Local farrier took unlikely path to career

Aug. 18, 2016 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

Scott Trainor, a resident of East Longmeadow, has been a farrier, a blacksmith that specializes in horseshoes, for 26 years.
Reminder Publications submitted photo

EAST LONGMEADOW – Scott Trainor, who holds a masters degree in social work, never thought he’d end up working as a farrier, a blacksmith that specializes in horseshoes. He’s been working in the trade for 26 years.  

“My life was heading one direction and my career took a complete 180,” Trainor told Reminder Publications.  

He said he grew up around horses, both his mother and sister had horses, but it wasn’t a primary interest for him.

“When I was in college just looking for a part time job, a good friend of mine, who was a farrier and who went to horseshoeing school like in 1970, he asked me if I could help him out … come set things up, hold the horses, because obviously I didn’t know how to do the work … So I started riding around with him and I ended up spending four and a half years with him,” Trainor said.

While he was attending graduate school, Trainor said he continued his apprenticeship as a farrier. When he first finished graduate school, he continued to work as a farrier while doing social work, however he decided that “wearing two hats” was too much for him.

“When I finished graduate school, I was proficient enough so that I started to build up my own business,” he noted.

Trainor, a resident of East Longmeadow, said he makes horseshoes out of a steel bar by first measuring the horse’s hoof, and cutting the proper amount of steel for the shoe, which is then heated up to be formed into a horseshoe.

“The majority of the horses we are shoeing, we are shoeing with the pre-made shoe,” he added. “Everything is custom fit … It comes in a standard shape and each shoe has to be fitted specifically to the horse’s foot. Even shoes that are already made still have to be modified.”

He said horses typically have their shoes modified every six to eight weeks because of how quickly they grow.

Trainor said he trims the horse’s hoof at the sole by taking the excess growth off first.

“There’s sensitive and insensitive structures here,” he explained. “We’re dealing with all the parts of the hoof that do not have active blood flow. There’s no nerve ending; no feeling, so people usually their first question is, ‘Do they feel that?’ or ‘Does that hurt?’ Because obviously, we drive nails into it and we’re cutting it.”

If shoes are too worn down, Trainor said he sometimes makes new shoes, but in most cases the shoes can be modified.

“By looking at the foot, I can make the necessary modifications,” he noted. “You can get as precise as measuring things … I’ve always done it by eye. I shape the shoe, bring it back to the horse and make sure it fits.”

Trainor demonstrated how his trade works by shoeing a 19-year-old Tennessee Walker named Willow in East Longmeadow.

He showed one technique called “hot fitting,” which entails putting the bright orange more than 1,000-degree horseshoe on the horse’s hoof to get the right fit. Due to the lack of nerve endings in the hoof, the horse does not feel pain.

Trainor said once the horseshoe is placed on the hoof, nails are driven into the hoof to keep the shoe on.

He added he uses a tool called a clincher to turn the nail into a hook, which helps the shoe stabilize on the hoof.

“The tools that we use have really been in existence for hundreds of years,” he explained. “Basically, we have a file, the nippers, which is a huge fingernail clipper. We have a hammer, which I use to drive nails into the hoof and then there’s a couple of specialized tools, specifically for pulling nails”

Trainor’s tools and forge are set up in a small mobile trailer connected to the back of his truck. He uses propane to heat the forge.

In Western Massachusetts, there are about 24 or more farriers, Trainor said.

“The horse population is much larger than people think,” he noted.

Trainor said for the most part, he loves working with horses. It’s very rare that a horse misbehaves when he’s doing his job.

“If this horse didn’t want to have his feet done – a 1,000 pound animal kicking and thrashing – it can be very dangerous,” he noted. “I don’t do ill behaved horses.”

Trainor said he respects horses and considers them noble animals, but noted he’s actually a dog person.

“I just have the utmost respect for them,” he added. “I have long term relationships with, not only my clients, the people, but my clients are also the horses. For example, some horses I’ve been shoeing their feet their entire lives … These horses get old and sometimes they die and I certainly shed a tear on occasion for a horse. You can’t help but get attached to them. Just like dogs they all have distinct personalities.” 

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