There is no exact road map for converting a business to a multi-farrier practice. Figuring out that first step should be done after careful preparation. One of the most helpful resources is the experience of farriers who have already gone through this process.

Three farriers with differing perspectives on multi-farrier practices shared their views on operating these businesses. James Gilchrist of Wellington, Fla., operates a multi-farrier practice that has served sport horse clients since 1984. Bob Smith of the Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School in Plymouth, Calif., started a multi-farrier practice 3 years ago and has seen many of his students launch or join multi-farrier practices. Doug Anderson in Mt. Airy, Md., recently converted his business to a multi-farrier practice.

Here are their thoughts on various aspects of the subject from the 2018 International Hoof-Care Summit.

Getting Started

Sometimes you just jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down. If you wait until everything is just perfect, you usually don’t do anything at all. So, what you do is you go out there and make about a billion mistakes and try to learn from the mistakes and roll on.

The most difficult aspect of it, of course, is getting the right kind of people in the truck. If a guy’s got a lot of drive and a lot of hustle, he’s going to be on his own unless…