FARRIER CLASSESIn addition to the $250 trim classes, Ralph and Link Casey, of Villanow, Ga., offer two-week, six-week and 12-week courses, ranging from about $2,700 to about $7,500, including books and tools. Go to caseyhorseshoeing.com for more information.
VILLANOW, Ga. - When horses and wagons were a primary mode of transportation, a blacksmith/farrier was the mechanic of the day - fixing wheels and axles and shoeing horses.
Times changed, but the need for farriers didn't.
With hobby farms and horse riding more popular than ever, there's a continuing demand for what many might think is a dying art.
These days, Ralph and Link Casey, of Villanow, near LaFayette, Ga., have taken horseshoeing down a new trail with their Farriers' National Research Center and the Casey & Son Horseshoeing School.
Since 1989, Ralph Casey has trained hundreds of blacksmithing farriers not only in the art of shoeing a horse but also in the study of their gaits and corrective shoeing.
"Everything about a horse is affected by its feet. Even the rider's safety," Mr. Casey said.
At the school and research center, the Caseys test new horseshoe techniques and materials, such as an aluminum shoe that is glued on rather than nailed.
Last week, with youngsters from a nearby KOA riding center and summer day camp watching, the father and son put a horse wearing the aluminum shoes through its paces on a horse treadmill. Wife and mom Ginger Casey recorded the horse's gait with a video camera for later study in slow motion.
During some test runs, the Caseys also use infrared thermal imaging to watch for hot spots on the horse's feet.
About two decades ago, Ralph and Ginger Casey started using video photography to diagnose horse gait problems for fitting corrective shoes. Mr. Casey used a washing machine motor to power a board-mounted camera that moved along a cable behind a moving horse.
"We're a bit more technical now," he laughed. "The public sees a farrier as a strong back and weak mind, but a farrier must understand the people he deals with, the horse, what the horse is used for and what a given kind of shoe does on a horse's foot. There are more 2,000 kinds of horse shoes. There are 72 kinds of corrective shoes."
Job security
But why would someone go into the horseshoeing business today?
More demand that ever, Mr. Casey said.
"There are more horses today than there were when the automobile first came out," he said. "There were 9.2 million horses in the U.S. last year. And that's just registered horses. That doesn't count the backyard family pet horses."
Not only is the business alive and well, the pay is good, too: A certified farrier can earn $50,000 to $100,000 a year, according to the Caseys' website.
Aaron Walkover, owner of the Calhoun KOA, took a two-day "trim course" from the Caseys about a year and half ago so he could do routine foot care for the eight horses he rents for rides to KOA visitors and uses with day-camp youngsters.
"It was good. I learned a lot," he said. "But then I hurt my back, and right now it's just easier for me to bring the horses here and let other students work on them."
A few feet away, Mr. Casey showed a new horseshoeing student how to lift a horse's hind foot and work on it safely.
"Keep your head close here (to the side of the horse's rump). He can't kick you there," Mr. Casey said.
Teaching horsemanship also is part of the package, he said.
Three years ago, Mr. Casey and his son, Link, began producing "Horseshoe'n Time," the first television show seen nationally that is all about horseshoeing. The show airs on Dish Network.