learning and living dreams....

 Every four weeks or so, when I remember to phone,  our horses need their hooves to be trimmed. One of the most amazing designs of nature is a horse's hoof. It appears to be hard and invincible, until you get stepped on or take a swift kick, but really it is a living, organic piece of nature's finest engineering, when it is properly maintained. We have been shoeing horses with steel, hoof shaped plates and specialized nails since the time of the Romans. I have paid thousands of dollars, to shoe many dozens of horses through the years in this expected norm.
 Horse hooves never stop growing and require skilled attention when the ground they tread upon is too soft to wear down the resilient structures  appropriately. In Vermont, it's often soft going on our green pastures and too many horses spend too much time in softly bedded stalls. This puts us in the precarious position of trying to mimic nature's work in the care and keeping of horse hooves.
  Here at INFINITY FARM, where we have assisted many awesome brown horses, we have provided a practicum for several apprentices in farrierey over the last twenty years. That is, our abundance of horse feet from orthopedically normal to the maladaptively bizarre, has been a fabulous class room for women and men just getting started in their vocation with hoof care. It was and to some very small degree, is a wonderful place for such a person to come and learn their craft in a forgiving and grateful environment. These horses are easy to handle and well mannered for the farrier. They are patient to a fault, despite their racing roots. Mistakes will happen as an apprentice struggles through the physical and cognitive applications of their trade. We don't mind. Hooves grow, and never stop. Most errors will grow out and provide an invaluable opportunity for the green tradesman to learn what not to do. Benefits blossom as the novice skill set is not yet rigid with habits for the aspiring farrier and creative solutions spring forth to every one's happiness.
  Our current farrier came to us, like all the rest, by social accident. I met her at a restaurant where I over heard her conversations with the customer she was serving. She was enthusiastically explaining how she was waitressing only to pay the bills as she learned the art and science of 'natural balance' hoof trimming. She "needed more horses to practice on..." That tweaked my ear and I slowed my walk to listen to this conversation. She was young and fit and presented a convincing case for natural balance trimming to a table of tourists who likely couldn't appreciate her vigor. But I could; we had been without a farrier for several months and so I tapped her shoulder to interrupt. Her long, ebony braid swung around smoothly as she met my query with a broad smile.  I recognized her from other horse works and we struck an immediate bargain to come 'practice' on the rescued race horses at our farm.
 Her first visit was exceptional from minute one. Though her novice tools were less than professional, her strategic workmanship was amazing. Our first horse was a young gelding with a blown out knee. This healed with a malformed joint and made it nearly impossible to properly trim his hoof for the horse's comfort. She took a long look, studied all sides of the too long hoof, evaluated his range of motion to lift it for her work. "Yup. I think I can fix it." I was ecstatic for this wonderful horse. We used a 50# salt block to hold his hoof in his comfort zone so she could ply her 'magic'. Half an hour later, with detailed narratives of the orthopedic science and equine physics of movement,  he had a new, normal looking hoof! Now for the other 3, all done with equal precision and in site. "She will be a great farrier" I thought as I encouraged her through every phase of the reformation to normal hooves. During rest breaks, it would take many of these early on in this physically demanding work, she would share her passion for horses, their minds, their feet. She would exude her joy in the work in her hands after years of searching for that calling of what her life's work would be. Not breeding horses, nor training them. No showing or vetting suited her quest for practical science in the keeping of horses. It was their hooves, those miraculous wonders of equine mobility. The uniquely equine anatomy that makes it possible for them to gallop at breathtaking speeds with nimble course changes and aires above the ground as they defend their being.
  Her dedication is reaffirmed with every hoof she holds. As months went by and her skills became honed, she worked with other veteran farriers and learned what she would or would not do in her practice. Evolving into natural balanced shoeing, she sent herself to an intensive, residential school at a ranch out west. She returned with confidence, skill, and conviction in her craft. She has become an accomplished journeyman with a professional's complement of tools. She will achieve mastery and someday teach others what the hundreds of horses she attends will have taught her. It has become her life's work, a Ministry to her, a blessing to us.
   For my part, I have witnessed one more apprentice, answer their calling, hone their craft, and live their dreams... INFINITY FARM ~ learn, grow, live...come visit some time; bring carrots.
luv, peace, ride ~ ell

this one is for them that learn their dream and live it...