Mullins Farrier Podcast

Welcome everyone! A little shopkeeping before we start.  The BFBA's Focus and the Stoneleigh International are coming up at the end of this month. If you haven't already heard my most recent episode on the 2022 Focus and International, give that one a listen and it'll give you a pretty good idea as to what you can expect over there.

Both are truly world class events and definitely worth attending. This will be my third year in a row heading out there and I find myself just as excited now as I was on the first trip. Go to www.forgeandfarrier.co.uk  for more details. I hope to see you there.

Just a reminder that my friend Brandon Paulson, with his passion project Shod With Love, will be hosting an upcoming event. Shod With Love is a foundation dedicated to assisting individuals pursuing an education in hoof care. They aim to generate funding through events and donations to provide financial aid for farrier schools and certifications.  Shod With Love's first event will be a clinic and contest this October 11th and 12th with the legendary Mike Poe. Enjoy the crisp fall weather and beautiful foliage in the upper valley of New Hampshire while learning and competing amongst your peers. Visit www.shodwithlove.com  for more details. Now I should say that I first met Brandon Paulson in the Heartland during his journey to achieve his certified farrier certification with the AFA. Brandon is just one of the many cool people that I have met through doing that journey myself and that certification process exists due to the mostly unrecognized efforts and sacrifices of many folks like the gentleman you're about to hear. Craig Stark is the Chairman of the Certification Committee of the AFA and I got to spend some quality time with Craig and his wife, Emily down in Mexico during Vern Powell's Puerto Vallarta clinic. We bonded pretty quickly over conversations about mountain biking and certification and I had a great time getting to know them both. As the clinic was drawing to a close, Craig and I found a somewhat quiet corner and had this chat.

I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Here is a link to sign up to the monthly subscription and the process is fairly simple. Once you subscribe you will receive an email that allows you to open the feed in your preferred podcast player. https://mullinsfarrier.supercast.com/

Visit https://www.mullinsfarrier.com/ for more information.

If you have any issues please email [email protected]

Welcome, everyone.  We are less than a month away from the BFBA's Focus Convention and the International at Stoneleigh. It's not too late to pre order your tickets online, and I highly recommend doing so after bearing witness to the record long queues last year for people who waited to purchase theirs at the event.  I've been told that protocols have been put in place to help shorten those queues. But it's still quicker to use the online option.  As I'm sure you've already heard by now, the podcast has moved to a subscription based platform, but this episode will be released in its entirety for everyone.  The following is a compilation of all the audio I collected on my first visit to the to the 2022 Focus and Stoneleigh International. It was an incredible experience, to say the least. So much so, that I am returning for my third trip this year. My goal of this episode is to give you some insight as to what the experience is like. As well as some background on what goes on behind the scenes to make everything happen. You'll hear many interviews with core members of the BFBA who work diligently year round to ensure that both events go off without a hitch.  I was so impressed by what I saw that I am a paid member of this organization myself.  I would encourage you to do the same. There are many benefits to being a member of the BFBA, and now one of those exclusive benefits is having access to two free months of the paid feed of the podcast, which roughly equals to four free episodes when you sign up for the BFBA.  Now, admittedly the audio format makes it difficult to give you an idea of what the full experience of the Stoneleigh International and Focus are all about,  but I'm going to give it the Boy Scouts try.  I hope you enjoy these conversations. As much as I did.  Get Your Tickets Here: https://webcollect.org.uk/bfba/event/bfba-focus-2024  BFBA Memberships: https://www.forgeandfarrier.co.uk/membership/ 

Here is a link to sign up for the monthly subscription and the process is fairly simple. Once you subscribe you will receive an email that allows you to open the feed in your preferred podcast player. https://mullinsfarrier.supercast.com/

Visit https://www.mullinsfarrier.com/ for more information.

If you have any issues please email [email protected]

Today's guest is a mover and shaker in the farrier world whose efforts have received a lot of well deserved attention this past year.  She's a brand ambassador for Mustad and recently had a feature article about her in the Equine Living in the Bluegrass magazine.

Last year, Meghan traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as one of the clinicians in Vern Powell's crew. It was here that I was finally able to sit down with this ambitious woman to have a chat.  Please excuse the constant construction noises in the background. This was the quietest spot we could find on the resort at the time.

As usual, the crew at Canopy River were busy making the resort bigger and better than the year previous. As you will hear, Meghan is the type of person who has found her purpose through helping others, whether it be through her first career as a social worker or her second helping horses. Throughout the interview and the Perto Vallarta trip, it was a great opportunity to get to know Meghan and what she's all about. A devoted mother and a passionate farrier, she somehow achieves the balance with humor and grace. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 

Here is a link to sign up to the monthly subscription and the process is simple. Once you subscribe you will receive an email that allows you to open the feed in your preferred podcast player. https://mullinsfarrier.supercast.com/

Visit https://www.mullinsfarrier.com/ for more information.

If you have any issues please email [email protected]

Today's guest, is another gentleman from across the pond. You probably heard Haydn mentioned before quite fondly by Ben Benson in his episode. Haydn has even been a guest as a panelist from a discussion I recorded at Focus a couple of years back. I've had several folks explain to me the influence that Hayden has had on the farrier trade in the UK. I believe our Tech Bro counterparts in the Silicon Valley would refer to him as a disruptor.

He took some traditionally held precepts about shoeing and flipped them on their head.  You'll hear him discuss a few of these in his own words in the following conversation.  Clearly his methodology worked as he eventually went on to be the lead consultant farrier for 20 years to the British Equestrian Federation. He served as the lead farrier for Team GB,  whose results on the world equestrian stage have spoken for themselves. Haydn is one of those folks whose energy is contagious and his passion for what he does is palpable. We covered a lot of ground but I feel like we could have done a whole other interview and maybe we will someday.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

This episode marks the first episode of our new subscription feed. Here is a link to sign up for the monthly subscription and the process is simple. Once you subscribe you will receive an email that allows you to open the feed in your preferred podcast player. https://mullinsfarrier.supercast.com/

Our long time supporters at Outwest Design and Fabrication are helping us to provide scholarship subscriptions. If you are a student, apprentice or someone who needs some financial assistance for your subscription, please reach out through the website or Facebook.

Visit https://www.mullinsfarrier.com/ for more information.

If you have any issues please email [email protected]

HOOF BALANCE 3 WEBINAR Live Webinar + Video Recording

SPEAKERS: Simon Curtis, Matthew Jones, Mark Trussler, David Nicholls

TOPIC: Four methods for foot balance

DATE: Wednesday 4 September

You get a 30% discount on tickets! There is also a limited number of “Early Bird” price tickets available which will give you a double discount when you use the links in this email. 

* You must book before the Early Bird end date 21 August to get the double discount *

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/965840564127/?discount=MULLINS

Welcome everyone. I met today's guest at Stoneleigh at the same time I met one of our previous guests, James Todd. As you will hear, James and Mark are great friends, and I was happy we managed to get both of them in for an interview. It was not planned, but I found it interesting that this guest and our last one both had hard learned lessons about listening to your body when it tells you to settle down a bit. 

Alan and Mark said that after years of not listening, their bodies made the message clear. Fortunately, with some medical intervention, patience, and next level perseverance, they both have been able to come back to the career they love.  

I'm sure by now you've noticed a trend in all of the Stoneleigh episodes where everybody seems to mention this Stephen Hill character. He pops up in Mark's story as well and if you haven't already heard his interview, it was released just a couple episodes ago.  It was great getting to know Mark, and he shares some fantastic stories spanning his long career as a mentor to many. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 

This marks our last episode before we move to the subscription model.

Here is a link to sign up to the monthly subscription and the process is fairly simple. Once you subscribe you will receive an email that allows you to open the feed in your preferred podcast player. https://mullinsfarrier.supercast.com/ 

If you have any issues please email [email protected] 

Welcome, everyone.   I first met today's guest at Spruce Meadows in Alberta. I had just arrived at the beautiful and expansive grounds and could not find a single staff member to direct me to Craig's competition tent. Always friendly and eager to help, Alan immediately stood up, and despite being sore from his recent back surgery, led me to where the competition was being held. We had a couple of great conversations that day, and when we met up again in Cincinnati at the Hoof Care Summit, I convinced Alan to do an interview.  In it, he shares some really hard earned lessons on taking care of your body, as well as the value of chasing certifications, even if you're well into your career when you start the process.  I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. 

I have to say I've been blown away by the many messages of support I've received in response to my announcement about the podcast moving to a subscription model. We are still setting up the infrastructure, so by next episode I will be able to tell you how to sign up and we'll have links posted on all the socials. 

As I said before, I don't want someone's financial situation to hinder them from having access to our content. So, if you're an apprentice already barely scraping by, or find yourself in a tough financial spot no matter what stage of your career, please reach out on Facebook Messenger and we will get you access. 

And as I said before, even after August 12th, all listeners will still have access to the whole catalog of episodes we have published up to that point.  Thanks again to everyone for your support in this big change. Your messages were encouraging and exactly what I needed to hear.

Welcome everyone. Stephen Hill FWCF came highly recommended by many farriers in England while I was there for Stoneleigh. Thanks to an introduction from Jamie Hughes, I was able to sit down with him and do this interview.  You will notice this common theme from many of the interviews that I did there,  wherein the guests and I go into deep detail about certain shoeing concepts. While Stephen alludes to the fact that audio probably isn't the best platform for describing some of these three dimensional concepts, he and many of the other guests are so articulate in describing what they're talking about that it's pretty easy for us to see in our minds what it is they're describing. This is one you're going to want to pause and rewind several times to gather all the information that Stephen shares here.  I know I have.  This was a lot of fun, and I learned a ton. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 

The show is sponsored by OutWest Designs and Fabrication your choice for Farrier rigs

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079094490534 

Buy The Show A Virtual Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/mullinsfarrierpodcast

I have run into today's guest several times over the years and unfortunately, our exchanges have always been brief.  I was looking forward to getting to know Steffi better at Vern Powell's Puerto Vallarta clinic in Mexico, but I missed one trip and she missed the other. We finally connected at last year's Stoneleigh for long enough to be able to sit down and do this interview. As you will hear, Steffi started her shoeing career with very little knowledge and very few tools. Through her ability to network, she found herself a world full of mentors once she set her sights on the certification process through the AFA.  It is incredible to hear how much she sacrificed, and how much grit and determination carried her through that process, so that she was eventually able to achieve her CF.  She's an inspiration and a force to be reckoned with.  I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 

The show is sponsored by OutWest Designs and Fabrication your choice for Farrier rigs https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079094490534

Buy The Show A Virtual Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/mullinsfarrierpodcast

 

I met these two characters a couple of years back at my very first Stoneleigh.  They played a very key role in all aspects of the competition and Focus.  They helped set it up, run it, and tear it down and they stayed until the very last case had been packed up.  As you will hear, Sam has a family background in theater production. So he is the reason we could all see underneath that giant canopy. He set up all the lights and ran all the audio for the announcements.  Every morning before we arrived, Jamie Hughes was there ahead of us, and had all the fires lit and ready to go for the competition that day.  Last year, Danny was busy with his duties as the chief steward, so he put Jamie in charge of helping me to retrieve and schedule guests, as well as just overall keeping me watered and fed.

Over the past couple of years it has been fun to get to know these two characters. Whenever they work together, the banter is unending and always comical.  So, I thought, let's put them together and do an interview.  I will say the cutting room floor was covered when we were done editing this one.  We just took out a few parts to protect the identities of those involved in the stories of their debauchery. Fear not though, we still left a lot in.  Please excuse the occasional cuss word here and there if you're sensitive to that.  Overall though, we covered the gamut of horseshoeing, from silly to serious. It is always a pleasure to run into these two gentlemen, and I look forward to next year.  I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

The show is sponsored by OutWest Designs and Fabrication your choice for Farrier rigs https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079094490534

Buy The Show A Virtual Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/mullinsfarrierpodcast

Welcome everyone. As you will hear, I met Jim Hayter a few times by this point through my travels across the pond to Stoneleigh, as well as at the World Championships in Calgary. Each time he was accompanied by his son, George.  As will become quite clear during the interview, Jim is quite proud of his son and all that he has accomplished. When you speak to George, the endearing thing is, that streak runs both ways.  While I haven't had an opportunity to sit down and interview George, I foresee that happening the next time our paths cross. While Jim was quite busy with his duties as the judge for the apprentice teams, he still managed to whittle off a little bit of time for us to sit down and have this chat.  It was a genuine pleasure to get to know this man a bit better. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

The show is sponsored by OutWest Designs and Fabrication your choice for Farrier rigs https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079094490534

Buy The Show A Virtual Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/mullinsfarrierpodcast