There is no career aptitude test that tells a high schooler to become a farrier after graduation.

For “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe, this is the result of glorifying “the ‘corner office job’ while unintentionally belittling the jobs that helped build the corner office.” Devaluing work that doesn't require a college degree or involves swinging a hammer is what he says laid the foundation for a widening skills gap and massive student loan debt. Trade schools and apprenticeship programs are labeled “alternative” while there is an abundance of jobs that continue to need skilled workers.

This is where Rowe steps in. As founder of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, he offers scholarships each year to students of an approved trade program to encourage young adults to find value and purpose in hard work.

Though “hard work” means many things in many different careers, it’s usually ascribed a moral value. If you’re a hard worker — willing to put in overtime, make sacrifices or simply sweat through your shirt — you’re a good, honest person. Where this association originates, I’m not sure. It might have something to do with seeing the immediate impact of your work, giving back to an economy that provides for you, or knowing you’re contributing to something bigger than yourself. For trade workers, this may mean constructing a hospital, doing the electrical work on someone’s future home or keeping a horse sound and in work. You may not see the fruits of your labor, but you did make someone’s (human’s or equine’s) life easier, happier or better down the road.

Getting a Taste of the Job

The farrier community is one that values hard work. By virtue of the job, hard work is a necessity, and those who can’t commit to it generally don’t make it a lasting career. On “Dirty Jobs” — Season 1, Episode 8: “Vexcon,” available on many streaming services — Rowe steps into Pacific, Mo., farrier Mark Hemmer’s shoes.

Rowe, in an effort to connect with an audience of office workers, laments the smell of the barn, the horse’s hooves, which have tracked manure, and the burning-hair smell of hot fitting. Hemmer addresses it as a simple fact, nothing to turn his nose up at. Though kicking fresh manure aside so he can continue working on a hind foot doesn’t convince Rowe.

“You know you’re a farrier when you wash your hands before you go to the bathroom,” Hemmer smiles.

Watching Rowe attempt to forge a keg shoe, however, demonstrates to an unfamiliar audience just how much skill is required in this skilled-labor profession — especially when Hemmer gets the rare privilege of schooling someone on television immediately afterward. Seeing Rowe singe off his eyelashes turning on the forge later is just a bonus.

When teaching Rowe how to pull a shoe, Hemmer again makes it look effortless. Though when Rowe stands with a hoof between his knees, he’s half-convinced it’s a joke. He’s “crooked,” uncomfortable and off-balance. When asked how he does it, Hemmer responds easily.

“You just do it.”

Rowe is astonished.

“You’ve got a trick pelvis,” he insists. “That’s not how God made us, Mark.”

Well, that’s how God made the farrier (or it’s why many farriers’ backs, knees and hips give out).

Scholarships for Hard Work

While the episode didn’t touch on how rewarding a career in farriery can be — helping horses and building life-long relationships — we know it. And those looking to start their careers know it too. That’s why this year the mikeroweWORKS Foundation awarded over $2.5 million in scholarships to hard-working young people entering the trades of their choosing.

To be eligible, candidates had to meet the following criteria.

• Be a high school senior, high school graduate, or have a GED equivalent.
• Plan to complete an approved trade program, such as farriery. 
• Be enrolled or plan to enroll in an approved trade program at an accredited 2-year college, vocational or technical school, or other approved technical institute in the United States. Four-year degrees or bachelor's programs are not eligible.

The application process includes reading and signing the S.W.E.A.T. (Skill & Work Ethic Aren’t Taboo) pledge, submitting an application video along with two references and proving that you’re enrolled in an approved program, such as a farrier school.

2025 recipients include several dedicated farriers. The list of awardees only includes the city and state of the applicant’s school, but several were the home of horseshoeing schools, so I’ve chosen to include them here.

• From Kentucky Horseshoeing School: Eli Chasteen, Olivia Hodge and Aiden Watson.
• From Gadsden, Ala., home of Lookout Mountain School of Horseshoeing: William Anderson.
• From Idaho Horseshoeing School: Caleb Schlegelmilch.
• And from Roberts, Idaho, home of Idaho Horseshoeing School: Kiera Smith and Lynsey Tyler.

Congratulations to the 2025 recipients of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation scholarship!