The WFS Basic Farrier Course offers a minimum of 576 clock hours of education. Class periods end at approximately 5pm, students have access to classroom & forge areas until 10pm daily, including weekends. This access takes the focus of "hands-on-learning" to a new level. Lets take a look at the "Basic Package".
Lectures: Daily classroom contact is absolutely vital to discuss new material, review ongoing topics and dissection of laboratory specimens. Students can take advantage of the WFS conventional & video library.
Forge Work: You will be "in the fire" beginning day one. Nothing makes you more confident and competent manipulating steel than an intimate knowledge of its working behavior. To achieve a quick, consistent fit with your horseshoes, you must practice…these many forge hours provide your foundation in metallurgy.
Tool Fabrication: Hand-made tool creation is a hallmark of WFS, many of the tools used during the course (and eventually during their careers) are manufactured by the students in class. The wear & tear on tools of this trade is significant, tools are not inexpensive either. The farrier who does not know how to maintain their tools will perform substandard work or have a tremendous increase in operating overhead from constantly having to buy new tools. The education provided in this area is invaluable, both financially and in the exposure of working with several different types of tool steel; thereby increasing your metallurgy knowledge base. Tool making builds forging skills & understanding of metal properties far beyond that of typical shoemaking alone.
Hot Shoeing: WFS believes it requires heat to achieve the best shoe fit possible. Cold steel is very difficult, at best, to shape in general; let alone to precisely manipulate in order to accurately fit a hoof. Working steel in the forge makes the steel easier to adjust, provides for a more consistent thickness of material, and a better leveled shoe with smoother lines of construction. "Burning the shoe on" aids in creating a hoof surface identical to the level of the horseshoe you are applying, bringing your efforts for a perfect fit "as good as it gets". WFS teaches the appropriateness of hot shoeing and when cold shoeing should be considered.
Equine Exposure: The student will travel to equine facilities that participate with WFS in the region, as well as work with horses on campus. A cross section of real-world working conditions will be experienced, with safety always a number one concern. Students will have ample opportunties to trim and shoe horses. Do not expect to get under a horse your first week or two. WFS does not believe in "throwing students to the wolves" until they have a solid understanding of equine foot & limb anatomy and physiology. This background is provided by intensive classroom, laboratory and practical experience of shoeing lower leg specimens. We all make more mistakes when we are first learning, WFS believes your first mistakes are better made under the instructors direct supervision, without the added stress of injuring an animal.
Wolverine Farrier
School
3104 E. Stevenson Lake Rd
Clare, Michigan 48617
989-386-8060 or -7430
Download the Basic Farrier Program Application
Download the 2008-09 WFS Complete School Catalog
For current in-depth program information, please contact the school by e-mail: ggray@journey.com or by phone: 989-386-8060 or 7430
