Curriculum

Text Box: Lecture 1 hour per day - Shop work or shoeing balance of day ALL SHOEING IS DONE ON LIVE HORSES

From the 8th day when we start with plain plates, we progressively get into more advanced shoeing. The lecture studies and special shoes will be applied when horses come in with these problems. From the 37th day to the 55th day, we will be shoeing horses every day except for a few days when we will make tools and work with aluminum shoes.

The last week of class:
Monday - Review for shoeing test
Tuesday - Shoeing test
Wednesday - Anatomy test; shoeing horses
Thursday - Post review of test; shoeing horses
Friday - Closing comments

Because the background of a good corrective horseshoer is the forge work, many professional state horseshoeing associations, as well as the American Farriers Association and brotherhood of Working Farriers, give tests on forging skills for the novice and the journeyman. There is a lot to learn in twelve weeks, but students who are serious and apply themselves, are very pleased with the program offered at MHS, and become very successful horseshoers.

Midwest Horseshoeing School
2312 South Maple Avenue
Macomb, Illinois 61455

Phone #: (309) 833-4063

Email: royevans@macomb.com

Twelve-week Advanced Course Outline

Midwest Horseshoeing School

Lecture day 1 Introduction to horseshoeing	Shop 1 Discuss uses of tools, building fire in forge, welding, and making hoof picks.
Lecture day 2 Discuss bone structure of the leg.	Shop 2 Practice welding and turning shoes.
Lecture day 3 Discuss anatomy of the foot.	Shop 3 Practice welding and turning shoes.
Lecture day 4 Study leg conformation - toe out toe in, knock kneed, bow legged, offset knees, base wide, base narrow, cow hocked.	Shop 4 Practice welding, turning shoes, and punching nail hoes, handle horses, discuss proper use of trimming tools and techniques.
Lecture day 5 Study leg conformation - sloping pastern, straight pastern, calf knee, buck knee, camped, sickle hocked, broken forward, and broken back.	Shop 5 Practice welding and making shoes.
Lecture day 6 Discuss foot and leg to knee.	Shop 6 Practice making shoes and clipping heels.
Lecture day 7 Study leg conformation - flared foot, club foot flat foot, dropped sole, false quarter, coon foot, contracted foot, mule foot, buttress foot, and sloping heels.	Shop 7 Make, fit, and level shoes.
Lecture day 8, 9, 10 Shoeing horses.	Shop 8, 9, 10 Shoeing horses.
Lecture day 11 Discuss the function of the foot.	Shop 11 Make heel calk and clips.
Lecture day 12 Study flight patterns - winging in, winging out, and length of stride.	Shop 12 Make bevel edge, concave and square toe.
Lecture day 13, 14, 15 Shoeing horses.	Shop 13, 14, 15 Shoeing horses.
Lecture day 16 Discuss tendons and ligaments of the leg.	Shop 16 Make spoon heels and trailers.
Lecture day 17 Discuss interference, brushing, stumbling, overreaching, forging, scalping, knee hitting, cross firing, and speedy cutting.	Shop 17 Make bar shoes and the use of pads.
Lecture day 18, 19, 20 Shoeing horses.	Shop 18, 19, 20 Shoeing horses.

Lecture day 21 Discuss pathological shoeing and diagnosis of lameness.	Shop 21 Make toe weights and roll toes.
Lecture day 22 Discuss lameness, shoe boil, capped hock, stifled stringhalt, thoroughpin, bog spavins, bone spavins, jacks, curb, popped knee, splints, shin buck, and bowed tendons.	Shop 22 Make toe weights and roll toes. Learn to use and operate a trip hammer.
Lecture day 23 Discuss tools.	Shop 23 Shoeing horses.
Lecture day 24 Field trip to vet clinic.	Shop 24 Field Trip
Lecture day 25 Shoeing horses.	Shop 25 Shoeing horses.
Lecture day 26 Discuss lameness, contracted tendons, suspensory sprain, windpuff, popped sesamoids, osslets, and ringbone.	Shop 26 Make sliding plates and rocker toes.
Lecture day 27 Discuss lameness, side bone, quittor, corns, sole bruises, abscess, thrush, canker, seedy toe, founder, and navicular disease.	Shop 27 Make side weights.
Lecture day 28, 29, 30 Shoeing horses.	Shop 28, 29, 30 Shoeing horses.
Lecture day 31 Discuss repairing quarter cracks, sand cracks, and hoof repair.	Shop 31 Forge welding jar calks, forge brazing jar calks and grabs.
Lecture day 32 Discuss public relations, business management, and rig setups.	Shop 32 Work with full swedges, half swedges, and half rounds.
Lecture day 33, 34, 35 Shoeing horses.	Shop 33, 34, 35 Shoeing horses.
Lecture day 36 Electric and torch welding.	Shop 36 Electric and torch welding, toe clips, bars, and borium.