#farriery

It's a weird thought to be cutting away so much of the horse's 'body' to me, even if it's just the hoof. Is it normal for the shoe to be literally sizzling hot the first time it touches the hoof?

Also, those were some long ass nails.

Oh yeah, that's totally normal. It's called hot shoeing, for hopefully obvious reasons, as opposed to cold shoeing. Hot shoeing is used to check the fit of a custom or customized shoe on the hoof before it is tacked in place, and the heat is only let apply for no more than 5 seconds so it doesn't reach the nerves.

Farriery has ancient origins and historically the jobs of farrier and blacksmith were more or less synonymous. Blacksmiths feature in various mythologies and The Smith and the Devil is believed to potentially be one of the oldest European folk tales. Research estimates it is around 6000 years old, meaning this story goes back to the Bronze Age. The bare bones of the folk tale is that a blacksmith makes a deal with a malevolent being then tricks them.

Danish soldier conversing with a blacksmith, presumably a scene from the Second Schleswig War, 1864 by Frants Henningsen  (1850–1908). Oil on mahogany.

(Picture source)

Even in ancient times people saw the need to protect their horses hooves, though nailed on horseshoes developed later. Existing references to the nailed shoe are fairly late, first known to have appeared around AD 900. But by the time of the Crusades they were in widespread use and often mentioned in written sources. It's not surprising then that farriers and blacksmiths appear quite regularly in art history, as they've been a part of society for so long.

The farrier (1997) by the Belgian painter Albert Demuyser (1920–2003). Oil on canvas.

Rather than detract from the excellent post most of y’all will have seen on self-trimming and why it’s most often used as an excuse for neglecting the most important part of a horse, I decided to make this.

Here is an example of a true self-trim. This horses feet were last trimmed by a person in February but it’s worth noting that his angles and balance is checked every 8 weeks when my other horses are trimmed. Despite an identical lifestyle, his two companions don’t self trim. Why? Because it’s not a universal ability. This is despite them being technically better bred and more suited to the local conditions.

Vigo is a very rustic little horse. He’s got 10 acres of stony ground and he roams across it all day and night as well as going on rides on limestone paths and tarmac roads. His feet are optimally made - not too hard and not too weak. Despite his conformational flaws, he moves equally and correctly. In other words, he’s ideally suited to the conditions he’s living in.

I will not lie, this has been hard and I am only 12 weeks in. I have had many upset and downs, some of those downs being pretty low points for me. I really started questioning if I made a mistake committing to 9 months of this program. I still question it tbh.

School for me has never been easy. As a neurodivergent person diagnosed with ADHD and Autism, school has always been much harder for me than most people. I've always struggled taking tests, turning in homework on time, and I stress out when I have to ask for help. I haven't been in school for 10 years before going to KHS. So my last experience with school was High School 😅

Trade Schools are definitely a little different. Similar structure but there is a lot more... I dont want to say "leniency" but close to it. In a nutshell, while on one hand the instructors do care, at the end of the day, its on us as students if we want to progress. Example being if students neglect to turn in homework, the instructors are not going to hold your hand to get it done. You either do it or don't. One thing I have had to hammer into my head, however, is that my work is gonna be shit.

And thats ok.

At the end of the day, all I can give is my best. And sometimes, that might result in some shoddy work (on a time crunch lol)

How did finals go?

Tbh... I dont want to see what my final exam score was 😂🤣

I spent over 3 hours in a secluded room and went over that test 3 or 4 times before committing to turning it in. I did my best and thats all that matters to me.

Now my forge final.... my proficiency... bruh 🤣😂🤣

Listen.. the sheet you see in this post is what proficiency finals looks like. Executing XYZ skills in a certain time frame. When I have all the time in the world, I make good work! But when I have 30 minute to make a shoe.... yeeaaahhhh.... I did my best!

I did have an essay to write and got a 9.5/10 score!! So thats good!!

All this to say, I did pass my beginner term without being put on acedemic probation 👏👏👏👏

Now to survive middle term!

I am going to be making my own shoe boards with my final project and proficiency final stuff!

I submitted my final essay and got a 9.5/10

Took my final exam this morning and crossing my fingers for passing results!

Proficiency finals in the forge are tomorrow! Wish me luck yall because Im still iffy on that outcome 😅