Re: Who are the top ten farriers in the US?

Subject:

Comments:
: : : : : : : : : wow, thats a can of worms to open. off the top of my head here is my humble opinion. the top of my list would be Jim Poor in midland texas. Jim kieth, (N.M.) Jim Quick (colorodo) Shayne Carter (utah) Craig Trnka (N.M.) Austin Edens (texas) Mark Milster (o.k.) John Mcnearney (colorado) Jason Smith (cal.) These are just some off of the top of my head but you are on the right track to study with the top. There is a lot of knowledge avalable to you if you are willing to make some sacrifices. : : : : : : : : : good luck, : : : : : : : : : Jeff : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Lee Green must be in there somewhere and I would think Gene Ovnicek and Danvers Child has to in that select few too.The start of a career as rewarding as ours can be very challenging to start in but detication and presaverance are good traits : : : : : : : : Good Luck : : : : : : : : Frank : : : : : : : I would add Eddie Watson and Danny Ward.......both in VA, to that list : : : : : : : Derin : : : : : I'd add Doug Butler, Bruce Daniels, Lee Liles. : : : : : : : Gary : : : : Alas, I think Dwight Sanders (NC) , Jim Poor (TX), Wade Hightower (TN), and although I have not personally seen their work, Ray Miller (retiring), and Patty Stiller (on here) seem to really know their stuff. Tim Mcquay's farrier Mick "the Australian" was incredible to watch. His skills will amaze even the seasoned farrier. That is in Oklahoma. He would take someone on, and does reiners. : : : : You are way too smart to be a farrier....doing it this way. : : : : Best of luck to you!! : : : Over twenty names! Thanks for all the posative feed back! Now its time for me to do my part. : : : -Phil- : : : P.S. Tim Mcquay is looking for an aptentice or his fello Mick is? : : : Thanks again guys! : : How about you list 10 promises that you can keep. : : 1. Can you show up on time? : : 2. Can you handle a horse? : : 3. Do you have a strong back? : : 4. Are you respectfull? : : 5. Are you honest? : : 6. Do you have an artistic mind? : : 7. Are you mechanicly inclined? : : 8. Can you work hard for at least 8 to 10 hrs a day? : : 9. Do you have a sense of humor? : : 10. Do you know when to keep your mouth shut and ears and eyes open? : : I like your spunk, but something tells me you have happy feet. Like horses with happy feet they have to learn to relax and stand quite when they need to. I am certainly not in the top 10 or even in the top 100 or 1,000 or 10,000 farrier's but I am a full time farrier with clientle and bills to pay and mouths to feed. Any person like myself or any other farrier can teach you something and if your lucky enough to hitch a ride with anyone consider yourself lucky and listen to them. If a person is a full time farrier or even a part time farrier, they must know something inorder that people trust them to work on there horses. If a farrier is willing to allow someone to enter there day to day buisness and teach you something that means alot, think about how much effort it takes for any person to build up a buisness and how much that person relies on that buisness to make a living. An apprentice that does not take that serious can have a negative impact on a persons lively hood, so it is a risk to take on an apprentice. What risk does the apprentice take, all you have to worry about is yourself, the working farrier has a clientle to worry about and maybe a spouse and children to take care of. I hope you take this serious and realise that you will be affecting a persons lively hood and that anyone willing to take you on is doing you a huge favor and you need to be respectfull, hardworking and dependable. : : Phil : : : : Phil : Please don't confuse happy feet, with enthusiasm and a desire to learn this trade well. I Have considered it both an honor and privilege to ride with every farrier to this point and I have learned at least one thing from every one of them. I understand most practices are not structured to higher on a fulltime apprentice and the ones who are have to have on appretice to to accommodate the workload. So it makes it hard when the apprentice quits because he don't want to be a farrier anymore or he figures he can make more money on his own. : : For me the bottom line is this: : I'm building a clientele of mostly backyard horses. I'm not working on the upper-end or the horses that need therapeutic shoeing(im not ready for that yet). : Eventually I would like to work on the upper-end and lame horses. : Im only going to be able to get under a certain amount of horses in my career. : So it seems to me the fastest way to reach my goal is to apprentice full time under a top-notch farrier. : Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and wisdom. : This web site is great! : *steps off soap box, exits stage left* : Phil Strange