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!

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!

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!

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!

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!