smitty88 wrote:Is there any farriers on the forum from the USA that have apprentices
and if you have a 1st year what is exspected
of he/she in there 1st year
what shoemaking does he/her get
and what stage of shoeing would they be at?
Smitty , I have 3,currently and i think that they are somewhat like the UK apprentices are, I have one on the way out, ready to start his own business. He is AFA certified, and working on his Journeyman. It is his second year, and he can trim, fit, and hand-make shoes to a satisfactory level. He will get his Journeyman passed before he leaves, and i will feel like i have done right by him at that point. Shoemaking is very important to me, and he has an appreciation of it as well, so he is pretty advanced for a 2nd year guy, Making Roadsters, Preventers, Bar-Shoes, Clipping with a cross-pein, bob- punch, ball-pein, shaping cold, or hot, using a stall jack, or anvil. There is not 1 horse on my book that i wouldn't trust him with. It is his first year with me, but his dad shoes horses, and he has shod for 4 years prior to working with me, mainly Race-Plating. Dealing with the people , is the only thing that i can fault him for, sometimes gets flustered, and does'nt quite know how to deal with them . I expect him to help me train the 2 guys under me, their dutys are setting up the truck every morning, keeping an inventory of supplies needed, and setting up, and breaking down, between stops, along with pulling, cleaning, shoes, and finishing, clinching. Every apprentice i have go with me is expected to go through the certification process.