Horseshoeing Careers

Horseshoeing careers are perfect for animal lovers. Animal care careers and horseshoeing and farrier training is one hobby you can turn into a career.

Animal Training | Veterinary Colleges | Horseshoeing

Do you love horses? Riding and taking care of them? Horse shoeing is more than just putting shoes on horses. Shoeing horses is a skill and an art developed and improved over years of practice. A farrier's tasks involve is more than just handling the occasional horse in need of health services. You would also be responsible for hoof cleaning, trimming and shoeing, but can expand into preventative medicine.

As a farrier you would gain blacksmith's skills and gain knowledge in veterinary medicine to primarily address the care of a horse's hooves, feet and legs. Many farriers spend time traveling to farms and stables, scheduling appointments. Others work on-site at racetracks.

Education and Training

There are several farrier schools with basic horseshoeing courses that last from a few weeks to a few months. As with most trades and professions, you will need a basic farrier school certification followed by an apprenticeship that can for weeks to months. You can also get extra credentials through national organizations that provide workshops after your initial certification. In your training, you can expect to learn practical instruction in shoeing, forging handmade shoes and modifying keg shoes, and anatomy and physiology.

Salary and Career Growth Expectation

Job growth in this area will remain steady and average over the next decade. Since all of the duties involve live animals, horseshoeing employment is relatively stable even during periods of economic recession. The salary ranges from state to state but averages about $37,000 a year depending on the farm or firm, company, location, and industry.

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