I got this phone
call, still don’t know if he got my number from our local horse
newspaper, craig’s list, my card at the local feed store, or perhaps
word-of-mouth.
My
phone rang and caller ID read ‘private number’, I answered and through a
scratchy connection I hear a low laughter, kinda like a Ho Ho Hello. I
thought I heard phones jingling in the background and thought, “great,
it’s a telemarketer”.
The guy on the
other end asks if I only do horses and I replied I do ponies, donkeys,
and mules too. He gently asks, “How about animals with feet like….
goats” I thought , “okay, I told those people not to tell anybody
I trimmed their goat for them. I only did it because they were
desperate and were regular horse shoeing clients”. But being winter and
short on work I asked what he had. The answer was “Ho, Ho, Of course
reindeer.”. And he would be willing to pay for mileage or provide
transportation to his place. Because he lived way North of me. Well,
there is a wildlife zoo somewhere about 100 miles North, but he said he
lived further. And to meet him at the Minden airport with my trimming
tools and he’d fly me up to his place.
Well,
you can imagine my surprise flying on a sled behind 8 tiny reindeer to
the North Pole. I nipped away on a cavvy of over 30 reindeer! I found
out that they only needed done about this one time a year. Normally,
their large, spreading hooves enable them to travel on snow-covered
areas and they naturally wear them off when they scrape away the snow
cover to feed on buried vegetation like grasses, mosses, and lichens.
But soon he would be making a big circle, periodically changing out
critters and they would be traveling to places without snow and eating
on fodder such as hay, sugar cubes, and oats set out at various stops by
folks with good intentions, but the ease and richness of the feed will
play havoc on the hooves.
Why
me you ask.? Well, he picks seasoned farriers of over 30 years
experience. So if you are just starting out in this wonderful trade,
hang in there for not only years of working in a great occupation, but
someday….down-the-road, your phone may ring from a private number and
when you answer, by-the-way those are sleigh bells in the background,
don’t turn down this new one time client!! And those of you who have
been in the trade for a while, I’d love to hear about your story of
finding the correct balance for those critters.
MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY SHOE YEAR
