Retiring Not quitting!! So my old friend , Mike Williams, once told me the way you retire from a career of horseshoeing is to decide about when you want to be done and 10 years before stop taking new clients. By the end of 10 years your client's have moved, sold the horses, died, or the horses have died. And wa-laa you are retired!
I love shoeing and God continues to bless with the physical ability to "get under" horses even after 36 years.
I started out part-time. I was young and loved to 'play', and well, I still do. But I would shoe enough to pay bills and stay in the profession, but scheduled in camping, horse riding, dude wrangling, skiing, cowboying, gardening, bladesmithing, firefighting, stock dog trialing. Then I had 12-20 years pretty full time. Now I guess I am back to part-time, as I try and start a new career to carrying me on when I am done shoeing.
The middle of 2012 I got my Real Estate license and have been building that business. Of course, concentrating on horse properties.
Then it happened, in the Spring of 2013 I answered the phone and a person asked if I could come shoe for them....I took a big gulp and uttered the words, "I am not taking any new clients" It was so hard to say and before we hung up I told the person to call me in a few days if they could not get someone else. Of course they could find another shoer, but I couldn't just say plain old "NO". I have been getting better at saying "no" but it sure is odd.
I doubt it'll be 10 years before I am done. Since moving to Nevada I had only built the business up to about 3/4 time. My guess, Lord willing, is 5 years. then maybe I'll be a hobby shoer, doing my own and for a friend or two. What can I say , I am addicted!
So it is not Good bye yet.
The best, as usual, is yet to come
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