Odd Jobs Colleges North Texas Horseshoeing Institute

About the North Texas Horseshoeing Institute a school for people wanting to learn the art of shodding.

SCHOOL DAYS--OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

HORSEHOEING

North Texas Horseshoeing Institute

821 East Southlake Boulevard

Grapevine, Tex. 76051

According to this institute, which was founded in 1966, the demand for competent farriers is increasing every day. Although the institute cannot teach you all phases of horseshoeing in its 50 school days, it can teach you how to shoe saddlebreds used for pleasure, Western parade horses, quarter horses used for cutting and roping, gaited show horses, racehorses, and all other horses shod with a normal short shoe. Top students get a chance to learn how to shoe show ponies and other special horses.

The school has a classroom and a main forge and anvil laboratory as well as corrals and holding pens for the animals being worked on. Instruction covers all types of hand-forged shoes. All horses shod by students are shod only with hot forged shoes. Factory-made "hot keg" shoes are used in limited amounts. Students are also introduced to corrective and pathological shoeing.

Lectures cover the fundamentals of the horse's foot, the horseshoe, horseshoe nails, different types of shoes, anatomy of the foot and leg, physiology of the foot and leg, hoof preparation, and fitting. Corrective shoeing, such as paddling, winging, crossfiring, etc., is also taught, as is pathological shoeing for navicular disease, ringbone, and so on.

Included in the $750 tuition is the use of an individual anvil and forge for each student. The school accepts 24 students per class for the 10-week course. Dormitory facilities are available and reasonable, but students must bring their own linens, pillows, blankets, and personal items. Meals are taken in nearby restaurants.