Dec. 1, 2011 - Certified farrier T.H. Estes is a man that knows when the going gets tough, the tough have to get going. When his construction business was going south in the mid-1980s, he seized the opportunity to make a career change to support his family and his addiction to horses.
"I got a call from my friend Ronnie that was coming down here from Tennessee to shoe Tennessee Walking Horses," he said. "When he was here, he would visit the congregation that I attended, and I went with him a couple of times. After one of those days that I rode with him and helped him with what I could do, I went home and told my wife I'm going to shoeing school and I'm going to shoe horses."
In 1987, Estes had completed shoeing school and was ready to hit the road with his own rig, not knowing all the changes that would take part in his new-found industry.
"I really got started shoeing Tennessee Walking Horses," he explained. "That was back in the day when the Walking Horse show horses were different than they are today... I think that experience made a better shoer out of me because to shoe those horses you had to have the foot right."
Having to concentrate on making sure the horses foot and its accessories worked perfectly together are just one of the things that Estes credits with his skill and ability to adapt to any horse in any discipline. While many farriers choose a specific breed or discipline to shoe, Estes finds himself a jack of all trades in the farrier realm.
"Today, I do a fair amount of cutting horses, I do a lot of backyard horses, people that are trail riders keep horses in their backyard and just ride for pleasure, and then I do some hunter-jumpers, dressage horses and I have tried to learn something about the discipline in each case to know how they need to go and what they need to do," Estes said.
"Other than for many years shoeing Walking Horses, that is the nearest thing to a specialty I have ever had," he continued. "A lot of people thought I was a specialist in the Walking Horses, and I didn't necessarily want to be, it just kind of turned out that way. I wanted to do more things in the horses that I had interest in, particularly the Quarter Horses, roping horses, using horses and that kind of thing, which I have shoed a lot of over the years. Because I roped, I got acquainted with a lot of ropers, and therefore shoed for them."
Estes spends a good deal of time reading, going to clinics, and keeping tabs on what is going on in his industry to ensure he is giving his clients and their horses the kind of service the deserve.
A big example of change in the farrier trade Estes sites is how laminitic horses are treated. When he first started shoeing, the basic protocol was to shoe with a hot bar shoe.
"Now we have got a lot more weapons in our bag to work on our horses with laminitis and we can deal with that with our pads and our cushion materials," he explained. "The shoe makers have developed the rail shoes and our researchers have done a lot of research on different pressure points that we can support the foot and how it needs to be supported to assist it and get it over laminitis as the foot grows out. Those are all things that have come in the last 25 years."
Other changes Estes has seen are in the quality and design of farrier tools and supplies.
"When I started, there was about three or four shoe manufacturers in this country and they all made a standard keg shoe," he explained. "So, we had to shape every shoe. Today, there are a lot more makers, but they are making front patterns, hind patterns, multiple sizes and thicknesses for the various disciplines. So for the most part, we can reach in a box and pull out a shoe that nearly fits on most feet."
Estes has also seen horse owner's expectations change when it comes to the quality of work they expect from their farrier.
"Through education, learning and people going to various horsemanship clinics and so forth, they have learned to raise their expectations of their horse shoer," he noted. "So, we have had to train ourselves, and all of our trade has had to work a little harder at being better disciplined at doing better work. I think that carries across most of the industry of guys that are in the trade."
To contact Estes call him at (972) 672-6637. If he doesn't answer he is probably shoeing a horse, but leave a message and he will call back.
