Forging Brains Podcast

It's that time of year where everybody is busy and busting their butts but we're back with another episode of Forging Brains Podcast! Just a recap of what we've been up to and what we have planned for the upcoming months as well. We look forward to seeing everyone out an about!Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.comOur Proud Sponsors of the Showwww.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order!www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order!www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees)www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We recently asked you guys on the Forging Brains Facebook page if you had some questions you'd like for us to chat about on the podcast while we were planning on being at Troy Wood's shop. Just so happened that this years cultural exchange student, Ed Beeston was staying with Troy and happy to sit down with us for the recording as well. It was cool to hear what his journey has been like so far on his travels to the United States from England. Quite often we chat with guests that have previously been on the exchange in years prior but not necessarily when they're currently here on tour. So that was cool to hear from Ed about his experience so far.Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.comOur Proud Sponsors of the Showwww.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order!www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order!www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees)www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

Early on the podcast we had Robert Jukes as a guest of ours and is still one of the most listened to episodes we've uploaded. So when we heard Robert is moving back to his homeland in Australia, we wanted to get him on the podcast to hear what he has planned and how he plans to do a move halfway across the world.Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.comOur Proud Sponsors of the Showwww.rustybrownjewelry.com use code BRAINS for 20% off your order!www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order!www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order!www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees)www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

Last week's episode was with the judge of the next  @wcbfarrier  contest in Amarillo, Texas John McNerney of  @yukonforge  and this week's episode is with 3 highly skilled and devoted guys- Jim Poor, Bodie Trnka, and Chris Madrid to talk through how someone can break down a shoe list or their practice regimen to get to the top. These guys know what it takes to win and have a lot of wins under their belts. Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.comOur Proud Sponsors of the Showwww.rustybrownjewelry.com use code BRAINS for 20% off your order!www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order!www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order!www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees)www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

Hear from the judge of the upcoming WCB in Amarillo, Texas! The West Texas Ranch Rodeo shoe list just came out and we sat down with John McNerney of Yukon Forge to hear how he made the shoes and what he's going to be looking for in each class as well. If you're looking for an edge on your competition, this provides great insight for what's to be expected from the judge of the West Texas Ranch Rodeo WCB April 9th-12th.Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.comOur Proud Sponsors of the Showwww.rustybrownjewelry.com use code BRAINS for 20% off your order!www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order!www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order!www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees)www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

I've known these guys for over half my life now and if it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't have a career as a farrier. Billy Lovell and I met in high school going to high school rodeos and then he encouraged me to take up the farrier program at Walla Walla Community College where we both took the class together. I met Matt Magan while I was in the farrier program as he graduated from there the year before and would come by the school regularly on his days off to hang out and get in the forge. These guys are hard working folks that you don't necessarily see in the lime light everyday on social media or anything but have been grinding away the past 15+ years successfully managing shoeing practices and going to a WCB here and there, as well as, our states contests we have too. Billy recently passed his Certified Journeyman Farrier certification this past year too and talked about how that experience was for him even after running a business all these years and if it was a hard adjustment for him. Matt is a second generation farrier, his father Paul Magan is a CJF that works for WSU farrier/veterinary program, inspired Matt into becoming a farrier and has had great success over the years. These are some of my best friends and I hope you guys enjoy listening to this episode! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.rustybrownjewelry.com use code BRAINS for 20% off your order! www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

While at the AFA Convention we were able to sit down with Juan Berumen and hear his story how he has navigated his way through his career, working for some of the legends of our trade, and earning a spot on the American Farrier's Team as well. Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.rustybrownjewelry.com use code BRAINS for 20% off your order! www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

Riley and I were honored to be asked to judge a WCB event and took a lot of pride in trying to do the right thing to judge fair and honestly. In this episode we talked about our experience on how that event went for us to judge. Let me tell ya, it ain't as easy as you would think! There's a lot of shoes that get judged in three days as well as picking up a lot of horse's feet to be judged and scored too. Honestly we learned a lot from being on that side of the spectrum and can try to implement those things for the next contest we decide to enter. Hope you guys enjoyed this episode and let us know in the comments what you thought! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.rustybrownjewelry.com use code BRAINS for 20% off your order! www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

Ft Worth WCB is dang near here! Riley and Gavine are judging this year and figured we should add some insight about the shoes before people are on their way to the contest. We went over each shoe on this and laid out things we'd like to see with each class but ultimately it's going to come down to the basics of horseshoeing. If you have the basic elements in your jobs, then you'll do well. Look forward to seeing you all there and hope you have a happy Thanksgiving! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.rustybrownjewelry.com use code BRAINS for 20% off your order! www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We recently attended the American Farrier's Association annual convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee and while we were there we got to sit down with Kayla and Lyle Shepherd. Really cool story about how they met initially and then became to be husband and wife starting a multi-farrier practice of their own. Kayla was involved with the Culture Exchange program, getting to travel across the world to work along talented farriers to learn what it takes and Lyle currently is competing in the WCB contests with the goal of making the Cat 2 Team. Among their farrier practice, they have a whole farm they manage as well! Give the episode a listen to hear how they manage it and let us know what you think in the comments. Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.rustybrownjewelry.com use code BRAINS for 20% off your order! www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

Chad Chance is a man of many talents and is a great entrepreneur in our industry. It's safe to say that Chad paved the way for us here on Forging Brains Podcast in the sense of being one of the firsts in the farrier trade to publish content to the internet and YouTube. Through his channel, HoofWatch, Chad has provided so knowledge with the collaboration of Craig Trnka and the WCB and also Mustad with Grant Moon that initially gave me a lot of inspiration to become a better farrier and have the information readily available to watch at a click of a button. But aside from his media presence, Chad has ran a successful shoeing business for many years, shoeing top level horses in northeast Texas. He has accomplished being on the WCB Team and the American Farrier's Team multiple times through his years as a competitive farrier! But Chad hasn't stopped there, he's stepped out of his comfort zone to become an auctioneer and sell real estate as well. Just about anyone you ask in this trade will tell you how great of a person Chad Chance is and will help you in any way he possibly can if asked. Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We sat down and talked about our experience at Spruce Meadows a few weeks ago from a competitors standpoint and as well as a spectator. Discussed some of the struggles and great things we experienced all week long. All in all, it was a great week! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

While up at the 2024 World Championships in Calgary at Spruce Meadows, Riley was able to sit down with competitors after they had their "go" on Saturday's, Pool of Shoes Class. It's really cool to hear everyone's input after they've had a go to hear their thoughts while it's fresh on their mind, because we always like to ask each other while we're at a contest "how was your go?". So we've got guests, Justin Fountain, George Rogerson, Paul O'reilly, Jason Hill, Daniel Ark Everson, Bodie Trnka, Chris Madrid, Sergio Perez, Troy Wood, Iain Ritchie, Russell Floyd, Toby Pedley, Dan Corkery, Alex Collier, Daniel Jones, Carl Via, and myself. That's a lot of handy competitors all jam-packed into one episode! There is a bit of background noise from the contest going on behind us but I tried my best to lower it the best I could, just an FYI.. Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! For Riley Kirkpatrick clinics contact, David Moose or Forging M Farm on Facebook to get signed up. June 6-7 2025 Riley Kirkpatrick Clinic Hamptonville, North Carolina

While up at the 2024 World Championships in Calgary at Spruce Meadows, we were able to sit down with guests we don't get to see often because they live across the world in England, so it was awesome to get to have a chat with Alex Collier and George Rogerson. What we find is really cool is that when we chatted, nobody knew who the new World Champion was going to be yet and now that we're releasing this episode it has been announced that George Rogerson is the 2024 World Champion Blacksmith! Congratulations George and to everyone else who competed at the World Championships. It's a very exciting time amongst us knowing this information and feeling that buzz being around so many talented and motivated farriers. We enjoyed having this conversation with Alex and George, getting to hear how they both became farriers and their journeys to becoming some of the best in the world. It's cool to hear how similar they are to us in the states but yet their system they have to abide by in the UK sets them apart from us too. It's apparent that they both wanted to become farriers and once they got on this path, they set their minds to it to become the best of the best. Hope you enjoy this episode and we'll have more out soon from our trip at the World Championships. Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! For Riley Kirkpatrick clinics contact, David Moose or Forging M Farm on Facebook to get signed up. June 6-7 2025 Riley Kirkpatrick Clinic Hamptonville, North Carolina https://gofund.me/f9b89af5 Hey there! Stan needs urgent brain surgery, and on top of that, his home plumbing is in shambles. Every donation, no matter how small, can help them cover these critical expenses, so please click the link below to donate or share their story. Thank you so much for your support!

We had a great conversation with our guest, Mike Stone. Unfortunately the wifi coverage wasn't the greatest and had some lag time and made our conversation cut short. But we got a great introduction of how Mike got into this trade of farriery. It's always interesting to hear how people didn't intend on shoeing horses in the beginning but ended up finding it and falling in love with it for their life and career. Mike's no stranger to competing and has competed with the best of em for over 20 years and always manages to pull off a best shod foot bucket! That goes to show that he knows his way around trimming and fitting up feet really good. We hope you enjoy this week's episode and will catch ya at the next one! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! For Riley Kirkpatrick clinics contact, David Moose or Forging M Farm on Facebook to get signed up. June 6-7 2025 Riley Kirkpatrick Clinic Hamptonville, North Carolina https://gofund.me/f9b89af5 Hey there! Stan needs urgent brain surgery, and on top of that, his home plumbing is in shambles. Every donation, no matter how small, can help them cover these critical expenses, so please click the link below to donate or share their story. Thank you so much for your support!

We recently were able to head down to New Mexico to hang out at WCB headquarters and while we were there we wanted to sit down with Craig to hear what else is on his mind and is going on within the WCB. Craig's a fountain of knowledge and a man that can shoot inspiration into you, if you're willing to listen. I gained motivation throughout our conversation to become better and strive for more and I think you will too listening to this episode! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! For Riley Kirkpatrick clinics contact, David Moose or Forging M Farm on Facebook to get signed up. June 6-7 2025 Riley Kirkpatrick Clinic Hamptonville, North Carolina

Man this was a great episode with our special guest, Robbie Mederos! You'll hear in this episode that Robbie worked in a different field for over a decade and then one day decided enough is enough, quit that job and decided to pursue a career that had meaning and can bring happiness. Robbie is a second generation farrier that was taught by his dad is Bob Mederos who has had lots of success as well. There were so many details and tips Robbie provided throughout this episode that hit home for us on Forging Brains Podcast and we think you'll dig em too. Throughout Robbie's career he has focused in on the finer details to bring out that artistic side within himself but made sure not to skip over the fact that the basics need to be there for either sound horseshoeing, impressive shoemaking or competitive horseshoeing. Robbie has qualified for the American Farrier's Team and has competed internationally at the highest level as well. Let us know what your favorite tip was that Robbie shared with us in the comments! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! For Troy Wood or Riley Kirkpatrick clinics contact, David Moose or Forging M Farm on Facebook to get signed up. January 10-11 2025 Troy Wood Clinic June 6-7 2025 Riley Kirkpatrick Clinic Hamptonville, North Carolina

Bet you think it would be helpful to get an in depth look at the shoes on a shoe list before the contest happened? Well, in this episode you can! We sat down with Travis Buck to hear what inspired him to come up with this shoe list and what are going to be some key elements he'll be looking for when he's judging. Also, he broke down each shoe on how he went about making them! Travis has qualified for the Canadian Farrier's Team 4 times and the WCB Team 2 times so far in his career plus shoes high level hunters and jumpers in his full time business. We also heard from Travis on how he got into shoeing horses and how he grew to love shoemaking and everything that goes along with it. If you guys like hearing from the judge beforehand like this, let us know in the comments! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We sat down and thought it would be cool to talk about the shoe list for the next WCB in Edgewood as if we were to be getting ready to make the shoes for the first time. Consider it like if we were sitting down with each other and figuring out what steps we're going to be needing to do with each shoe before we even cut any steel. Getting a game plan together! Although we're not entered in Edgewood this year, we thought it may be helpful for some of you that are in the midst of getting these shoes figured out. Let us know if you thought this was a good listen and if you'd like us to do more of these in the future! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

This week's guest can school us on a lot of things to become a successful, professional farrier- Bob Pethick. Bob has shod horses professionally for over 50 years and not only just regular type horses, high dollar, high stress, top level sport horses that compete at the highest level for the United States Equestrian Team for nearly his whole career. He had it set in his mind from day 1 of starting his career that he wanted to shoe the highest level caliber horses and made that happen for over 37 years now. That just blows my mind to be honest! I think that speaks volumes about the quality of work Bob commits to every day and also Bob's character for being able to maintain those relationships for that long. All the while he was able to do this, Bob competed at the highest level and was selected to become a member of the North American Horseshoeing Team 2 times and also earning a spot on the American Farriers Team 5 times and those years were with some of the more well known guys in our industry like Jim Poor, Craig Trnka, Shayne Carter and many other badasses! Amongst many other accolades and accomplishments Bob has earned, Bob was inducted into the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame in 2006. I think there's a lot to be gained by sitting down and listening to a guy like Bob talk and soak up the knowledge he has to share. Enjoy the episode! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

If you're listening to this episode, you probably already know Riley & Gavine are firm believers in continuing education by attending clinics or competing in contests. But in this episode we covered some key tips for you if you are looking to host a clinic or competition. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes to put on a successful clinic or contest. It requires a fair bit of infrastructure for everything to go smooth and keep your clinician happy, as well as, the clinic attendees. So, we broke it down with what may be required if you're looking to host a clinic of your own. Also, there's some tidbits in there if you haven't attended a clinic or contest before, what to expect to bring or have with you when you attend an event. If there's something you think we've missed in the episode, feel free to drop a comment and let us know! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

You've heard it here first folks and heard that correctly, John Mcnerney (Yukon Forge) is taking over for Jim Poor's (Flatland Forge) driving hammer business! It's no secret that Jim Poor has built a strong empire of tools throughout his career over at Flatland Forge and couldn't be more fitting for a guy like John to take over that part of the business. Lot of the time what happens when someone takes over a great business, they run it into the ground and start making bad products. But that won't be the case with Yukon Forge taking the driving hammers into his arsenal of tool production. John has been in this industry for many decades and knows a thing or two about building great tools, which is a perfect recipe for success. The hammers will still be made the same way except the logo will become different after a small collaboration of the two brands are sold out. If you're wanting to purchase one of these hammers go to www.yukonforge.com and use code BRAINS at checkout for 10% off your order as well!

We know we've been absent with uploading consistent episodes the past few weeks but sometimes we get super busy in life and they supersede other objectives we do but we are trying our best to get episodes uploaded on a weekly basis! This week we have a great guest who a lot of you may know and love, Tyson Clark! As you'll hear in this episode, Tyson has been shoeing horses for many years and didn't get into the competitive horseshoeing world until 15 years after he initially started shoeing. Tyson has been an avid competitor and ambassador of this trade through many associations. He has been on the American Farrier's Team two times and many top 5 finishes with the World Championship Blacksmiths. I think one great takeaway from this episode is, everyone's path in life is different and that's perfectly ok. Just because you're not flashing through all your goals and accomplishments right away, doesn't mean that they will never happen. You have to keep working at them and putting forth that effort to succeed. We hope everyone that is headed of to the WCB season opener in Madison, travels safe and has a great time competing there this weekend! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We've got another great episode coming to you live from the WCB Winter Clinic at Well-Shod in Amarillo, Texas with this week's guest, Mike Augenstein! Just like a lot of us, Mike had been introduced to horseshoeing through his dad as a necessity and then decided to pursue becoming great at it after meeting many top farriers throughout his early days. Even though Mike went to college and earned an Engineering Degree, he had a passion for this trade and wanted to continue his journey shoeing horses. You'll hear in this episode that Mike was faced a serious decision to either, accept a high paying job as an Engineer after spending many years in college, or setting down a path of happiness to pursue a career as a farrier. That was cool to hear! Mike has also been on the American Farrier's Team and has won a great number of contests. We also covered what it means by paying his debts and being a "swiftie" for an episode that will make more sense after listening to his story. Mike had a lot of great stories about his trials and tribulations it took for him to become a great farrier and once he found guys to help him, he was able to start climbing that ladder to becoming a CJF or on the American Farrier's Team and/or a successful businessman and family man. Hope you enjoy this episode and thanks for listening! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

Coming in hot straight from the World Championship Blacksmiths Winter Clinic at Well-Shod, we got to sit down with a few cool guests and chat with them! This episode is with someone that most people know and respect because of how great a person he is, Hank Chisholm. Hank shared with us how he gained a passion for this trade and how he tries to share that passion with everyone through the American Farrier's Association. Most people were pretty dang excited when Hank was elected to be president of the AFA. Speaks volumes when you hear everyone say only but good things about a person as to who the type of person they are, and that would be someone you want to be the head honcho of an association like the AFA. We also covered what Hank has done to be involved with improving the AFA and the AFA certification process. And from the sounds of it, it's no easy task! We hope you enjoy this episode and thanks for tuning in everyone! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! The app Hank talked about can be found in the App Store- American Farrier's Association or www.americanfarriersassociation.com for more info.

Kicking the year off right with what Nigel would refer to as a "belter!" of an episode! We had the privilege to sit down and chat with our first Englishman on the show, Nigel Fennell. It's amazing to hear about all the accomplishments and accolades Nigel has achieved throughout his career. He has achieved the highest level of certification in the Fellowship of Worshipful Company of Farriers, the FWCF with Honours. And he said that there's only a handful of people to ever achieve that since the beginning of the Fellowship in the early 1300's. Amongst all his achievements in his professional farrier career, from contests and certifications, Nigel has taken to his creative side with full size horse sculptures made completely from steel. You'll have to check out his instagram page @nigel_fennell_fwcf_honours to get a full grasp on the intensity of these beautiful animals he has built through thousands of hours shaping and welding them together. There were so many great little nuggets you can takeaway from this episode to help yourself, I hope you learned as much as we did from hearing Nigel speak. Thanks for tuning in everyone! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We were fortunate to be able to sit down with Todd Walker while we were competing in Ft. Worth at the 2023 World Championship Blacksmiths Season Finals. So you may hear the tune of hammers banging on anvils in the background and the occasional train passing by in the background. We got to learn so much more about Todd and what has drove him to succeed at all the great things he has achieved throughout his life and career. Todd has been on the American Farrier's Team and WCB Team numerous times each. He also shared with us, he won the WCB "Striker of the Year" the first year it was offered and boy what a whoopin that sounded like! And still qualified for the WCB Team that year having to strike every go-round throughout the year. That's a tough accomplishment! Todd has recently become a rep for the major farrier products manufacturer, Mustad. He expressed how much he enjoys the challenge of something new and plans to be the best he can be working with Mustad. Todd shared a bunch of valuable knowledge throughout our conversation. Share with us what you learned and thought provided you with some value for yourself in the comments. Thanks for listening and what a way to kick off the New Year with Todd Walker on Forging Brains Podcast! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We were just in Ft. Worth, Texas for the 2023 World Championship Blacksmiths Season finals and thought it would be really cool to hear from some of the competitors that competed in the Novice Class. Either this was this their first one or they have competed in all three for the year and will be deciding to move up into the Categories next year. Little different style format podcast than we usually do but you'll have to let us know if you really liked this or not! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We have a great guest this episode with the one and only, Trey Green. Trey has shod horses at the top levels of their discipline, as well as, competed himself at the top level of farrier & blacksmithing competitions with great success. Like many of you, Trey has his own unique way of how he became interested in this trade of farriery. Throughout that journey. he had secured himself a place on the American Farriers Team multiple times. as well as, the WCB (World Championship Blacksmiths) Team more than once! Trey shared many great stories about his bull riding lifestyle after he served in the Marine Corps, which then led him to becoming one of the top farriers in the world. Give it a listen and leave us a comment/review about what you liked, or disliked, about this episode and also what your favorite story Trey told us during our conversation! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

If you've been around for a while in this trade you more than like have heard of this week's guest, Travis Koons! Travis has resided in Southern California for most his life and most his career shoeing high level sport horses. You'll hear in this episode how Travis got his start into shoeing horses, his introduction to farrier competitions, the ups & downs he has faced throughout his career, and as well as the men and women that have been most influential to make a big impact in his life. He has also competed at the highest levels of farrier competitions in the world and done very well throughout. This is a longer episode, so buckle up, and enjoy! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

This past weekend I was at the FAWS (Farriers Association of Washington State) annual fall convention and contest, where Craig Trnka was our judge and clinician. So I figured what a perfect time to sit down with him and do a podcast to talk about their recent accomplishment with the World Championships at Spruce Meadows. We were also joined by Troy Wood, Jesse Wilson, Brian Strelow, Brandyn Davis, Richard Puglisi, Butch Whitaker and Kid Kelley to join in on this episode. Craig filled us in on the success they had from bringing the World Championships back for the first time in many years. He also shared with us their future plans for WCB Headquarters which is something that's been needed for our trade for a long time. Big things on the horizon to come! Let us know what you think and how it'll impact you and this trade by leaving a comment. Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees)

This marks the 1 year mark from when we dropped the first episode of Forging Brains Podcast! We want to thank all our guests and friends that have sat down with us to make the show happen. We certainly have enjoyed this journey getting to deep dive into people's lives and learn what it takes to become a successful farrier. This episode we talked about the highlights from this year, some of the lows, and just some goals we have for ourselves and the show in the future. Congratulations are also in store for the newly crowned World Champion Blacksmith, Matt Randles! Must've been a really fun an exciting contest to be a part of and we hope to make it next year. We appreciate all the support from our listeners and look forward to sitting down with more badass guys in this trade to hear their stories and what they have to say! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees)

This week's guest and episode is a great one, John McNerney! Mostly everyone in the farrier world has probably seen or heard of the "Yukon Forge" line of tools throughout the past couple decades. But, something we learned in this conversation with John, is that he has the passion and dedication to serving his community by making it a safer place for those living in it when he decided to become a Policeman. John has completed his tenure on the force and during that time he was dedicated to catching the worst criminals off the streets. He talked about how he needed a new passion or goal to strive for in his life and found that by training himself and his K-9 to be at the top of their game and part of the elite. Becoming a policeman isn't the only highlight of John's career, John has been on the American Farrier's Team multiple times, competed at Calgary World Championships, winning the Forged in Fire television series, creating some of the best farrier tools on the market, and much more that you can hear about in this episode. Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees)

It's got to be quite an experience to move away to another country halfway across the world. Stan Mullen started that journey at 17 years old searching for a horseshoeing school and after that he decided he was going to live in the United States after growing up in New Zealand previously. Not only has been shoeing horses full time, Stan has been making his presence known in the competitive horseshoeing scene by kicking ass and taking names! The last WCB he won all 5 classes, making himself the Overall Champ. He's currently on the WCB Team and prepping to go to the World Championships in Canada at Spruce Meadows next week. Good luck to all those competing there! www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order!

We got the opportunity to learn from Dan Salcito about what makes a great hoof knife and how or why he got into the hoof knife game to create the best hoof knives on the market today! If you've been to your state horseshoeing contest or a World Championship Blacksmiths competition, then you've probably seen some of Dan's hoof knives because he is so supportive of this trade and generous for wanting to give back by donating numerous knives to associations so you have something cool to remember that event by. Dan also shared with us his upbringing about the trials and tribulations it took to try and make a top quality product. If you want to purchase Salcito Hoof Knives, you can find them at Well-Shod.com! www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! Here's the link to the video Dan mentioned about sharpening hoof knives https://youtu.be/5U0BnHd_5Bk

We all have a unique story about how or why we got into shoeing horses initially. Recently I had the chance to sit down with three farriers that are in the early stages of their careers and what their experiences have been like so far, as well as, what they are doing to help ensure their chances of success. The three guys in this episode are Brandyn Davis, Trey Hayden, and Richard Puglisi. Brian Strelow is in this episode too because the 5 of us were headed down to the Oregon Farriers contest last weekend and stayed the night at Richard's place and figured this would be a great episode for people to hear. Hope this helps inspire some of you on your journey! www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order!

You want to be a world champ one day? Or just be a top competitor? Or be the best farrier you can be? Well, Austin Edens is all of those and more! Austin has won the World Championship Blacksmithing competition in Calgary in 2003, crowning him a World Champion. That's no easy task. This episode, Austin let us in on the things he had done in his career to get him to become a world champ. As well as, how he felt after winning the title and up to that point (Not what you'd expect). Besides Austin's competitive horseshoeing accolades, he has also been very active in the farrier industry with the tools he makes and provides us. He has given back to the industry by doing clinics and demos all over the world for us to learn. Lately Austin has been developing a new frog support pad, "Plexus Pads" to give us farriers better tools to use for the horses we work on. This episode hits home for many of us with what Austin shared throughout the conversation because he has, been there done that, and we all have goals we work on in our everyday lives that we can relate to. If you found something that you related to in this episode, leave us a comment and let us know what that was! To earn a 25% discount on your first month's FarrierBox go to, www.farrierbox.com and use code BRAINS at checkout for that 25% off! They provide you with the top tools we use in our everyday work that have tried and tested by the elites in our trade!

A bunch of us got the opportunity to go compete in Edgewood, New Mexico at the World Championship Blacksmiths competition so we sat down to chat about what we experienced and learned about the trip. Midway through the episode, Ben Snure jumped on with us to share his experience about competing in the Novice Class too! We had a great time in New Mexico and also had a great time telling stories throughout this episode. We shared a lot of laughs, as well as, gained some knowledge about what we can do to become better in our next endeavors too. Can't forget to thank our sponsor, FARRIERBOX! You can earn 25% off your first month's order by going to www.farrierbox.com and use code BRAINS at checkout to receive some of the top products used in our industry by top professionals.

This past weekend I was at Troy Wood's shop practicing for the upcoming WCB contest in Edgewood, NM and we decided to sit down and do a podcast! We discussed some things about what we've learned in our practices together about the shoes and what we've got to be prepared for at the contest. Plus we BS'ed about other random stuff that's been going on in the world around us too. Enjoy this week's episode and maybe we'll see you in Edgewood! If you'd like a deal on your first month's order with FarrierBox, go to www.farrierbox.com and use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's shipment!

Most people know that Tim "Hooter" Hoover ain't afraid to have a good time and share laughs, and that's exactly this episode went! Tim shared with us on how he acquired the nickname Hooter and it isn't what you were expecting or thinking. We got to talk about how he started his career shoeing horses and also some of the trials and tribulations he had to go through living in Arkansas as well. Give this episode a listen and let us know what you think! If you want a deal on your first month's FarrierBox order, go to www.farrierbox.com and use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's subscription!

Doug is a man of many talents. Although he has faced some challenges physically, he hasn't let that slow him down one bit when it comes to raising the bar and sharing knowledge about our trade to many people. Currently Doug is the resident farrier at Iowa State University and does A LOT of therapeutic shoeing there. Listen in to hear what he has to say about that. He also is a big advocate for the AFA and the new "American Farriers Association Foundation" which sounds like it will be super beneficial to us but mainly the trade in a whole. This was a great podcast and we hope you enjoy. If you want a deal on your first month's subscription of FarrierBox, use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order!

I think It's safe to say this time of year gets busy for a lot of people, or more busy I should say, and we're trying to stay on top of weekly episodes! But we got together and chatted about what's been making us more busy this past month. Gavine went on a fishing trip and Riley went on a bachelor party bear hunt. Listen in to hear how those went! Also, if you're interested in some contests or clinics coming up over the next few months, we had people reach out and let us know what are some good ones worth attending. Thanks for listening guys! If you want a deal on your first month's subscription of FarrierBox, use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order!

Caleb Payton has an eye and developed the skills to be a top farrier. Even though he doesn't live in a densely horse populated area, he still does the best job possible for each horse. What i found interesting is that he made the decision to step away from shoeing full time to become a police officer. You'll have to listen to the episode to hear why he made that decision! If you want a deal on your first month's FarrierBox, use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's subscription! We had a bit of an issue with the video editing so the first 15 minutes the words aren't synced up with the video but it resolved itself after that.

Carl Via is a busy man and we're glad he took some more time out of his busy life to do another episode with us! He's an AFA Tester and involved with a lot of pre-cert clinics, as well as, being on the current WCB Team and has been on the team for the past 4 years. So it was cool getting to hear a little more about Carl's busy life and also a little more about his family farm's history dating back to the 1800's. There's also some really good bits of knowledge Carl dropped on us about competing and/or certification that I think would be helpful to lots of listeners, even us! Enjoy this episode and do us a favor if you haven't already, go to our Forging Brains YouTube Channel and hit the Subscribe Button, we'd appreciate it! If you'd like a deal on a FarrierBox Subscription go to www.farrierbox.com and use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order!

Man we really enjoyed sitting down with Travis Smith for this episode. Travis enlisted in the Marine Corps straight out of high school, served our country, and then decided he wanted to shoe horses after his time was up because he thought getting to wrestle with horses would be "fun" but quickly realized that there's so much more to it than just wrestling horses! You'll have to listen for the full story. Travis also has been on the American Farrier's Team twice and is now the Team Manager for the AFT and also, on the Rules Committee for the American Farrier's Association. There may be a nugget in there regarding a new forging class at this years AFA Convention! Check it out and thanks for listening to this week's episode of Forging Brains Podcast If you'd like a deal on your first month's FarrierBox Subscription, go to www.farrierbox.com and use code BRAINS for 25% off your first months order.

Ben Snure is a man of many talents! He has a long background in ranching which in turn exposed him having to shoe the ranch horses out of necessity for the job and that is what peaked his interest in blacksmithing. Ben later found his passion for building tools but mostly for some of the finest handmade hammers on the market currently. This episode shows how someone with no initial background in blacksmithing can get into this trade, as long as, you have the determination and self discipline to learn and become great at it. Give it a listen! If you want a deal on a FarrierBox subscription, go to www.farrierbox.com and use code BRAINS for 25% off your first months order!

We're back! Two days late. Life's been busy and hectic but we got an episode out for you guys. Riley and Gavine sat down and just talked about what's been going on in our lives as of late and just some random conversations about this crazy messed up world we live in too. There's some shoemaking talk, toolmaking talk, and some social media buzz in here too. Enjoy this week's episode and stay tuned for who we have coming up in the upcoming weeks!

This was a great episode with Adam Fahr, who owns River Bottom Forge, and we're really glad we got to talk with him. Adam has achieved a lot of goals in his professional farrier career. He's been on the WCB Team, American Farrier's Team, and some others that have done really well, as far as his competitive horseshoeing goes. Adam talked about there was a time that competing wasn't much fun for him anymore and felt like he was stuck in a rut. But, what is really cool to hear is that Adam was able to find a way within himself to make competing fun for him again and really look forward to getting back in the arena competing against top level guys! You can hear all about it in this episode. He also builds punches for sale and has been creating the hot commodity hoof templates that everyone really likes. Much more in this episode so I hope you enjoy! This episode is sponsored by FarrierBox. Go to www.farrierbox.com and use the code "BRAINS" for 25% off your first months order!

On this week's episode of Forging Brains Podcast we sat down with Tyler Marshall, who resides in New Hampshire. If you follow Tyler on social media, then you know he can build and forge badass mini horseshoes! Other than building mini shoes, Tyler is a top farrier in our industry, as well as, a fierce top competitor in the competitive horseshoeing world. We got to know a little bit about Tyler's past and reasoning why he got into becoming a farrier . We think you'll like this episode as much as we did while recording it. Enjoy! Drop a comment telling us what your favorite part of this episode was below! And feel free to do that on past episodes as well. It helps us become better for producing more high quality content.

I was in the presence of Mike Poe, Jason Smith and Kurt Fisk while we were at the benefit clinic in Oregon and figured we oughta sit down and record a podcast! We've had Mike and Kurt on the show already but not Jason, yet. It was cool to hear from Jason about his beginnings and achievements through his shoeing career. Mike shared some cool stories about his experiences on the WCB team and also his efforts taking the AWCF exam and what it entails. This was a fun episode just getting to sit down and chat with these guys and I think you'll enjoy this episode as well.

This was a great episode with Phillip Box and Andrew Wells, not only to hear about how Phillip got into this trade and how he's taken it to another level, but the interesting thing is both these guys didn't have intentions of becoming farriers but yet, they both fully embrace it and have gone to another level in their careers. It's cool to hear that even though your sights aren't set on something, you can still find something you become truly passionate about and both Andrew and Phillip have a passion for this trade. Enjoy this weeks episode of Forging Brains Podcast!