I started shoeing horses at 17 years old in June 1966, shortly after graduating high school. I spent a brief time with Bill Pestalitz from Florida just to see if I could handle the task.

I went to Midwest Horseshoeing School in January 1967 under the guidance of Lester Hollenback. I was licensed in Illinois to shoe horses in 1967 and from there went to work. My mentors in Ohio were Stanley Kler, R.E. “Slim” Maxwell and Gary Houck, to name a few. My partners in crime in most excursions of fun and success were Ken Wurst and Jack Weigle.

So, why do I tell you this in my 60th year of shoeing horses for a living? Each of those mentors (among others) taught me skills that would serve me throughout my career. I practice those skills and utilize them to this day, which include making hoof nippers, hoof knives, punches, shoes, tongs and fullering tools, to name a few.

Learning these skills saved me money while providing me with tools that exceeded the quality of those I could purchase. That’s still true today as tools become more expensive and of inferior quality than when tool manufacturing was breaking into the market.

Some early manufactured nippers competed with the quality of well-made handmade nippers; now, manufacturers only have to compete with each other. As an example, a pair of my handmade hoof nippers will cut horseshoe nails and not mark the edge. Will yours?

Fortunately, the demand for quality tools…