MSU Horseshoeing School students have plenty of horses to work on -- partially due to the area's numerous guest ranches.

That's no problem for Wolfe, who wasn't raised around horses, either. After graduating from the University of New Mexico in political science, Wolfe said he started hanging around a guy who shoed -- enough so that he took an interest in learning the skill himself. Wolfe apprenticed, took some courses and eventually opened his own business, which he ran for 12 years before coming to MSU in 1983.

"I had no background in horses at all," said Wolfe. "So when people come in with no experience and they're nervous, I can empathize. I tell them, 'Don't worry.'"

Like Wolfe, a number of MSU students come by shoeing in a roundabout fashion. There was the lobsterman from Maine who decided he needed a few months away from the perpetually rocking boat. A former student from Hawaii told Wolfe he was the chauffeur to the last living princess of the Hawaiian royal family, and that she'd promised to pay for any vacation he chose. He picked attending horseshoeing school.

Wolfe said the MSU program is long enough and rigorous enough that any student who completes it will have the hand-eye skill to shoe. However, said Wolfe, a truly successful farrier -- one who knows the art as well as the science -- is one with "horse sense," the ability to read and anticipate a horse's behavior and movements.

"Especially when you're going to crawl underneath them," said Wolfe.

Kat Sweet, a current student from Three Forks, is what they call a born horse person. Raised in Texas, Sweet said her mom was terrified of horses, but the family lived down the street from a boarding operation, and Sweet found every opportunity to ride. She was a high school rodeoer and worked for a farrier some 20 years ago, but put that career on hold while raising three children. Sweet said shoeing came up again when she and her husband had trouble finding a reliable farrier for their six horses.

"My husband said it's cheaper for us just to send me to school," she said.

Like many students, Sweet said the farrier lifestyle is also a draw -- working with horses, understanding their needs. She said a bonus is "getting to know the other people and what led them to be here."

Another current student, Bill Lawrence, 55, from Moose Pass, Alaska, said he and a friend were lined up to attend the school's second-ever class, back in 1971. His friend had money for tuition; Lawrence didn't. And throughout a lifetime of working with horses, he always regretted not going.

"I was around a lot of horses that I always knew I could help, if only I had the training," said Lawrence.

Thirty-seven years later, Lawrence made the journey to MSU from Alaska, where he makes his living as an artist. He sees shoeing as a nice complement to painting.

"You're only good for painting so many hours a day," he said.

Return to regular view	Text-only              Email this article	Published: 5/2/2008