As a professional farrier I feel that it is my responsibility to continue my education.  As any of my clients will tell you, I have not attended horse shoeing school.  I have however, participated in a lengthy apprenticeship program under the instruction of certified journeyman farriers.  Because of this I was fortunate enough to see many different ways of shoeing horses.  I also learned hands-on in the real world environment that allowed me to see complications and issues that don't come up in an institutional environment.  Since going out on my own I ensure to attend at least three clinics yearly.  These clinics range in a wide variety from anatomy, pathology and how to better run a professional farrier business.
   Anyone from the El Paso area knows the name Bill Mayes is synonymous with horse shoeing.  Both being members of the NMPHA, we have traveled throughout New Mexico attending clinics as well as shoeing horses.  I consider Bill Mayes to be a mentor of mine and feel very fortunate that he allows me to learn from him.  His thirty-plus years of horse shoeing has assisted greatly in bringing me to the next level in my own career.
   I know that there are some farriers that shoe horses using the exact same method today that was learned by them years ago.  Back then, shoers were judged by the following criteria: Did the shoes stay on and for how long?  How long did the job take? And how cheap was the cost?  Today, a farrier should be judged on his or her experience, professionalism and knowledge.  As any other profession knows, be it a doctor, veterinarian, businessman, educator; times have changed and a good farrier must change with them.  Due to the changing times, myself and other professional farriers (the ones that shoe horses every day) attend clinics, most of which cost us to attend, because we feel that we owe it to ourselves and the horses we shoe to keep learning new and better shoeing techniques.  (Besides, the more I learn about shoeing horses, the more I realize there is to learn!)
   I continue to further my education by attending clinics, participating in ride-along programs, online forums, studying literature, anatomy books/diagrams, communication with veterinarians, as well as independent study such as dissection of the limb.
   Because of my drive for knowledge and higher education I specialize in performance horses, corrective shoeing and therapeutic farriery.