by Frank Lessiter, Editor/Publisher American Farriers Journal
As Appeared in American Farriers Journal January/February 1998
If you're looking for new shoeing techniques in this "Shoeing For A Living" article, you're going to be disappointed. Instead, the day spent with Michigan farrier Matt Johnstone and his three-member crew centers on rock-solid business practices you can adopt to increase both your efficiency and income.
We didn't set out with any preconceived notions that we wouldn't be writing about shoeing techniques. Instead, the day's work was nothing fancy as Matt and his crew handled basic trimming and shoeing work for 19 horses in three barns near Oxford, Mich. This town is a 45-minute drive from the Chesterfield, Mich., headquarters of Chesterfield Farrier Services in suburban Detroit.
7:30 a.m. Battling the first snow of the season, Matt and apprentice Amy Chaltry head out for the journey to Oxford. Fighting weather-related commuter traffic, it turns into a longer-than-expected trip.
I get a "break" this morning as I didn't get up at 5:15 a.m. to make the long drive to Matt's place. Instead, I'll meet him at 8:30 a.m. in Lake Orion, the town where I grew up on the family's dairy farm.
I drove in the day before from Wisconsin and spent the night with my Dad. Rather than driving an hour to Matt's place and coming back with the crew in rush-hour traffic, I only have to drive five miles to meet them this morning.
8:45 a.m. Matt pulls his black shoeing rig into the parking lot at the Farmer Jack supermarket, about 15 minutes late because of heavy traffic. We greet each other and I load my photo gear in the truck for the 20-mile ride to the first barn. Two other crew members are heading for a barn at Leonard, Mich., and I'll meet them this afternoon.
8:51 a.m. Matt tells me his two trucks are set up identically so his three crew members are working out of either rig. "This is an idea I picked up from the 'Shoeing For A Living' article you did on Wisconsin farrier Red Renchin," he says.
His Ford F350 diesel truck has a crew cab, allowing him to transport three or four other shoers.
"I like diesel power for mileage and the power this truck gives us to pull a 30-foot camper trailer," he explains. "We take the track and trailer to horse shows where my wife is showing and out family will spend the night in the trailer."
8:54 a.m. "Like many farriers, we used to have a cash flow problem in the winter," he explains. "By upgrading to dressage and hunter/jumper clients, we're working in barns with indoor riding arenas. These folks ride all year and this keeps income coming in all winter."
8:57 a.m. Matt grew up on the east side of Detroit. "I was a city boy and I took a lot of flack from other farriers when I first started out," he recalls with a laugh.
After high school, he worked in a Chrysler forging shop for three years. He operated one of a dozen two-story-tall, steam-powered, drop-hammer forges that turned round bar stock into rods for auto engines.
Little did he know at the time that he would be working around forges later in his career.
Saving money from the auto-plant job, the 20-year-old bought 10 acres and a house near New Haven. He soon became interested in horse.
When auto sales declined sharply, Matt was laid off and worked construction for three weeks. Then an auto accident almost cost him a leg.
"While recuperating from my injuries, I signed up for a horse course at the local community college and we visited Red Tomlinson's Michigan School Of Horseshoeing at Belleville," he says.
"I was immediately sold on making a career of shoeing. After completing Red's eight-week course, I apprenticed with Dave Gardner from March to October and then for a year with Garnett Oetjens before going out on my own--18 years ago."
9:02 a.m. Matt tells me one of his shoeing customers is his wife, Jennifer, who owns and operates Windermere Equestrian Center, a hunter/jumper training barn. They've been married eight years.
"I first went to her barn as an apprentice," he explains. "Later, I began shoeing a few horses on my own for her barn.
"I worked in the barn for a year and got along pretty well with her. But I had a policy against dating customers because I figured it could lead to problems.
"When she finally asked me out, I figured this was different and we eventually got married."
Matt shoes all but one of the 52 horses and ponies in his wife's barn. She's treated like the other customers--scheduling appointments in advance and being expected to pay shoeing bills on time.
Besides the training barn his wife operates, Matt has another farm in Chesterfield Township. That's where his farrier shop and apprentice living quarters are located.
9:07 a.m. "We can comfortably trim and shoe three horses per hour with out four-member crew," says the American Farrier's Association (AFA) Certified Journeyman Farrier. Matt's also working toward therapeutic certification. "And it's not unusual to have three of our people work on the same horse during trimming and shoeing."
Matt recalls a new customer who sent a check along with a note.
"She knew we have a multiperson shoeing service," he says. "She told me this was the best shoeing job ever done on her horse and she wanted the same person to do the horse the next time. She was impressed when I told her three of our people worked on the horse."
9:09 a.m. We arrive at the farm of Mary Jo Ward northwest of Oxford. We get out the shoeing tools and Matt resets a shoe the horse lost while running in the pasture.
When Mary Joe asks Matt what the cost will be, he tells her there's no charge. Matt says the repair policy is a super promotional tool and it eliminates arguments over who's to blame for repairs.
"Out policy is we'll complete 80 percent of shoeing repair jobs within 24 hours," he says. "We'll have the other 20 percent completed within 48 hours."
"We're real punctual about doing repair work. It's not unusual for a groom to call us on our cell phone at 10 a.m. and we've completed the work by 1:15 p.m.
"When the owner calls at 3:30 p.m. to tell us the horse needs repairs, she's astonished when we tell her the work is finished."
9:24 a.m. Matt carries cellular phones in each truck. They let him schedule appointments, take care of owner concerns, talk to the other crew, order supplies and handle repair work, especially repairs that need to be done where he's currently working.
"It beats getting home, fielding a phone call on a repair job and learning you have to drive back tomorrow to the same area where you just finished working," he explains.
Thanks to the cellular phone, Matt's shoeing duties are done when he gets home. He seldom gets calls at home and has trained clients to call during the day.
9:37 a.m. We arrive at Metamora Hills Farm, which has eight of its own horses and four boarders. Matt has the horses on two schedules--a six-week schedule for hunter/jumper competitors and an eight-week schedule for trailriding horses.
9:47 a.m. Matt won't take on a client who isn't willing to schedule horses for shoeing six to eight weeks in advance. "We need advance scheduling to be efficient and to maximize out earning power," he says.
"Eight weeks is the absolute maximum allowed between trimming and shoeing appointments. During the summer, a lot of hunter/jumper and dressage horses are trimmed and reshod every four to five weeks."
9:58 a.m. Matt takes a few minutes to explain his five-day-a-week schedule.
"In 1996, we stopped working nights and weekends," he says. "None of our customers had a problem. By making this change, we gout out crew to be much more efficient and it boosted out income."
10:04 a.m. Matt has more employees than any shoeing service in Michigan. He carriers workman's compensation on all employees as required by law.
He maintains you need to make customers feel comfortable with the entire shoeing team. One way he does this is by having the crew wear attractive green shirts featuring the company name as shown in photos.
For all employees, Matt pays registration fees for clinics and travel costs. "I want my people to participate in all aspects of the shoeing industry," Matt says. "It is important to be an active participant in the industry.
"In the 18 years I've shod horses, I've never worked alone," he says. "I've always had someone who at the vary least could unload the truck, hold the horse or hand me tools."
10:17 a.m. When Matt takes on apprentices in his shoeing business, he tells them they need about two years of further training before they should go out on their own. Even after they've apprenticed, he feels it's important to continue learning forever by riding with other farriers, analyzing shoeing work done at shows and contests, participating in contests and continuing to go to clinics, seminars and conferences.
"Unfortunately, apprentices get spoiled by our equipment which makes it difficult for them to go out on their own," he says. "We also have good working conditions and a decent length of day which spoils them."
Staying involved in the industry, Matt is president of the Michigan Horseshoer's Association and has helped rebuild membership numbers during his reign.
10:25 a.m. Matt insists horses be tied up or be in stalls when the crew arrives. "We don't catch horses out in the pasture and customers have to be ready for us," he says. "If the horses aren't ready, they won't be a customer for very long. We plan out days to be as efficient as we can."
10:35 a.m. "We're making money when we are driving nails into a shoe." says Matt as he works on the second horse. "It's music to my ears when I hear three of us driving nails at the same time."
10:46 a.m. With three horses completed, Amy has pulled the shoes, cleaned the hooves, done some trimming and clinched the shoes. Matt has trimmed and set the shoes on horses being shod for winter competition.
"We don't trim only for length and balance," he says. "I believe you have to keep the frog pared out to maintain good hoof health.
11:03 a.m. Amy tells me she's been working with Matt since August. A graduate of a 12-week session at the Kentucky Horseshoeing School, she's learned a great deal about practical shoeing since she joined the team.
11:13 a.m. As Matt sets the shoes on the next horse, he tells me an interesting story about the importance this barn's owner places on farrier services.
"When she was designing this barn, she asked what I needed as a farrier," he explains. "I told her a cement alleyway for shoeing work, good overhead lighting and strong cross-ties. She provided them and this is a wonderful place to shoe."
11:21 a.m. For winter traction, Matt prefers drive-in studs rather than borium. He finds studs work well, are more efficient and less likely to cause an injury if a horse kicks.
By switching to studs for winter shoeing, he no longer carries torches on either truck--a great space saver.
11:34 a.m. "Shoeing is easier today than it has ever been," he says. "We have factory-clipped shoes, drive-in studs, pre-made bar and heart bar shoes, all types of aluminum shoes and eventer shoes with clips.
"As a result, farriers today can do more horses in less time and make more money."
11:48 a.m. With two trucks, two crews and 400 horses to work on, Matt buys plenty of farrier products. Reliability, service and decent prices are critical needs.
"Out major supplies is Goodyear Horseshoe Supply in Montrose, Mich. While they are located on the northern fringes of our shoeing area, we have them ship everything via United Parcel Service," Matt says. "It frees up our crew's time to work on horses rather than driving to pick up supplies."
Matt uses mainly St. Croix shoes, including plenty of pre-clipped shoes.
"We don't use our forges very much," he explains. "We make an occasional shoe, modify a shoe to fit properly or add a clip. Most shoes can be made to fit with just a few hammer blows."
12:09 p.m. After Matt finishes the last horse, he grabs the broom. "I'm a fanatic about keeping the shoeing floor clean," he says. "We sweep the floor when we arrive, when shoes are pulled off, when the horse is trimmed and when shoes are in place.
"We sweep the floor again before we leave the barn and talk all the old nails, broken nails and old shoes with us.
"I'm a fanatic about broom work. A shoeing box can roll away on a clean floor in case a horse bolts. A clean floor can keep both the horse and shoer from being hurt. Sweeping is an important part of our safety program."
12:17 p.m. As Matt finishes the shoeing invoices, we get the tools packed up and then hit the road.
12:35 p.m. Heading toward Oxford, Matt shows me the day sheets kept in each truck. The crew lists each horse worked on during the day, specific work done and invoiced dollars.
"These sheets show how we are doing day by day and serve as a good review," says Matt. "There's also a sheet posted in the barn showing the date and shoeing schedule for the next visit. By posting this sheet, the barn managers, grooms, trainers and owners can adjust the shoeing schedule, list special concerns or add horses to the list."
Each truck also contains a valuable reference directory that lists each customer and every horse.
12:47 p.m. As we pull into McDonald's, Matt tells me the crew often brown bags lunch. But as a special treat for me, they've decided to have one of those gourmet meals. Running behind schedule, we eat as we drive.
12:58 p.m. "I set my shoeing prices based on the American Farriers Journal nationwide survey of shoeing prices," Matt says. "I show my clients what shoeing prices are being charged around the country and point out how we are right at the national average. I think it's very important to raise shoeing prices on a regular basis."
1:03 p.m. Matt tells me the crew likes to hold shoeing time to under six hours per day.
"If we work eight hours, that's a long day for us," he says. "The perfect shoeing day starts at 9 a.m. and runs to 3 p.m. By not arriving at barns before 9 a.m., we find most horses are fed and nobody gets in anybody else's way."
1:15 p.m. We pull in at Pine Ridge Stables in Leonard, Mich., and I meet the rest of the crew. Merv Hollingshead and M.K. McLaughlin have been working since 9 a.m. in this 35-stall barn.
Merv is an experienced farrier who went to a 12-week session at Bob Reaume's Wolverine Farrier School at Howell, Mich., and recently took the tests for American Farrier's Association certification.
M.K. was a teacher's aide in special education before signing on as a crew member. An apprentice, she joined the crew last spring after meeting Matt in a karate class. So you don't want to mess with these two!
1:37 p.m. To save time and to free up truck space, the crew quit using a grinder to box shoes. They find it's easier to use a rasp than pull out the electrical cord and find the safety glasses.
2:17 p.m. It's a chilly day, so I'm delighted when Matt fires up the NC Tool gas forge to make a set of rocker-toed shoes for one of the three horses being worked on in the alleyway. This foundered horse is the only animal with a peculiarity that we'll work on today.
"She needs a wide web, so I will use a Titanium shoe because the larger sizes have wider webs," Matt explains. "These shoes heat up fast, but also cool down fast.
"With today's products, it's seldom that we need to use the forge. There are very few things we can't do cold, although I know some farriers will say pounding cold steel won't get you to heaven."
2:34 p.m. In discussing benefits of a multiperson shoeing practice, Matt cites the saying that two people can chop three times more wood than one person.
"The same applies to shoeing," he says. "When you have two or three people working in an efficient manner on each horse, it makes you more money. I see multiperson shoeing businesses catching on around metropolitan areas.
"It's easier to catch up when you have unexpected work to do on a particular horse of you find more horses to shoe when you arrive at a barn. With more people, we keep to our schedule."
Besides himself, Matt likes to employ four other shoers and apprentices. When three people left in late summer, he had to scramble to replace them and would like to add one more person to the crew.
3:00 p.m. Merv worked at several Morgan farms before getting into the farrier business. "I was getting bored, had watched a number of farriers work and thought I might like to shoe," he says. "So I quit my job and enrolled in Bob Reaume's school.
"I have a number of horses I shoe on my own and have been working two days with a Matt to further my education."
3:05 p.m. Merv finishes nailing the last shoe on the last horse. While the rest of us pack up the tools and clean up, Matt heads off to the heated rider's room to write out the invoices.
Matt shows me his billing system. "One of the things we offer owners is an invoice for each horse," he says. "Some owners leave a check at the barn, but I normally write out invoices to the owner and we get a check in the mail a few days later.
"In one barn, the trainer insists a check be there for the farrier or the veterinarian on the day work is to be done. If the check is not there, she won't let us work on a horse."
3:35 p.m. After wishing Merv good luck on the AFA certification tests he'll take later this week and sending M.K. home with the other truck, Matt, Amy and I hit the road. They've got about a 45-minute ride home their day should be completed by 4:30 p.m.
3:45 p.m. Driving down the road, Matt sums up the day's accomplishments:
- A shoe was replaced at no charge for Mary Joe Ward.
- Six trimmings and two shoeings were done at Metamora Hills Farm.
- Work done by the other crew this morning and by both crews this afternoon at Pine Ridge Stables included three trims plus seven trimming and shoeings.
"It's been a typical day," says Matt as we pull into the supermarket parking lot in Lake Orion where I left my car. "We did winter trimming and shoeing on 19 horses. We didn't have any special concerns, except for the shoes forged for the foundered horse."
3:55 p.m. As I say goodbye to Amy and Matt and watch them drive off, I'm reminded of something Matt said earlier that sums up his shoeing business: "Rely on efficiency to maximize your earning power."
Coupled with the other highly practical management ideas and the efficient use of new farrier products, Matt Johnstone certainly gets the shoeing job done in profitable style.