It was a different world when Clayton Wilber started his career

Like many who broke into the hoof-care industry before 2000, the Oxford, Fla., farrier struggled to gain a foothold in his chosen trade. Comraderie and communication were foreign.

“Farriers didn’t talk,” Wilber recalls. “They didn’t share their knowledge. If a farrier were at a barn and you walked in, he would ask you to go to the other end of the barn or one would leave.”

Its frosty nature increased the difficulty in an already arduous voca­tion.

“I wanted to drift into the Wellington world and make more money,” he says. “I had to fight my way in.”

“No” became a common refrain. But Wilber wouldn’t take no for an answer. He invested in himself by driving hours for opportunities, even when there was little to no pay.

“I did it other ways,” he says. “I would work for free or sweep floors. And I worked at it. I measured toe lengths, watched horses go; I did whatever I could to find a way in.”

A New Day

More than 35 years later, the hoof-care landscape has changed. The trade remains rigorous, but the welcome mat is…