Well I'm finally doing it. I am leaving the coast guard with 10 years invested and will be working for a farrier full time. I'm staying in the reserve so at least i get a check at 60.

I have a few of my own customers and hope to keep picking some up but i have a ton to learn yet.
I'll be taking a pay cut but I'm glad i found a shoer who is busy through the winter in New England.

I just hope following my dream of happiness is worth struggling to feed my family and paying the mortgage. In the end it has to be, i have no choice Seriously, we'll be ok.
To be honest, without this website I'm not sure If i would be as gungho about shoeing as i am now. It really kept me busy and excited, reading and learning when i use to be at sea for months at a time. thank you.

Best wishes and a fair wind at your back as you embark on your new career.

It's a big step, especially with a family, but the guys I know who have done it haven't looked back.

All the Best for the First Year ,good on you !

With 10yrs in, smart move staying in the Reserve. At least you got some kind of backup plan(retirement). I did the same. I was lucky to begin with, I was able to get some extra Active Duty time which helped hold me over during the lean times. Hope you do well and prosper!!

Good Onya olson
I do wish you all the very best as ya itya fum wif a amma:eek:
he he he ehe ;)

Well good for you. There isn't a day goes by that I don't say out-loud... that I love what I do, because I don't consider it a job.

To steal the line from someone else...I get to travel around, play with peoples horses, and they pay me. What a life. Good luck.

There is one bit of advice Id like to offer If I may

Thats to take it steady, find a nice managable pace for you as a scedual and stick to it
dont let people push you in almost demanding you get there asap or better
Its your life your game so to speek you set the rules not them
get help to look after your body
look after you mind , do things you like to do golf hunt fish sky whatever GIVE yourself time off and stick to it
BE HAPPY
Making big bucks is all well n good and some will say you cant do anything without money , but you know were Im comming from
If your like Me you have to work at something until the day you die
Im happy to do so as long as Im able bodied
mind how you go good luck yeah

I'm doing the same, but with no safety net. I quit my job and put every dime into school and tools, ect. Now out of school, and hoping, like you, to find someone to work with. Compared to my last ob, this is not a job to me. I love to work with horses. Good luck to you.

gchotshod wrote:
We are lucky in that we get to do something we like. For many of us, our vocation (or aspects of it) is also one of our hobbies. LOL, we do shoeing related stuff on our "days off".

But, once you get some clients with demanding needs, it'll feel more like a "job".

I spent 24 years in the Navy....went to Farrier School (Shur-Shod Horseshoeing School) after that. Even worked full time after I went to school until I had a client list built up.
I will tell you that when you start out, you're gonna end up with horses the rest of us avoid. (Read: You're gonna get beat up, sometimes) I had to take the ones that were turned away by others, in the intrest of paying for school, making the mortgage, car payments, truck payments, equipment, fuel, insurance and more.
Caught a left rear on my right radius, about two months after quitting my other job & being a Farrier full time...turned it into yogurt, and since I'm right handed, it wasn't fun.
If it hadn't been for my retiremed pay, we would have starved. (Nobody else will hire someone with a cast on...)
My clients stuck with me, and I've been a Farrier full time for eight years.
But, take a little advice from a retired Navy Chief...ten years goes by in a hurry, and the retirement'll keep you afloat.

No one should stop a full time or part time job until they can float a company to make it.. this means all the insurances that go with it and overhead..plus personal bills....work full time till you can make enough part time then work into full time farrier...its just bad business...I would say anyone opening or start up company will all tell you they work mega hours and sacrifice much...unless they are backed with old money or parents and or wifes money....we all know that farrier schools ratio is like only 2 out of 10 really make as a full time farrier making a good living without any help...I have seen where some say its because the trade is hard or the work is not out there...but what I see is way to many think works just gonna come to them and all the good clients should flock to them..this is just poor business practice...people have got to a place in this country where they think someone owes them a living or something for nothing..but its a 15 hour day grind of work beating the streets getting ur name out there and doing the best work you can..doing things ur competition ain't doing..if those in ur area are cold shoeing you need to be hot shoeing...if in ur area they are not makeing the feet shine and pretty you need to do that...go over board sweep up..call the clients every 5 weeks....I find most farriers are damn good at shoeing but poor at running the business...bottom line when u start out loose the ego just hustle

congratulations.youve got a lot of good advice given to you.stay honest to yourself,dont talk bad about others and never undercut your fellow farriers.make a set of rules and prices etc. and dont deviate.even during hard times.enjoy the ride.-gary