‘You don’t get paid for shoeing three feet’
Getting a kick in the ribs is all in a day’s work for Marlborough farrier Innes Redwood.
Redwood has been shoeing horses for the past two years after completing a four-year apprenticeship in Canterbury.
Based on the family farm in Seddon, the 24-year-old plied his trade between Marlborough, Canterbury and Nelson.
The pathway to caring for horses’ hooves has taken a roundabout route for the former Christ College student.
‘‘I wanted to be an engineer and went down to Canterbury University to enrol,’’ he said.
‘‘I got there on open day and saw all these thousands of people wanting to do the same thing, and thought this is not for me.’’
Having ridden horses since he was 5-years-old he decided on another career path to become a farrier.
He packed up his swag and went back to Seddon finding work for the summer with Waterlea Racecourse farrier Sam Esler.
Finding an apprenticeship and a permanent job proved more difficult. ’’ Sam didn’t have enough work to employ me fulltime,’’ he said. ’’Instead he took me to a far- rier’s party and left me at the door with the instruction to go inside and find a job. I picked up my courage and walked in.’’
By 4am the next morning Redwood, a little worse for wear, had a job, and an apprenticeship with Christchurch farrier Paul Howlett.
The job was a ‘‘culture shock ’’ to a young 18-year-old but he stuck it out tending to between 20 to 30 horses a day to learn the trade.
‘‘It was a big learning curve. The first year was just getting up the fitness to do the work.
‘‘By the end of my four-year apprenticeship I counted up 4500 horses I had worked on.’’
The apprenticeship not only taught him how to repair hooves but also gave him an understanding of the anatomy of a horse, blood supply, and nerve endings, and how to make a full set of farrier tools from scratch.
Two years ago he returned to Seddon to establish his own farrier business. Courage and having an affinity with horses were key to being a successful farrier, he said. Humour was also needed in a physical job which sometimes required a contortionists agility.
‘‘I like working with horses, it’s great to follow them from foal to adult but the key is not letting them upset you,’’ he said. ’’They can’t feel any pain but the tapping vibrations of the nails being hammered in puts a few off.
‘‘Most of the time they are not being disobedient, they are just scared of what might happen. They’ve been ripped out of the paddock and they may not exactly be very excited to see you. Knowing their personality is important.
‘‘If they can sense you are scared as well, they will have a go.’’ A horse ‘‘had a go’’ at him a few weeks ago.
‘‘I’m just recovering from three broken ribs after shoeing a young stallion who threw me out the back, and double-barrelled me.’’
Redwood carried on re-shoeing because ‘‘you don’t get paid for shoeing three feet’’.
Shoes were necessary to prevent the horse from going lame, and most horses required new shoes every five to 10 weeks depending on the surface they were on. Each horse had different requirements and different sized shoes for different breeds, he said.
‘‘I have to forge special shoes for the clydies (Clydesdales) because of their size.’’ It also meant preparing two sets of shoes for each horse.
Redwood was the youngest of five farriers working fulltime in Marlborough. Most of his work came from polo competitions, which he played, annual A and P Shows, and dressage and hunts during the winter.
Redwood said the industry was struggling from a shortage of qualified young farriers coming through. ’’Most of the industry is over 50 [years-old], and 15 per cent are aged under 50, it’s ridiculous.
‘‘A lot do their apprenticeship for a year and then learn the rest from YouTube, which isn’t the best way to go.
‘‘It’s a great job, travelling around the country, yarning to people and getting paid for it.’’