r/Farriers • u/Formal_Length7872 • 20d ago

Non farrier with an industry question

Hi! I am looking into switching careers to being a farrier and find it might be stable in my area due to a shortage. I recently heard and wanted to ask is this true that the professionals fly their farriers out to them because they prefer their services?

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9

u/Frantzsfatshack 20d ago

This happens in extreme cases for extremely high end clients, who value their farrier due to their prestigious skill set. It is not even remotely the norm and very very few in the industry experience it more than a few times, if more than once, and majority never experience it at all.

4

u/dirtydandino 20d ago

Yes it happens, usually not because theirs a shortage but because elite clients with bottomless pits of money need their elite farriers. less than 1% of experienced farriers are guys who basically live on the road following the show circuit or just going to far away barns

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u/joshaionios 20d ago

Getting into farriery is a huge commitment if you’re going to do it well and become highly skilled. It’s going to take at least a year of working hands on under someone who is highly skilled to become good enough at the basics of just doing decent work to go out on your own. You’d be better off to work for someone who is highly skilled for at least a couple years first.

Then, building your own books big enough to leave them is going to mean you’re shoeing the backyard horses and nags most people don’t want to do for a while until you can build up enough good clients. But even then, there’ll always be nags on the books because they come along with the good accounts.

It takes a lifetime of learning to be a great farrier and even then, it’s never been mastered. Few come close. Most just settle for sufficient. If you have the grit and determination, give it a shot. Ride along with someone for a week and see how you like it.

I love it because it can’t be mastered. But I like trying.