Shurshod Horseshoeing School
Chief Instructor: David Dow of Houston, Mo.
About the School: Owned by Kelly Case, the Shurshod Horseshoeing School is set on 150 acres near Grovespring, Mo. The school contains eight individual dorm rooms, a modern forge room/shop with six individual student forges and a shoeing barn. Students are provided the opportunity to be fully immersed in the learning experience. Shurshod’s horse shoeing education program focuses on hands-on, practical training, allowing one-on-one interaction with teaching staff.
Products & Services: Students get one-on-one instruction, not only in horseshoeing, but the actual custom shoe making for each individual horse.
“There are only certain reasons to shoe a horse – protection of the hoof and traction,” David Dow said, adding that he feels strong about the important of the technique in horse shoeing. He stresses that he teaches real-world horse shoeing by taking into consideration the confirmation of the horse.
“If you look at the way the horse is built, and base your trimming and shoeing around the proper footprint for that horse you can cure 75 percent of hoof problems in the world,” he said. “Everything on the feet affects the way the body works.”
David is a certified farrier and spends his days working with horses and teaching others the skills necessary to properly care for feet and hooves.
Best Part of Job: David can’t remember a time when he didn’t like horses and because of this he is doing exactly what he enjoys doing – taking care of horses and making sure they are properly shod, insuring their foot patterns fit their body so they can walk and run effortlessly without pain. It is rewarding to him to teach others at Shurshod this same philosophy and continue to help horses through other graduates.
