What does a farrier do?
You trim and shoe horses' feet, which is anatomy, blacksmithing and handling a half-tonne animal, at the same time, bent double.
Also called: horseshoer, shoeing smith, blacksmith farrier.
A day looks like
- 1You work under a horse that can move at any moment, and reading its mood is as much of the job as the foot.
- 2You trim to balance rather than to a measurement, judging it by eye against how that horse moves.
- 3You shape hot steel to the foot rather than the foot to the steel.
- 4You place nails into a wall a few millimetres thick, at an angle that takes them out through the side.
Hardest part
There is no margin. The sensitive tissue is a few millimetres inside the wall, so a nail placed slightly wrong lames the horse, and you are placing it by feel under an animal that may decide to move.
Best part
A horse that came in lame and walks out sound because you rebalanced its feet.
How you actually become a farrier
- At schoolStrength, and an apprenticeship — in many countries farriery is legally restricted to registered farriers.
- TrainingA formal apprenticeship of several years plus examinations; registration is a legal requirement in some places.
- How longFour years or more of apprenticeship before working unsupervised.
- Your first jobApprentice farrier, holding feet and making shoes before shoeing anything.
Frequently asked questions
- Does shoeing hurt the horse?
- Not when it is done correctly. The hoof wall a farrier trims and nails into has no nerve supply, like a fingernail. The skill is that the sensitive tissue is only a few millimetres inside it.
- Why shape the shoe hot?
- Because it lets the shoe be made to fit that particular foot exactly, and briefly resting the hot shoe on the trimmed foot shows precisely where it bears. The alternative is altering the foot to fit the shoe, which is the wrong way round.
- Is farriery a regulated job?
- In several countries it is legally restricted — only registered farriers may shoe horses, and it requires a formal apprenticeship and examinations. This is because bad shoeing causes real and lasting lameness.
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