I am still pushing to complete the first Smokey Westford novel. I meet at a Topeka coffee shop on Thursday evenings with several other writers. We spend a couple of hours writing. It helps to have other writers around to bounce questions off of. I am at the point in writing where the work starts. The concept or creative part of the story is on paper.

The next step is to connect the dots of the story, to make sure the story keeps moving and check for consistency. There is a Midwest Writers Conference at Ball University in July. I hope to attend the training classes and meet with an agent to pitch the book. The conference also gives me a deadline to have the book ready. I am also having a graphic artist make a Smokey Westford logo. My brother-in-law is taking a likeness of me, and turning Smokey Westford into a ‘Toon’ (cartoon). Once we have the logo and the Toon, we will start building the smokeywestford.com web site.

It is no secret that gasoline is expensive. I went to the Toyota dealership to measure the cargo space in a Prius. At the moment, it looks like I have painted myself in a corner. My truck is Blue-Booked at just over $10,000. I owe $7,700. The dealership is willing to provide $3,300 for trade in on the truck. My vehicle payments would double, which we can’t afford. The Prius is young enough that there are not very many previous year trade-ins. If a trade-in becomes available, it sells within thirty minutes for about $1,000 less than a new one. There is also a six month wait after you order one before it is delivered. It looks like I will be driving my truck this summer and looking for a used Subaru to shoe horses out of before next season.

A yacht captain friend of mine in Maryland called me a turtle. He said I hide in my shell until I am sure it is safe. Then, I peek my head out. I never venture too far away from my shell. Last year was my first year on my own shoeing horses. I spent last year working to better my shoeing skills and gaining confidence. I only know how to shoe horses The Bob Way. I was not willing to learn another way until I was a little more confident. This year, I called a farrier who lives near me to meet for lunch.

A few weeks later, he invited me to a clinic and training class in Missouri. Horse shoes have names depending on what the shoe is supposed to accomplish. This clinic was about two different styles of a shoe called a Heart Bar shoe. The purpose of the shoe is to put pressure on the frog of a horse that sufferes from laminitis. The pressure, or load, on the frog increases blood flow to the foot. The blood flow speeds healing. Like the turtle, I was willing to stick my head out to meet one person. Going to a clinic with A LOT of shoers was a big step.

I need to digress here for a moment. I have a part time job at a greenhouse. Common sense would say that horseshoeing would make you hurt more than working at a greenhouse. My muscles get sore horseshoeing and I get very tired. But the greenhouse work hurts my hips, back and knees. For the past two months I have been balancing the two jobs with very little time off. So, I was debating whether I should go to the clinic. My line of reason for going went something like this: I would be chauffeured; I would be able to sit most of the morning; I would not have to do any physical labor the whole day; there would be free food. How could I turn that down? It was one of the better decisions I have made in awhile.

There were about 18 farriers there, all men. No one assumed I was the wife of a shoer. No one immediately walked up to introduce themselves. As the day progressed, every one of the shoers came over to visit. The few who live closer to me provided their contact information and encouraged me to call if I need any help. I was impressed with their skill level and their willingness to work with other shoers. I had the chance to watch one shoer, Scott, put handmade front shoes on an Arabian mare. This is the first person that I would want to emulate in blacksmithing skill. His forge and shaping work was beautiful. There was no wasted motion. He let his tools and the heat do the work for him.

There was also a veterinarian at the clinic. He brought an IDEXX Digital Radiography computer with him. He would radiograph the leg and foot so we could see if all the joints in the leg were level after the horse was trimmed. He used the radiograph to help pinpoint the exact placement location for the heart bar shoe. It is uncommon to have access to this type of equipment (sticker price $90,000) for free and we took every advantage of it.

Two weeks ago, I had a call from one of the few female shoers in the area. She has 22 years experience. She recently picked up a large boarding barn and wanted to know if I would work with her for the day. I thought she did a good job on the horses’ feet. She truly does work completely opposite of The Bob Way. I couldn’t seem to get out of her way. She wanted me to help, but she kept working with me so she could show me her way to do things. That is appropriate, as these are her customers. Trying to learn a different way to cut clinches, pull shoes, cut nails, clinch, and finish rasp under the gun is difficult at best. I did learn some things from her. I would like to practice how she works on a back foot, although for many of my customers her way would be too dangerous for me. A horseshoers first customers are usually horses no one else wants to work under.

You always take something from everyone you work with. Most of the time, you learn additional ways to accomplish your work. Once in awhile, you see things you don’t want to do. I would work with her any chance I have. She is good company, handles the horses well, and is a skilled shoer. I would not price my work the way she does. She wants to keep this barns’ business, so she is cutting them deals. In my opinion, if someone wants me to pull 4 shoes, trim and replace those shoes, I am charging my full price. I don’t care if it is every 5, 6, or 8 weeks. I still have to do the same amount of work, am still at the same risk of injury, and still had to drive there. I have had customers argue with me on the phone about my prices. I don’t get mean about it, but I tell them I don’t discount my service.