Female farrier finds footing
Sam Gubera holds the red-hot horseshoe in a pair of tongs with one hand and, with the other, quickly lifts the Arabian gelding’s foot and clenches it between her knees. Within seconds, the area is filled with a thick cloud of smoke and a gag-inducing smell. She smiles with satisfaction. The shoe is matched to the hoof perfectly, the horse is unhurt by the few seconds of burning contact, and the hot shoe is quenched in a bucket of water before being nailed in place. Gubera, 27, is one of the Bay Area’s few female farriers, a job that generally goes unnoticed because horses aren’t seen roaming hills and trails like they did when there was more open space. She decided to become a farrier after leaving for college and giving up the horse she’d ridden since taking lessons at age 6. She missed the connection with her horse and, after talking to her own farrier, a woman Gubera says “always seemed pretty happy,” enrolled in the Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School in Plymouth (Amador County). After five years of running her own business, she’s more confident in her skills. She realizes that the care of horses’ feet is important for their overall health. Untrimmed hooves can lead to disease and pain and cause injuries if the feet aren’t functioning or leveled correctly as the hoof grows. Gubera says she experiences only a few quizzical looks when she arrives at a job for clients expecting a male “Sam,” but more female farriers are on the horizon. “I saw on Facebook that the class now is all women. First time that it’s ever happened that the entire class is all chicks, no dudes!”