) what i came to understand about shoeing just " stood the test of time". Basically i saw the weakness and what was missing in other methods of shoeing and how those methods produced lame horses while i continued to forge ahead with not one single problem and not one single lame horse.
To shorten things up here. I also recognized how much controversy there is in the Farrier industry - farriers arguing between themselves about what's right what's wrong yet horses still coming up lame every day - some - hopefully not yours "Permanently lame". Serious problems no one wants to live through. Me on the other hand all the while recognizing all these problems within the industry just sorta took the position " well i'm not making horses lame i'll just quietly go on shoeing horses and - well - i'm doing good"... I'm kinda an easy going guy i guess. And again the long story short.
Well over the years - some of my clients left me ( just cause that's what some do ). For one reason or another - after all not only is this a horse business it's also a people business and well - things happen and people change Farriers like they change their shoes sometimes. Now what would happen all too frequently is i would recieve a phone call asking me if i'd return to shoe their horses cause the "New Farrier they gave me up for had ruined their horse and the horse is now lame"...
Well you know - i'm not doing my job if i don't convince clients how serious shoeing is to the prevention of lameness so when i'd go back out to shoe their horses again i'd start explaining all the nuiances of my method and how i've not had one lame horse - etc - etc. Soooooo - after having this happen repeatidly and fixing peoples horses up - over and over - and here and there - and new clients - it just finally hit me like a ton of bricks i needed to finally start to speak out and do something about preventing all the horses coming up lame due to poor farrier practices ( FARRIERITIS ) the sickness in the industry was born. My effort to do something - to make a difference - to get the word out - to basically and with as much robust influence as i can garnish and muster up have this industry wake up and shake out the old school systems which when practiced ruin horses and step into the new and SAVE THE HORSES....
i just couldn't and can't keep my mouth shut anymore and won't keep my mouth shut anymore.
Everybody here can help with this . There really is a right way for the horses.
So it's almost 2:00 am - that Venti White Moca is about worn off . But the truth need to be heard and told - I value these wonderful animals that fill so much of our lives. And it's time to give back.
I open the doors to all comers to take up the torch and sound off.
We can "ALL" do this - we can ALL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
thank you - best wishes .
As usual happy and safe riding and remember to always www.Care4Horses.com
John Silveira ( The Foot Doctor ?? ) (-:
Remember full consultations are still available for the asking . Shoeing issues - conformation - behavioral at no cost - that's ( FREE ) !!! Just drop me a line before it's too late. this is all on a limited time basis. Hurry hurry - be quick (-: john@Care4Horses.com
I graduated from what's considered by many to be the best horseshoeing school in the world. I graduated in 1991. I took the full three month mastery course offered and lived on campus. The school keeps a student enrollment of 50 students at all times with 12 revolving in and out every two weeks. The school offered a 2 , 8 , and 12 week course so every two weeks the next group would come in.
what made the school so great was being able to actually shoe live horses - ok - just to clear the air - some schools shoe no longer living horses - and the students place a shoe on "Detached from the horses body" legs.
The school was great - i was there in the dead of winter with the snow and ice so thick to get into your car took a pick to chisel into the door handle. Working out in the quansit hut with 25 burning forges for warmth in what was otherwise 20 degrees made for more enjoyable education.
About my 8th week into the program - the owner of the school came up , approached me and took me to the side to tell me he felt i was one of the best farriers he had come through the school in about 2 years. Of course his comment made me feel great as i really had NO Previous experience with horses . His kind words were a great boost of confidence to me.
The Dormatory was Co-ed. everyone under one roof with the girls on one side in their facility and the boys the other in theirs. I have to say with some humor "The girls can have some horrendous fights". Oh - i'm getting off topic - sorry bout that (-:
Well come graduation ( after some good outdoor snow football games ) i managed to graduate at and with the top of the class. All in all the group / graduates were a good bunch and as one might imagine some good friendships developed. However in spite of the comment i recieved from the owner of the school as to my capability i left the school somewhat puzzled and with a feeling like i was somehow lost - basically it didn't come to my full consciousness till later that what i was feeling was that there " Was something Missing in the education i recieved there. Can you imagine being taught something completely new to you ( 12 weeks mind you) and walking away feeling puzzled and confused ? I really didn't know what the problem was. I just felt odd but somehow i just knew "FELT" there was something missing that i wasn't taught.
I quickly discovered what was missing , and the reason it was missing. The reason it was ( what was taught me by the school ) was missing was because " They didn't know themselves " - well that's why it was missing DUH !!! (-: right ? you guys still with me ? (-: LOL
So straight up i found and discovered what the school was missing - The rest of the pieces of the shoeing puzzle so to speak ( well actually - exactly and precisely so ).. it was like becoming enlightened to shoeing. Except i didn't really realize how much impact and how much truth there was that had been found until later - years later - it all sorta matured and over time more and more lightbulb moments came to my mind about the shoeing world and shoeing itself became very fascinating / still is. One door opened and lead to another door opening which led to another and on and on and to be honest i was somewhat blown away by the discovery and how everything fit together and related to so much from so many different angles / including Farriers themselves, and the industry.
In a nutshell i spent years "Verifying" what i was to believe in. I looked deeply and more deeply into what i was doing while shoeing horses feet and handling the animals. I made comparisons , i took pictures , i studied everything inside and out until one day ( years later ) what i came to understand about shoeing just " stood the test of time". Basically i saw the weakness and what was missing in other methods of shoeing and how those methods produced lame horses while i continued to forge ahead with not one single problem and not one single lame horse.
To shorten things up here. I also recognized how much controversy there is in the Farrier industry - farriers arguing between themselves about what's right what's wrong yet horses still coming up lame every day - some - hopefully not yours "Permanently lame". Serious problems no one wants to live through. Me on the other hand all the while recognizing all these problems within the industry just sorta took the position " well i'm not making horses lame i'll just quietly go on shoeing horses and - well - i'm doing good"... I'm kinda an easy going guy i guess. And again the long story short.
Well over the years - some of my clients left me ( just cause that's what some do ). For one reason or another - after all not only is this a horse business it's also a people business and well - things happen and people change Farriers like they change their shoes sometimes. Now what would happen all too frequently is i would recieve a phone call asking me if i'd return to shoe their horses cause the "New Farrier they gave me up for had ruined their horse and the horse is now lame"...
Well you know - i'm not doing my job if i don't convince clients how serious shoeing is to the prevention of lameness so when i'd go back out to shoe their horses again i'd start explaining all the nuiances of my method and how i've not had one lame horse - etc - etc. Soooooo - after having this happen repeatidly and fixing peoples horses up - over and over - and here and there - and new clients - it just finally hit me like a ton of bricks i needed to finally start to speak out and do something about preventing all the horses coming up lame due to poor farrier practices ( FARRIERITIS ) the sickness in the industry was born. My effort to do something - to make a difference - to get the word out - to basically and with as much robust influence as i can garnish and muster up have this industry wake up and shake out the old school systems which when practiced ruin horses and step into the new and SAVE THE HORSES....
i just couldn't and can't keep my mouth shut anymore and won't keep my mouth shut anymore.
Everybody here can help with this . There really is a right way for the horses.
So it's almost 2:00 am - that Venti White Moca is about worn off . But the truth need to be heard and told - I value these wonderful animals that fill so much of our lives. And it's time to give back.
I open the doors to all comers to take up the torch and sound off.
We can "ALL" do this - we can ALL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
thank you - best wishes .
As usual happy and safe riding and remember to always www.Care4Horses.com
John Silveira ( The Foot Doctor ?? ) (-:
Remember full consultations are still available for the asking . Shoeing issues - conformation - behavioral at no cost - that's ( FREE ) !!! Just drop me a line before it's too late. this is all on a limited time basis. Hurry hurry - be quick (-: john@Care4Horses.com
ps.
There's some real good posts coming up. I've been building up quite a bit of momentum - So keep tuned and don't be hesitant to leave your comments and feedback as well as spread the word . Everyone benefits. Especially the horses.
Good Morning John,
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Why don't you start your OWN school and get these people off to the start they should have. It would sure benefit alot of people out there.
Sincerely, Marcia (No Pain) Hamilton.
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That's a powerful great idea Marcia.
I'll have to take that into consideration. I've got my hands full currently with alot of work on Farrieritis. perhaps later.
Funding (-:
take care.
johnny
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Bravo, John
Everyone needs to remember we all want the same thing, SOUND HAPPY HORSES!
I've been into/involved/on and under horses for over 30 years now and cannot get enough...there is still more to learn too! Anyone who says they know it all should be whipped. We are all on a journey of enlightenment (take that any way you want).
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Yes i hear you . Still learning . that's for sure.
john
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