If you subscribe to our magazine, you soon should receive the July/August issue in the mail, followed in a couple of months with the September/October edition. In between the two, we will publish a report for new farriers — Getting Started in Hoof Care. This is an annual issue we send free of charge to all the North American shoeing school graduates throughout the year. Also anyone who wants a print copy can call our office and we'll send a copy free of charge.

This year we will again create both a print and online version, with the latter both in English and Spanish. And also again, this magazine will not provide any insight on trimming or shoeing horses. Instead it focuses solely on advice regarding billing, client relations, understanding costs, and an assortment of topics from the business side of horseshoeing. It’s not that the new farriers have learned enough about the anatomy and mechanics of farriery, it is that the business side often is put on the back burner. That is a huge mistake when establishing a business. The truth of the matter is that whether farriers like or dislike the business duties of footcare, these are just as important to the success of a practice as keeping a horse sound.

And like other aspects of shoeing, farriers have strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the business side. For example, some farriers know how much it costs them to trim or shoe a horse before they get to the barn. Others haven’t realized that just because someone paid you $100 doesn’t mean you keep $100.

How did you struggle early on with the business side of farriery? How did you change that in your early career? Please share your thoughts below.