Why do we begin a new class every Monday?
We have been asked this so many times lately that we think it is time for a complete explanation.
1) By beginning a small group every Monday and graduating a small
group every Saturday we always have advanced students here in school.
This means that our shoeing customers have a high degree of confidence
in our work and they are always bringing their horses. In fact, we
have horses backed up on our appointment calendar for two months.
We have shod for some of these people for 33 years. Suppose we did
not do this. Our work would be of a very inconsistent quality for
the first couple of weeks of a cycle in which we would have all brand
new students. We would lose customers. Then we would have to go out
hunting horses and go out in the field every day to have enough horses
for you students to shoe. Figure one hour driving out and one hour
driving back to the school. That makes two wasted hours driving time
every day instead of teaching time. That is how it is done elsewhere
but not here. All of our clients bring their horses in for us to shoe
in our shop. No wasted time and an average of two more hours per day
of instruction.
2) We do not just pay lip service to teaching corrective shoeing;
we actually do it day in and day out. The only possible way to have
the necessary cases for our students to learn corrective shoeing is
to always have advanced students who are capable of performing the
craftsmanship necessary to shoe these difficult cases. These cases
do not just crop up at our convenience. They must be done on an as
needed basis. This means that we must always be ready to serve these
cases if we are to get them and to keep them.
3) If we have a particularly interesting case come into our shop and
the instructors shoe the horse, The students think "Of course
you can do it, you are an instructor", and never learn to do
in themselves. BUT, if they see the advanced students in class doing
the work they quickly realize that they will be able to do that work
later on in school.
