Mullins Farrier Podcast

Welcome everyone. I'm sure you noticed the new intro. I worked on that the whole flight back from England. Just thought I would change things up a little bit for you with some new and equally inspiring quotes from some other folks who have been on the podcast. As I'm sure you already gathered from the accents of the people in the new intro, this is the first episode of many to come out of my trip to England. Abby Bunyard is the Vice President of the British Farriers and Blacksmiths Association. Abby was admittedly a bit hesitant to do this at first with a little bit of cajoling from Danny Bennet we were able to convince her to sit down and do this, her positivity and her kindness came through quite strongly. In re-listening to the edited version of this, I was reminded of a good friend over here, Cathy Lesperance, who you've heard in an interview way back in the beginning. Their two personalities are very similar. They're just go-getters, very strong women, and very kind as well. I've told many people that it was really cool to go to England and meet many of my heroes whom I'd heard about for so many years but I also met many new heroes, and Abby Bunyard, AWCF is definitely one of those. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Welcome everyone, I'm just back from England where I got to hang out in person with none other than Danny Bennett and so many other folks that I have only known through Facebook. We had a behind-the-scenes tour of Newmarket, thank you to Dr. Simon Curtis and Ian Alexander Nixon. We were also able to hang out with the Canadian and the American teams as they prepared for the International at Stoneleigh and then at the International as well as Focus. Danny and I wandered around with microphones in hand getting as much content as we could to share with you about everything that was going on at those events. Needless to say, I have a ton of interviews to share with you, so keep an ear out for those as we put them out. My guest today is Shearer Wludyka, CJF ASF. I first heard about this incredible woman many years back when I first started attending Heartland Horseshoeing School. Chris often speaks of her fondly as one of his star students who went off to do great things. There had been a few occasions where we were supposed to be in the Heartland at the same time, but unfortunately, life got in the way for one reason or another that didn't happen until this October. Shearer was there with one of her employees helping her to prepare for the CF exam. I think she was supposed to be working on her AW herself, but she was so busy helping out others that I don't think she got around to it. Anyway, we found a few quiet moments and she, her trusty sidekick Jinx, and I got to sit down and have a conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

As I record this intro I'm packing up and getting ready to head to England to hang out with my friend and fellow podcaster, Danny Bennett. It looks like Danny has me signed up for several interviews with some legends over there, so look for those in the coming months and keep an eye on the Lockdown Farrier Podcast Facebook page as well as my own, as we will be trying to put up some content leading up to and during the International Shoeing Competition at Stoneleigh and the BFBA Focus Convention. If you're going to be there, please seek us out and say hi. Today's guest is someone I truly look up to. He has pushed himself to pursue and achieve many certifications in our profession and the whole time that he has been on that journey he has willingly shared his knowledge and mentored many on the same path. Emilio Giannotti, AWCF CJF- TE, and ASF is a humble man, but an incredible talent in the forge and a wealth of knowledge. We only had a short window of time in which to do the interview down in the Heartland. I'm glad I finally was able to get him to sit down for a few minutes and have a chat. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

My guest today needs no introduction, Mr. Steven Beane FWCF of England. He was the judge and clinician for our annual convention for the Ontario Farriers Association this year and I had the great honour to be able to sit down and interview him before the convention got started. I really appreciate Steven's raw honesty. He was quite forthcoming with a lot of really good wisdom. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Today's guest comes from the other side of the planet from me, where every creature big and small is seemingly trying to kill you and the toilets flush in the wrong direction. I'm talking today to Dean Lewis, a WCF. If memory serves, Dean is one of only a couple AWCFs in the country and in corresponding with him, I discovered we share a mutual friend in Mr. Daniel Bennett. It never ceases to amaze me how small the farrier world truly is. It has been a lot of fun getting to know this kind and thoughtful man from the other side of the planet and I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Today I'm speaking with Sam Durham, CJF, dipWCF. Sam was up here in the great white north, along with Hank Chisholm to be a clinician for the first ever pre-cert hosted in Ontario. As I mentioned in the intro to Hanks's interview, it was a late night after two solid days of teaching for the two gentlemen and they had an early morning ahead of them. Despite all this, they still pressed on and did their respective interviews. As with Hank, Sam was informative and insightful. Our discussion about the suspensory apparatus of the distal phalanx was especially enlightening for me. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Welcome everyone. Today, I'm talking to Hank Chisholm, C JF. Hank is the current president of the AFA and I caught him for an interview when he and Sam Durham were up here in the great white north to give a pre-cert clinic. Before the interview, dinner went a little long, as they tend to do when a bunch of farriers get together. Even though it was late and Hank and Sam only had a few hours of sleep ahead of them before their journey to the airport, they pressed on with their interviews. It is short and sweet due to our time constraints but I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Today, I'm speaking with Chris Diehl, CJF, FE, AWCF. When I first started this little podcast project of mine, I had more than just a little bit of difficulty getting some people on board with doing an interview. Many didn't know what a podcast was, let alone who I was. To this day, I have quite a few interview request messages in my outbox that have not been responded to. So, on the day that someone reached out for me to interview then I knew that the podcast had reached some sort of pinnacle of traction. Chris' opening message to me promised that he had a lot to offer in a conversation for the podcast and as you will hear, he did not disappoint. To this day when I'm working on a set of keg shoes with pre-made clips, I hear Chris' voice in my head saying "I'm pro clip, I'm just not pro angle iron". Sometimes controversial but always calling things as he sees them, I now bring you Chris Diehl CJF, FE, AWCF. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Welcome everyone. Today. I'm speaking with Douglas Hogue, CJF, EE. Doug currently runs his business out of a county, close to Houston, Texas. We cover a wide range of topics and Doug shared his straightforward and honest opinion on all of them. As you will hear, Doug, isn't afraid to be controversial, which seems to be part of his charm. One of the topics we covered was being fired by clients and I had the unfortunate luck to have that happen to me this very week. As you will hear me say in the conversation, it doesn't seem to matter how far into our careers we get being fired, still stings for most of us. My friend and former podcast guest, Kathy Lesperance and I have had this conversation as well. She has about two decades on me in this trade and she says, in the particular situation from this week, it still hurts. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Welcome everyone. As this is being released, we are just past the middle of July. For many of us in the Northern hemisphere, we will be amid our busiest season. Horse shows are in full swing and those clients that tried to get by riding their horses over the roughest rockiest most abrasive terrain barefoot now want shoes yesterday. There aren't enough hours in the day to get everything all done and those of us with partners and children who have normal civilian jobs are now feeling the added pressure to take advantage of the weather and take holidays with them. It's a lot of pulls and several different and opposing directions. The people pleasers amongst us are never seemingly able to please anyone at this point in the year amongst all of this. Take a step back and reflect on what this is all for. What are your priorities? If you have financial goals and they're at the top of your list, those goals may be the driver that keeps you going but don't sacrifice your health to get there. Future goals aren't easy to enjoy when you're living in a state of poor health. If your family, your significant other, or your hobbies outside of shoeing are your priority, learn to get good at saying no to unrealistic requests from clients. Sometimes that shoe can wait another day to get fixed. I've been that person who tried to please everyone and failed miserably. I've come to believe that there is no such thing as work life balance. It's not a noun. It's a verb. It's a process. One that constantly needs addressing and reworking. Figure out what your priorities are, what you're doing all of this for and let those answers guide you in the process. I believe we all need reasons to push us forward and without them it's easy to become lost adrift and a sea of never-ending lists of horses to do and barely able to keep our heads above the water. They say that what you focus on you'll achieve, but I believe if you're not focused on anything, treading water is all you've got. I guess, with all of this, what I'm really trying to say is take care of yourselves and each other out there. It's just that time of year and it too will eventually pass. Today's guest is Dusty Franklin, C JF, ASF, AWCF. If anybody had the honour to hear Dusty's talk at this year's convention, they will know that he is quite the inspirational guy. It will be no surprise after hearing Dusty's story today that many of the students that graduate from the various programs at his school in Oklahoma, Five Star Horseshoeing School go on to be such successful farriers in their own right. Leading by example, Dusty is always pushing himself to learn more and to achieve more in this trade and he, along with his network of like-minded individuals, instill those same principles in the students that come through the school. Anyway, I am so glad that we were able to have this conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Welcome everyone, a little shopkeeping before we start. If you haven't already, you should pick up Chris Gregory's new book For The Want of a Nail The Shoe Was Lost. It's a fun read and introduces you to several legends of our trade, including my guest today. Look for it on Amazon, or you can order it directly from Chris at www.heartlandhorseshoeing.com. Also, I'm excited to announce that I'll be travelling to the UK this fall for Farrier Focus, the kind folks at the British Farriers and Blacksmith's Association invited me to come and interview some of the key speakers and clinicians. I'm looking forward to joining forces with my fellow podcaster and friend Daniel Bennett, to give you some insight into the convention, the international team, horseshoeing competition, and all the farrier folks who will be attending. To check out the details online of the convention, go to www.forgeandfarrier.co.uk and hopefully, I'll see you there. Today. I'm speaking with Derek Gardner AWCF. This man has been a legend to me since I started shoeing. Many of the folks I looked up to often talked about Derek and his mastery in the forge. Many of my former guests have also spoken fondly of their time under his tutelage, including Andrew DeVisser, Sarah Vanderpol and of course, Chris Gregory. We had a great chat covering everything from Derek's experience during the foot and mouth disease crisis in the UK many years ago, and his journey to the wild west as a young lad to experience ranching firsthand as well as many insights he has had while working on horses' feet. It was truly an honour to speak with him and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Welcome everyone. A little shopkeeping before we start, I am excited to announce that Chris Gregory's new book "For The Want Of A Nail, The Shoe Was Lost" is now available for purchase. This book is a memoir focusing on the many influential mentors who helped Chris along in his incredible career. There is a series of questions to his still-living mentors and the responses to those as well. Signed copies are available through Chris personally and unsigned copies are available through Amazon. Today, I'm speaking with Olivier Dufresne CJF. Olivier hails from my neighbouring province in Canada, Quebec. In Quebec, they primarily speak French, the other official language of Canada. Although I and all Canadian students learn this language in our schooling, my French has become a bit rusty, to say the least. Quebec has a very strong association called the AMFQ, which is strong in no small part because of Olivier. He was the president of this association for several years. Quebec has many clinics, contests and certifications. You will typically find Olivier in the background doing something to make the event better or run more smoothly. Oli is always about education and I knew I had to have him on here to share his story. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!

Welcome everyone! A little shopkeeping before we start, don't forget to get your tickets for this Saturday's upcoming webinar, Saturday, June 11th with Dr. Simon Curtis and Sarah Logie and it will be on Hoof Horn Infection. With your tickets, you will get access to the interactive webinar, a full recording of the webinar, afterwards, your questions answered in an open Q and a, a certificate of attendance or CPD or CE points and PDFs of studies, papers, and key takeaways. Also, if you happen to be in the neighbourhood of Schomberg, Ontario on June 17th from 1 pm to 5 PM - Foot for Thought is hosting a clinic called "Casting Call - Foot Cast Applications for Case Management of Surgical Medical and Podiatry Issues. The speakers in this one are Dr. Orlaith Cleary, Chris Gerber, Tristan Miles and Elisa Miller. This will be a good one, we haven't been able to have a Foot for Thought event in quite a while. So it will be nice to see everybody there. RSVP to [email protected] to attend. Today I am speaking with my good friend, Daniel Bennett, AWCF. After hearing a couple of episodes where guests and I were discussing the AW exam, Danny reached out and suggested that we might have a few of our concepts a little misconstrued on what is involved in the exam and he wanted to clear that up. As you will hear, Daniel is coming at this from a very interesting vantage point and his information is current and very helpful. This whole episode was basically Danny's idea and is in the format that you would typically find on his podcast, the Lockdown Farrier Podcast. If you haven't already, you should definitely check it out and subscribe. You will learn a ton. It is very focused on education and Danny has had many guests who are at the forefront of research in our trade. I am very thankful that Danny took some time out of his fishing vacation on a Sunday afternoon to discuss all things AW, if you are in the midst of preparing for and attempting this exam, I'm sure you will find a lot of the information here very helpful, and it will help dispel a lot of myths. You've probably heard over the years about what is involved. It could even save you from practicing for the wrong things or surprises on exam day. Now, if you're just at the beginning of your certification journey and the AW seems like a daunting far-off goal, please don't disregard this particular episode. Ever the educator, Danny shares a lot of information about preparing for any exam. There is also a video version of this episode where you can see Daniel's presentation as well. You can find it HERE I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Welcome everyone, I've been quite busy on the podcasting front and we have quite the queue of great guests coming up, including this one. Today, I'm speaking with Mike Garrett CJF ASF. Mike is a Colorado-based shoer who runs under the business name, Sweet Feet Farrier. I've run into him down in the Heartland a couple of times now and his story is quite inspiring. With his seemingly late start in this career, Mike has managed to acquire his CJSF and ASF certifications in a fairly short span of time and as you will hear his aspirations don't end there. Eternally curious, externally calm and ever cracking jokes it is always a pleasure to forge beside this man. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

Welcome everyone, a few shopkeeping items before we start. Mark your calendars for the 19th and 20th of August, there will be a Sean Robertson benefit clinic at Cascadia equine veterinary clinic in tangent, Oregon. The clinicians will be Riley Kirkpatrick, Jacob Manning, and Chris Wycliffe, DVM Sean, AKA Shrek Robertson was a second-generation farrier who had shot all of his life and was a mentor to many. He was known for his large stature and his kindness. Sean tragically lost his life due to an auto accident back in December. and the proceeds from this clinic will go to support his wife, Wendy, to help with the expenses from the accident and her, as he was their only source of income. For any inquiries about the event or ways that you can help out please contact Quentin Gravelle at 541-749-0861 or [email protected]. If next weekend, May the 13th and 14th, you find yourself in the neighbourhood of Puslinch, Ontario the Ontario Farriers Association is hosting Jan Krogh for a clinic. The title of the clinic is Therapeutic Shoeing for Sport Horses. Jan is a master farrier from Denmark and amongst his impressive list of items on his resume, is the national team farrier. If you want to learn more about Yan and his story, you can listen to his interview with Simon Curtis on the Hoof of the Horse podcast. Visit Ontario farriers.ca for more information. With today being "Mother's Day" boxing day, we decided to celebrate by having a conversation with a mother we don't often hear from. Kelly Gregory CF has helped numerous students build the foundational skills necessary to become successful farriers in this trade. Her influence has been great in our world, but she likes to work quietly in the background, so much so that even getting a photo for this episode was a challenge. Just imagine how hard it was to convince her to sit down and do the interview! She has done some cool things, including being a competitor on Forged in Fire. I completely gapped and forgot to ask her about that whole experience during the interview so my apologies to everyone for failing in my journalistic duties. She had some great stories to share nonetheless, and despite the struggles to get her there, we had a fun time. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!

Welcome everyone, today I'm speaking with Liz Longworth, CF. I first met Liz a few years ago in the Heartland during a blacksmithing course. What became apparent quite early on in meeting her was the fact that she is probably one of the highest energy people I have ever met. Like an Energizer bunny, she just keeps going and going. The pile of shoes under her forge during that course was the largest out of anybody there and I just knew I had to find out what made this woman tick. As you will hear, that course was the catalyst for Liz's decision to pursue her certifications with the AFA. Now that she has that certification bug, I imagine she will be pursuing those until the furthest reaches that one can. We also briefly touch on her furry friend at home Teddy Bear Longworth who, unfortunately, since recording this episode, has passed on. However, Liz was quite happy that he got included in this episode. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!

Welcome, everyone! As you probably noticed from the intro some things are going to be a little askew in today's episode. Before we start a few shopkeeping items. First, my fellow podcaster and the infamous farrier educator Dr. Simon Curtis has been putting on some great webinars over the past few years. I have found them to be very informative and their content applicable to my day-to-day shoeing. For a limited time, Simon is offering a discount to listeners of this podcast. If you enter MULLINS all caps as the discount code at checkout, you'll get 20% off the ticket price for the next webinar. I have found that even if I couldn't make the time for the actual webinars, my tickets entitled me to videos of them later that I could watch at my leisure. Dr. Simon's next webinar is a live dissection with Mitch Taylor and will take place on the 23rd. You can find the link to purchase tickets to this event on Simon's website at https://www.drsimoncurtis.com/calendar Also, some exciting news, former guest Heather Beauchemin has written a fantastic book for horse owners. It's titled The Hoof Book, a horse owner's guide to demystifying hoof care. It debuted at number one in new releases in the equestrian sports category on Amazon. This book could be your best way to quell those questions you get from those clients who like to go online and look up a thing or two about how to shoe horses. I believe that properly informed clients can make some of the best clients. So if you're thinking of getting multiple copies to give to clients, reach out to Heather online, and she can offer you a volume discount on orders over 10 books, you can find Heather Beauchemin's book on the Amazon app or online at www. amazon.com. Now for today's episode, many of my guests have said that they weren't sure why I had asked them, of all people, to do an interview. Today's guest is no exception. When Chris Gregory suggested an episode where he interviewed me, I was hesitant at first. After I said, yes, Chris made sure to make me nervous about the event. Every time we spoke, he also reached out on social media, asking if people had questions for this interview. Some, I had the opportunity to see in the responses to one of his posts, but most of the others, including his own questions, I did not. A few months later, we were able to sit down in the Heartland, in the room where it all started with Chris being my very first guest. As you will hear, Chris is a natural interrogator, I mean, interviewer and we had a lot of fun. Keep an ear out for Chris's latest project as he is starting his own podcast called Final Approach with Chris Gregory. While he plans on interviewing some farriers, Chris's focus will be on professionals from all walks of life. Anyway, here it goes. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Unfortunately, the farrier community has lost one of the good ones with the passing of Lance Sloman. Lance was from Alberta, Canada, and he was the onsite farrier for the legendary Spruce Meadows Horse Show. I had the opportunity and the honour to be able to sit down and have a conversation with Lance back at the Hoof Summit in 2019. We are re-releasing that episode in honour of Lance today. I'm sure the kindness of this man will shine through in the recording. There isn't a single person I have met, that has met him, that doesn't have a story of something kind or helpful that he did for them. He was truly one of the good ones. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to his family. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Welcome, everyone. Today, I'm speaking with Dr. Bri Henderson, DVM (amongst many other letters) and Sean Elliott CJF. Many years ago, Sean was kind enough to invite me to his shop and spend numerous days helping a very green forger become less green. His wife, Bri has worked with me on a few special cases, and I have always valued her input and our shared passion for helping horses. I thought it would be interesting to interview them both at the same time and the result of that interview is what follows. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I do.

Welcome everyone, today I'm speaking with Jason RoTramel, CJF ASF. If you have been to a farrier competition in the U S you have probably noticed a gentleman with a beard of epic proportions, the coolest hat in the crowd, and a cell phone on a tripod, this would be Jason. If you nudge someone and ask who that character and the great hat is, they will usually say "Oh, that's Jason, he's the Kahn Forge guy". As you will hear, Jason played a big role in helping to rebrand the relatively unknown company from China selling horseshoes nails and tools to the Kahn Forge name we know today. While Jason isn't a partner in Kahn, he is a definitely a brand ambassador who was passionate about the product and that passion shows in this conversation. He also has his side project Vagabond Forge, we discuss what he's been up to there and where he wants to head. I had a lot of fun with Jason in this interview. He even turned the tables on me a couple times and asked me some questions. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

One of the fantastic things about attending something like the AFA convention or Summit is you can be chatting with somebody about farriery and not even realize that you were talking to a legend. That is what happened when I met Dave Showen. Later on, after our conversation, I asked Chris Gregory if that was who I suspected it was and he said yes. I approached Dave and asked him to do an interview. As you will hear, Dave is all about sharing knowledge. He willfully shares many of his trade secrets in the processes and materials he uses in the tools that he is so well-known for. He talks about his journey in learning how to weld aluminum and make aluminum bar shoes. An entertaining man and a very unexpected surprise at the AFA convention. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did

An old year ends and a new one begins, to start out 2022 on the right foot, we have a very special guest for you today. My guest today needs no introduction, he's a North American legend in the farrier community, author, educator, toolmaker, competitor, artist. Jim Keith is all those things and many more. I was excited to have the opportunity to chat with this man. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I do. There are a few shopkeeping items as well. I am extremely excited to be able to tell you that Gregory's Textbook of Farriers will very soon be available as an audio. It is narrated by yours truly and I can now say with full confidence that I have read that textbook cover to cover several times. I am truly honoured that Chris asked me to do this project. Keep checking in www.heartlandhorseshoeing.com for availability. Secondly, the Victory Racing Plate company has joined us as a sponsor. Since coming on board with Victory, my friend and former guest, Mark Hickcox has become quite the jet setter and he's been out representing them as they've been supporting many educational events and competitions. We're quite honoured that they have decided to do that with the podcast as well. For the very first time I get to say "and now for a word from our sponsor". Please check them out at www.victoryracingplate.com.

Welcome everyone, this past month I attended my very first American Farriers Association convention, which happened to be the 50th anniversary. My time there was unfortunately limited to two short days, but I was able to attend a few presentations, watch some of the competitors in action, meet some legends and even do a few interviews. I have to say a huge thank you to Martha Jones, the executive director of the AFA for providing me with a room to do the interviews in. Today, I'm speaking with Jeremy McGovern, the executive editor and publisher of the American Farriers Journal. I found Jeremy in the competition hall, armed with a camera and doing his thing. He was kind enough to offer some of his limited time. Jeremy gave some great insight into what goes on behind the scenes at the journal and the Hoof Care Summit. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

In today's episode, I am speaking with Brad Davidson, CJF, the proprietor of Professional Farrier Supply based in Orangeville, Ontario, Canada. As you will hear, Brad and his peers were always hungry to learn more and get better in this trade. We recorded this episode, live at the Ontario Farriers Association Conference, and as Brad is very descriptive with his hands, sometimes his volume drops considerably as the microphone moved further away from his face. My apologies for this, but regardless, I'm sure you'll enjoy this conversation as much as we did! https://www.profarriersupply.com/

Today's guest is none other than Nigel Fennell, AWCF. Mark Hickcox kindly sent the podcast mic on to Nigel after our conversation. As I expected, we had a great chat, and I left our conversation feeling quite inspired by Nigel. You will notice a continuous theme in his story - one of sacrifice and investing in himself. I then realized that this has been a theme of many of the stories guests have told. Pretty much all the people in this trade, that we look up to, have had to make this calculation and decided to forfeit any semblance of work-life balance for a time to learn and practice the skills needed to get to the top of their game and achieve their career goals. As the saying goes, nothing worthwhile comes without sacrifice. Life is all about trade-offs. And unfortunately, we are restricted by many things, not the least of which is time. If you have lofty career goals yourself, I hope that at least one of the guests, if not more, has inspired you and shown you how it can be done even with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. If raising your young children seems like an obstacle, listen to Elisa Miller or Lori McBride's episodes. If you feel like you don't have enough time, listen to Cody or Chris Gregory's episodes, if you failed at your goal once or twice, and are hesitant to try again, listen to Mark Hickcox and if you don't think you can afford it financially, listen to both of Andrew DeVisser's episodes and he will help you lay the financial groundwork to make a plan and see it through. These are only a few examples of many, but you get my point. All this said, please don't interpret this as me promoting an unhealthy work-life balance. Most of the folks I just mentioned only did this for a time. Eventually, they turned to focus on achieving a work-life balance only now armed with some credentials or bragging rights or an enviable client list that often made this a lot easier. Anyway, as you will hear, Nigel's years of commitment to improving his skills at the cost of making more money have found him where he is today - well-positioned to teach those skills and make the next generation of farriers better for it. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. https://www.nigelfennellandforemansforge.org/

Welcome everyone, today I am speaking with Jason Fox. Jason is a farrier from a little west of me, in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. We've been running into each other for years at clinics and conventions and I've always had great conversations with him when we did. Jason is a deep thinker and for many reasons, I would consider him a holistic thinker. This combined with his confidence to ask questions, when sometimes no one else in the audience would, is why I knew this would be a great podcast episode. You will occasionally hear Jason refer to another farrier named Pete or Peter and that is Mr Peter Ayranto CJF, who was a guest in another episode, which if you haven't already heard was pretty good. You may agree or disagree with Jason, but I guarantee he will leave you thinking more critically about many aspects of our job. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Welcome, everyone. I apologize for the long span in between episodes. Between some technical difficulties and both my guests and myself being in the midst of a heavy show season, it has been difficult to get episodes recorded. In the end though, as usual, perseverance paid off which could well be the mantra of the gentleman you are about to hear. Chris Gregory called me one day a while back and asked me if I remembered a student who had come to the school a few times, Mark Hickcox CF. Of course, I did. He was always super friendly and very dedicated to getting better at our craft. Chris gave me a brief synopsis of Mark's life and career since we had last met and said you need to have him on to tell his story. Chris hasn't led me astray yet and I had to agree. It is a fantastic story. It is a story of perseverance, dashed hopes, pivoting when roadblocks turn up, and finding your way back to the path. All told, Mark's story is pretty inspirational and I'm honoured he was willing to share it. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Welcome everyone, a group of fellow farrier podcasters and myself, decided to get together and have a conversation about farrier and healthcare professionals' safety. We did this to address the seemingly epidemic number of farrier injuries the world over as of late. Upon conversing about these incidents, it has become apparent that many could have been avoided. Our goal here was to have a conversation, bringing our unique perspectives to the table, to educate horse owners on the various ways they can mitigate the dangers faced by farriers. We understand that it is sometimes awkward to have these conversations with your clients without potentially offending them or sounding like we're just complaining. The sad reality is that in some cases, these conversations could potentially save careers or even lives, so we had it for you. Please share this with as many horse folk as you can. It was an honour to have this discussion with Alicia Harlov of the Humble Hoof podcast, Dr. Simon Curtis of The Hoof of the Horse podcast and Daniel Bennett of the Lockdown Farriery Learning podcast. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.

I wanted to start this episode off with a term we use in my practice. Unfortunately, we don't get to use it often, but it is always exciting when we do, let me explain. A brief career as a sound and lighting engineer doing live acts followed by a career hammering metal and using all the power tools a non- purest farrier does, has led to some hearing loss for me and I often don't hear what people say properly and my creative brain fills in the rest. Often, this leads to some pretty funny misinterpretations of what people say. One day, two of my shoeing compatriots were talking as I came into the barn and one of them, a highly-skilled chap from England named Pete, was talking about getting the fit on the first burn. What I thought he had exclaimed was Portuguese touchdown. Two words that probably have never been uttered in conjunction with each other in any language ever, but they stuck and became our triumphant call whenever someone got the fit on the first burn. My guest today probably has more Portuguese touchdowns than most, but I suspect he wouldn't settle for less than perfect before he proclaimed it. This will become clear from his favourite Bob Marsh quote, Minnesota farrier, Mark Thorkildson CJF AWCF is my guest today. I have had him on my hit list since the podcast started. Mark was an examiner when I did both my CF and CJF exams down in the Heartland and as you will hear, he was key in helping all of us to settle a bit once he gave us his introductory talk. I wanted to have an episode to explain the process of the various levels of certification with the AFA, but it was hard to peg someone down to do it. Mark graciously agreed to take on the task and I hope it helps some of you to understand it a little bit better and inspires you to go down the certification path. Mark was awesome, inspiring, and full of wisdom as I knew he would be. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

My guest today joins us all the way from Cape Town, South Africa. Robbie Miller AWCF ASF is an accomplished racehorse shoer, competitor, and promoter of the farrier profession in South Africa. He accomplishes this through his joint effort with Robbie Dawson, to set up the South African Association of Professional Farriers, the SAAPF and as an official tester for the Farriers International Testing system FITS. Robbie is a good friend of my mentor and friend, Chris Gregory but you will notice that Robbie becomes good friends with almost everyone he meets. Robbie joined me from his back garden so there is some wind noise that I hope doesn't get too distracting. I quite enjoyed our time together and I hope we can meet in person someday. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!

Welcome, everyone. First, a little shopkeeping. I recently finished a book by Greg McKeown called essentialism. The main premise of the book is exactly as the title indicates. It's about honing in on just the essentials in order to be more effective with your time and your effort. As someone who is easily distracted by a potential new project or new hobby before finishing the ones I am already committed to, this book seemed like a necessary read for me. One of the key chapters that really stuck out is titled "Protect the Asset", and the asset, in this case, is yourself. Mr. McEwen basically points out the not-so-obvious, even though it should be, that unless you prioritize your own health and wellbeing the rest of your efforts will be compromised. He talks about the necessity of getting enough proper sleep and nutrition, as well as booking time off for relaxation and recovery. Something that I'm sure most of us in this career, myself included, probably don't do enough of. He basically makes a pretty compelling argument for scheduling time for doing absolutely nothing so that we accomplish more when we actually get back to work. With all of that in mind, I would ask you to consider how do you protect your biggest asset? What do you do to keep yourself operating at your best? Do you prioritize yourself and your body's needs when they inevitably arise or do you always put the horses and your clients first? And finally, the question that plays a central role in my conversation today - What do you do to protect yourself during your workday when situations with difficult horses and difficult environments arise? Today, I am very excited to introduce you to Elisa Miller, CF. Elisa was a recent graduate of the eight-week shoeing course at Heartland horseshoeing school many years ago when we first met. Fresh out of school and already a force to be reckoned with Elisa challenged me constantly with her questions and her strong, fresh out-of-school opinions. I learned a ton from working with her and we had a lot of adventures too. We have literally shed blood, sweat, and tears together, and I know she has always had my back. I always knew she would be a guest one day on the podcast. I just wished that it hadn't been under the circumstances that precipitated in us doing this interview. You see, Elisa was the friend that I mentioned a while back who had been injured quite badly. It was a long road, but in true Elisa style, she faced it headlong and headstrong and she is now back to shoeing full time. The whole experience changed Elisa's perspective on a lot of things, especially being an advocate for her own safety and she really wanted to share them with you. Her goal in doing this was to help at least one of you to learn from her situation and appreciate how fragile our careers and our bodies can really be. She's a wonderful mother, a great farrier, and a good friend. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

My guest today is Dr. Sarah Cohen, and she definitely has a unique perspective on her business as a veterinarian serving the Wellington Florida area, her business website for Equity Performance Equine has the description listed under the subtitle team approach, seamless concierge-style medicine, tailored to the needs of your specific team and program. Dr. Sarah was recommended to me as a guest by a previous guest, Dr. Andrea Dubé. Dr. Andrea described her as a bad-ass vet that I needed to talk to. I'll read you her bio from her website, and you'll start to understand why. Dr. Sarah Cohen grew up in New Jersey showing in the hunters and equitation before attending Purdue University for her undergraduate training. She graduated from Ross University in June of 2007. Having completed her clinical training at Iowa State University, Sarah then joined Merritt and Associates Equine Hospital outside of Chicago for a one-year intensive internship. Then joining Miller and Associates in 2008, and finally launched Equity Performance Equine in the fall of 2020. Over her decade plus in practice, Dr. Cohen has developed a client-based consisting of some of the most well-regarded in the Hunter and showjumping community in the country. Dr. Cohen believes passionately in evidence-based medicine and putting the horse's needs at the fore of all decisions. Since 2010, she has been a regular on the international scene serving as the USEF showjumping team veterinarian in competitions in Spain, Slovakia, Belgium, France, Wellington, and other international competition locales. Sarah is president of the Northeast Association of Equine Practitioners, having served on the board of directors for five years. She is a member of the USHJA's horse and riders advocates committee. She lives in Wellington, Florida, and Waccabuc, NY with her husband, Lance and two daughters, Evelyn and June. Dr. Andrea's recommendation was spot on and Dr. Sarah did not disappoint. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. As mentioned in the episode if you are interested in participating in the American Farriers Association Journal club please reach out to Martha Jones at [email protected]

As the COVID pandemic struck and international borders closed, I was unable to head South and visit one of my really good accounts in Tampa Bay, Florida. On those occasions when you're unable to tend to some of the horses in your care for any number of reasons, you're left in that awkward position of not knowing what the person coming in behind you is going to do and what their plan or their vision for their feet is going to be. I did not have those concerns when I found out that they were going to use Bruce Martin. I had met Bruce several times at that account. We actually, as you will hear in the interview, had a chance to spend an afternoon together, just chatting while he was shoeing some horses and we were waiting to catch an Uber and fly out. I knew that my client was in very good hands and I have not been disappointed. Bruce has sent me several photos, keeping me updated on their feet and their progress and his vision was the same as mine. He has done a fantastic job of keeping those horses shod and looking beautiful. As you will hear in the following interview, Bruce possesses all of the traits of a really good craftsman. He is constantly being self-critical, paying attention to the results of his work, he's ever humble, and he's just an all-around good dude. I'm really glad that we were able to get in touch, do this interview and share some of his insights with you. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Today I'm speaking with Dr. Alan Manning, MSC DVM. From my early beginnings as a farrier, it was always exciting to run into this gentleman. He is one of those vets who will always work with you on a lameness problem and will never throw you under the bus if things don't go as predicted with the shoeing plan. Some of my early mentors warned me about working with vets, but Alan quickly showed me that farriers and vets could work together as a team and that this was to the benefit of everyone, most importantly, the horse. Dr. Alan Manning is well known in Canada for his expertise in performance horse lameness and rehabilitation, he has been an FEI accredited veterinarian for Canada for over 20 years and has attended the Pan-Am games for the Canadian Dressage team, as well as the World Equestrian Games for the Para-dressage team. Every time I have had an opportunity to work with this man, he has patiently taught me a great deal. He is however a very hard person to peg down for an interview. It took a snowy day while working on a case with him at his farm and clinic in Orton Ontario, for us to finally have that conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Welcome, everyone! If it seems like it's been a while, you're right. Fear not though, I've been busy sending microphones all over the world and I'm excited for the guests we will have on in the coming months. A little shopkeeping before we start, you will notice that some of the questions in the Stratum Tectorium portion have been added and some have been omitted. Some I found were becoming redundant. The answers were always the same, or they weren't really offering that much insight into the personality of the guests. Then there were others that I thought would be interesting to add. I apologize if I omitted any of your favourites. My friend, Ali Carpenter's shoe board contest is almost finished its first round, but it's not too late to enter the second one, feel free to reach out to her on Facebook. It's a great opportunity to get your journey to becoming a certified farrier started. Finally, I wanted to direct you to my friend and former podcast, guest Daniel Bennet's Lockdown, Farrier Learning Podcast. Since the pandemic caused the world to come to a screeching halt, no one has done more to keep the continuing education of farriers going. Daniel has used as many platforms as possible to do this. His Facebook page has had several videos on tips for the diploma exams in the UK and his podcast has had several great episodes with lots of practical advice and many useful takeaways. At this time with many of us missing the traditional convention, summits and clinics, the lockdown farrier learning podcast is a great way to get your educational fix. Today, I'm speaking with Peter Ayranto CJF Peter is a farrier whose practice is predominantly West of mine in Southern Ontario. We don't cross paths nearly enough, but we always have great conversations when we do. Peter lives close to the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph and has been the resident farrier in their large animal clinic for many years, you may hear me refer to it in the conversation as OVC or the university, as you will hear, Peter is always thinking, observing, and striving to do better in this craft. All good attributes to have in his role at the university. We hadn't seen each other in quite a while so it was great to have the opportunity to have this conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

In today's episode, I am speaking with Riley Kirkpatrick CF, of Kirkpatrick Forge in Oregon. As you will hear explained in more detail, Riley was strongly recommended to me by a friend of mine as a potential podcast guest. She was not wrong and he did not disappoint. We talk about his journey from running a regular farrier practice to becoming the toolmaker that many of you will be familiar with. We also talk about his brief stint in Hollywood on Forged in Fire. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. Kirkpatrick Forge

In this episode, I am talking with Andrew DeVisser CJF. You will be familiar with Andrew's voice as he has been on the podcast before. Through many conversations we've had over the past year, Andrew and I decided that it would be a really good opportunity to sit down and do an episode just on the business of farriery. Andrew gives a talk on some of the fundamental things that you need to know from the business side of what we do. I have seen it a couple of times actually now, and I'm still learning each time he does it. It surprised me how little of it I knew or understood until he broke it down and explained it to me. He has become a bit of a mentor to me, as far as my business and finances and all things money. I think this would be a good opportunity for him to hopefully help some of you out as well. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. The Blacksmith's Guide To Financial Freedom by Andrew DeVisser CJF

In today's episode, I had the opportunity to talk with Vern Powell, CJF (TE). Vern is the owner of MVP's Farrier Service in Marengo, Illinois, USA and has been a farrier for 20 years. He is the chairman of the American Farrier's Association Cultural Exchange Program and throughout this episode shares many great stories about the exchange. The mission of the Cultural Exchange is to select, organize and supervise an international exchange of farriers between the AFA and participating national farriery associations. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! For more information about the Cultural Exchange Program please follow this link: https://americanfarriers.org/page/cultural_exchange Here is the link to the Cultural Exchange application: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6skL6kVz25DTTBabU1TLWxQWFk/view

In this episode, I have an amazing conversation with Heather Beauchemin, CJF (TE). Heather shares her experiences regarding certifications, the Cultural Exchange and her time working with Vern Powell CJF (TE) at their farrier practice outside of Chicago, Illinois. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Today I am talking with Mike Mehak CF. Many of you will know Mike from his presence on many of the Farrier Facebook groups including Farrier Q and A. Mike has had a unique journey on his way to becoming a farrier. A lot of the knowledge that he has acquired along the way has become quite useful in his day to day work. Mike resides in Ontario, Canada, and through many years of attending the same clinics and conventions, I have grown to really respect the man for his humble dedication to the craft and the industry as a whole. It was an honour to sit down and hear his story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

In today's episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Travis Burns. Travis is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. He is a Certified Journeyman Farrier with both the Therapeutic and Educator Endorsements from the American Farriers Association. He is one of 6 Americans to become a Fellow in the Worshipful Company of Farriers by examination from the United Kingdom, the FWCF. He currently serves as the Chief of Farrier Services in the Equine Podiatry Service of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

In this episode, I had the opportunity to speak with Daniel Bennett AWCF. Daniel created a new podcast during this COVID pandemic geared towards continued farrier learning and that is how we connected. Daniel got his start as a farrier in a less direct route than most. His unique upbringing in this trade eventually led him to become an educator. You won't have to listen very long to understand why he is the ideal person for the job of teacher. Daniel's passion for the trade and the bettering of those of us in it has caused him to be very resourceful in his methods of helping us. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! Here is the link to Daniel's podcast Lockdown Farrier Learning Podcast

Today I'm speaking with Lori McBride CJF. I can't remember where I first heard of Lori, but I'm guessing it was from one of her biggest fans, who often works with me. After becoming Lori's friend on Facebook a while ago, I started to understand where this fandom came from. On a platform where so much negativity and hatred runs rampant. Lori's Facebook posts always seem to be full of inspiration and encouragement, and of course her kids. It is there you will also see tons of enviable handmade shoes. She seemed to be exactly the type of person I wanted to be able to visit with on the podcast and find out what makes her tick. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Welcome to the fifth instalment of The Love of Anatomy with Chris Gregory FWCF. This is a spin-off series of short anatomy focussed segments geared to help all of us with future certifications and become better farriers. This information and much more can be found in Chris' textbook Gregory's Textbook Of Farriery found on Amazon and in most Farrier Supplies worldwide. Enjoy!

Welcome to the fourth instalment of The Love of Anatomy with Chris Gregory FWCF. This is a spin-off series of short anatomy focussed segments geared to help all of us with future certifications and become better farriers. This information and much more can be found in Chris' textbook Gregory's Textbook Of Farriery found on Amazon and in most Farrier Supplies worldwide. Enjoy!

In this episode, I wanted to focus on a cause that's very important to me. With all of the sudden and unexpected challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused. One has it very close to home in my province of Ontario, Canada, the plight of the schoolies. I'm sure Schoolie barns are a facet of every country and community the world over. They are those special places where those saints on four legs carried the most nervous of riders around the arena and often eventually around the competition ring. These barns were immediately shut down when the pandemic reached Canada, and their income streams screech to a halt. As we all know, horses are an expense sense of animal to have cared for and feed. So while their doors were closed to their paying clientele, the schooling barns were left with the challenges of feeding and caring for these animals without any money coming in to do so. As I'm sure you've already surmised, the situation for many has become very dire very quickly. Now, it was just announced that the province is lifting some of the restrictions on equine facilities, and this for sure is great news. It is important to remember, however, that these won't mean business as usual for the schooling barns and that they aren't out of the woods yet. has one of my guests will mention, it will be a very long time before things get back to normal, and these businesses and especially equines will still need our help. The purpose of this episode is twofold. Firstly, as advertised over the last few weeks, I've offered a sponsorship of this episode which would go directly To the For The Herd fund. I will continue this offer for the next podcast episode as well, just in case, this one inspires some more goodwill. Second, I wanted to introduce you to some pretty incredible people who are doing big things in an effort to help out these horses. In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking with Joanna Soloman and Kristin Gerrits of Benchmark Equestrian, Jennifer Sweet of Lionsbridge Equestrian and founder of the original Save The Schoolies initiative and Tracey McCague-McElrea, Executive Director of Ontario Equestrian. If you would like to donate directly: https://www.fortheherd.ca/ Special Thank you to all of the sponsors of this episode. Every sponsorship dollar will be directly donated to the For The Herd fundraiser. Pommies Cider Shiland Equine Services Sarah Lunn, Broker of Record Coldwell Banker Ronan Realty, Brokerage Coldwell Banker Ronan Realty, Brokerage Halliday Farrier Services Simon Abblitt Farrier Services Prostart Services Twisted Spur Media Solutions

In today's episode, I talk with Wesley Stewart CF APF-1 all the way from Australia. Right from the beginning, Wesley has been an encouraging supporter of the podcast. We were fortunate to meet in person at the Hoof-Care Summit in Cincinnati earlier this year. At the time, I had immediately started asking about life and shoeing Down Under. Recently, when asked to feature more Aussie and Kiwi farriers, Wesley was a natural choice. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!

Welcome to the third instalment of The Love of Anatomy with Chris Gregory FWCF. This is a spin-off series of short anatomy focussed segments geared to help all of us with future certifications and become better farriers. This information and much more can be found in Chris' textbook Gregory's Textbook Of Farriery found on Amazon and in most Farrier Supplies worldwide. Enjoy!

In this episode, I am speaking with Betsy Lordan DVM CJF TE (AKA Dr. Danger). Dr Lordan is the first female veterinarian to pass the Certified Journeyman Farrier Examination. Betsy and I met at Heartland Horseshoeing School when she was preparing for her exam many years ago. Betsy grew up in Massachusetts and her career path has in no way been a direct one. She has recently completed her Therapeutic Endorsement. While she was preparing for this in February of this year, she agreed to sit down and share some of her stories with us. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did!

Welcome to the second instalment of The Love of Anatomy with Chris Gregory FWCF. This is a spin-off series of short anatomy focussed segments geared to help all of us with future certifications and become better farriers. This information and much more can be found in Chris' textbook Gregory's Textbook Of Farriery found on Amazon and in most Farrier Supplies worldwide. Enjoy!