Forging Brains Podcast

It's pretty common with a new year that people talk about New Year's Resolutions. We don't necessarily try to come up with resolutions but instead, we talk about the Goals we have for ourselves-personally, professionally, with the podcast, and amongst being teammates with our friends. We'd also like to hear what other goals you guys have for the upcoming year as well. This episode we also got to cover some pictures of work you guys sent in to us too. So, thank you!

While up at the 2024 World Championships in Calgary at Spruce Meadows, Riley was able to sit down with competitors after they had their "go" on Saturday's, Pool of Shoes Class. It's really cool to hear everyone's input after they've had a go to hear their thoughts while it's fresh on their mind, because we always like to ask each other while we're at a contest "how was your go?". So we've got guests, Justin Fountain, George Rogerson, Paul O'reilly, Jason Hill, Daniel Ark Everson, Bodie Trnka, Chris Madrid, Sergio Perez, Troy Wood, Iain Ritchie, Russell Floyd, Toby Pedley, Dan Corkery, Alex Collier, Daniel Jones, Carl Via, and myself. That's a lot of handy competitors all jam-packed into one episode! There is a bit of background noise from the contest going on behind us but I tried my best to lower it the best I could, just an FYI.. Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! For Riley Kirkpatrick clinics contact, David Moose or Forging M Farm on Facebook to get signed up. June 6-7 2025 Riley Kirkpatrick Clinic Hamptonville, North Carolina

While up at the 2024 World Championships in Calgary at Spruce Meadows, we were able to sit down with guests we don't get to see often because they live across the world in England, so it was awesome to get to have a chat with Alex Collier and George Rogerson. What we find is really cool is that when we chatted, nobody knew who the new World Champion was going to be yet and now that we're releasing this episode it has been announced that George Rogerson is the 2024 World Champion Blacksmith! Congratulations George and to everyone else who competed at the World Championships. It's a very exciting time amongst us knowing this information and feeling that buzz being around so many talented and motivated farriers. We enjoyed having this conversation with Alex and George, getting to hear how they both became farriers and their journeys to becoming some of the best in the world. It's cool to hear how similar they are to us in the states but yet their system they have to abide by in the UK sets them apart from us too. It's apparent that they both wanted to become farriers and once they got on this path, they set their minds to it to become the best of the best. Hope you enjoy this episode and we'll have more out soon from our trip at the World Championships. Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! For Riley Kirkpatrick clinics contact, David Moose or Forging M Farm on Facebook to get signed up. June 6-7 2025 Riley Kirkpatrick Clinic Hamptonville, North Carolina https://gofund.me/f9b89af5 Hey there! Stan needs urgent brain surgery, and on top of that, his home plumbing is in shambles. Every donation, no matter how small, can help them cover these critical expenses, so please click the link below to donate or share their story. Thank you so much for your support!

We had a great conversation with our guest, Mike Stone. Unfortunately the wifi coverage wasn't the greatest and had some lag time and made our conversation cut short. But we got a great introduction of how Mike got into this trade of farriery. It's always interesting to hear how people didn't intend on shoeing horses in the beginning but ended up finding it and falling in love with it for their life and career. Mike's no stranger to competing and has competed with the best of em for over 20 years and always manages to pull off a best shod foot bucket! That goes to show that he knows his way around trimming and fitting up feet really good. We hope you enjoy this week's episode and will catch ya at the next one! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! For Riley Kirkpatrick clinics contact, David Moose or Forging M Farm on Facebook to get signed up. June 6-7 2025 Riley Kirkpatrick Clinic Hamptonville, North Carolina https://gofund.me/f9b89af5 Hey there! Stan needs urgent brain surgery, and on top of that, his home plumbing is in shambles. Every donation, no matter how small, can help them cover these critical expenses, so please click the link below to donate or share their story. Thank you so much for your support!

We recently were able to head down to New Mexico to hang out at WCB headquarters and while we were there we wanted to sit down with Craig to hear what else is on his mind and is going on within the WCB. Craig's a fountain of knowledge and a man that can shoot inspiration into you, if you're willing to listen. I gained motivation throughout our conversation to become better and strive for more and I think you will too listening to this episode! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! For Riley Kirkpatrick clinics contact, David Moose or Forging M Farm on Facebook to get signed up. June 6-7 2025 Riley Kirkpatrick Clinic Hamptonville, North Carolina

Man this was a great episode with our special guest, Robbie Mederos! You'll hear in this episode that Robbie worked in a different field for over a decade and then one day decided enough is enough, quit that job and decided to pursue a career that had meaning and can bring happiness. Robbie is a second generation farrier that was taught by his dad is Bob Mederos who has had lots of success as well. There were so many details and tips Robbie provided throughout this episode that hit home for us on Forging Brains Podcast and we think you'll dig em too. Throughout Robbie's career he has focused in on the finer details to bring out that artistic side within himself but made sure not to skip over the fact that the basics need to be there for either sound horseshoeing, impressive shoemaking or competitive horseshoeing. Robbie has qualified for the American Farrier's Team and has competed internationally at the highest level as well. Let us know what your favorite tip was that Robbie shared with us in the comments! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! For Troy Wood or Riley Kirkpatrick clinics contact, David Moose or Forging M Farm on Facebook to get signed up. January 10-11 2025 Troy Wood Clinic June 6-7 2025 Riley Kirkpatrick Clinic Hamptonville, North Carolina

Bet you think it would be helpful to get an in depth look at the shoes on a shoe list before the contest happened? Well, in this episode you can! We sat down with Travis Buck to hear what inspired him to come up with this shoe list and what are going to be some key elements he'll be looking for when he's judging. Also, he broke down each shoe on how he went about making them! Travis has qualified for the Canadian Farrier's Team 4 times and the WCB Team 2 times so far in his career plus shoes high level hunters and jumpers in his full time business. We also heard from Travis on how he got into shoeing horses and how he grew to love shoemaking and everything that goes along with it. If you guys like hearing from the judge beforehand like this, let us know in the comments! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We sat down and thought it would be cool to talk about the shoe list for the next WCB in Edgewood as if we were to be getting ready to make the shoes for the first time. Consider it like if we were sitting down with each other and figuring out what steps we're going to be needing to do with each shoe before we even cut any steel. Getting a game plan together! Although we're not entered in Edgewood this year, we thought it may be helpful for some of you that are in the midst of getting these shoes figured out. Let us know if you thought this was a good listen and if you'd like us to do more of these in the future! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

This week's guest can school us on a lot of things to become a successful, professional farrier- Bob Pethick. Bob has shod horses professionally for over 50 years and not only just regular type horses, high dollar, high stress, top level sport horses that compete at the highest level for the United States Equestrian Team for nearly his whole career. He had it set in his mind from day 1 of starting his career that he wanted to shoe the highest level caliber horses and made that happen for over 37 years now. That just blows my mind to be honest! I think that speaks volumes about the quality of work Bob commits to every day and also Bob's character for being able to maintain those relationships for that long. All the while he was able to do this, Bob competed at the highest level and was selected to become a member of the North American Horseshoeing Team 2 times and also earning a spot on the American Farriers Team 5 times and those years were with some of the more well known guys in our industry like Jim Poor, Craig Trnka, Shayne Carter and many other badasses! Amongst many other accolades and accomplishments Bob has earned, Bob was inducted into the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame in 2006. I think there's a lot to be gained by sitting down and listening to a guy like Bob talk and soak up the knowledge he has to share. Enjoy the episode! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

If you're listening to this episode, you probably already know Riley & Gavine are firm believers in continuing education by attending clinics or competing in contests. But in this episode we covered some key tips for you if you are looking to host a clinic or competition. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes to put on a successful clinic or contest. It requires a fair bit of infrastructure for everything to go smooth and keep your clinician happy, as well as, the clinic attendees. So, we broke it down with what may be required if you're looking to host a clinic of your own. Also, there's some tidbits in there if you haven't attended a clinic or contest before, what to expect to bring or have with you when you attend an event. If there's something you think we've missed in the episode, feel free to drop a comment and let us know! Also check out our website-www.forgingbrains.com Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We know we've been absent with uploading consistent episodes the past few weeks but sometimes we get super busy in life and they supersede other objectives we do but we are trying our best to get episodes uploaded on a weekly basis! This week we have a great guest who a lot of you may know and love, Tyson Clark! As you'll hear in this episode, Tyson has been shoeing horses for many years and didn't get into the competitive horseshoeing world until 15 years after he initially started shoeing. Tyson has been an avid competitor and ambassador of this trade through many associations. He has been on the American Farrier's Team two times and many top 5 finishes with the World Championship Blacksmiths. I think one great takeaway from this episode is, everyone's path in life is different and that's perfectly ok. Just because you're not flashing through all your goals and accomplishments right away, doesn't mean that they will never happen. You have to keep working at them and putting forth that effort to succeed. We hope everyone that is headed of to the WCB season opener in Madison, travels safe and has a great time competing there this weekend! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We've got another great episode coming to you live from the WCB Winter Clinic at Well-Shod in Amarillo, Texas with this week's guest, Mike Augenstein! Just like a lot of us, Mike had been introduced to horseshoeing through his dad as a necessity and then decided to pursue becoming great at it after meeting many top farriers throughout his early days. Even though Mike went to college and earned an Engineering Degree, he had a passion for this trade and wanted to continue his journey shoeing horses. You'll hear in this episode that Mike was faced a serious decision to either, accept a high paying job as an Engineer after spending many years in college, or setting down a path of happiness to pursue a career as a farrier. That was cool to hear! Mike has also been on the American Farrier's Team and has won a great number of contests. We also covered what it means by paying his debts and being a "swiftie" for an episode that will make more sense after listening to his story. Mike had a lot of great stories about his trials and tribulations it took for him to become a great farrier and once he found guys to help him, he was able to start climbing that ladder to becoming a CJF or on the American Farrier's Team and/or a successful businessman and family man. Hope you enjoy this episode and thanks for listening! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

Coming in hot straight from the World Championship Blacksmiths Winter Clinic at Well-Shod, we got to sit down with a few cool guests and chat with them! This episode is with someone that most people know and respect because of how great a person he is, Hank Chisholm. Hank shared with us how he gained a passion for this trade and how he tries to share that passion with everyone through the American Farrier's Association. Most people were pretty dang excited when Hank was elected to be president of the AFA. Speaks volumes when you hear everyone say only but good things about a person as to who the type of person they are, and that would be someone you want to be the head honcho of an association like the AFA. We also covered what Hank has done to be involved with improving the AFA and the AFA certification process. And from the sounds of it, it's no easy task! We hope you enjoy this episode and thanks for tuning in everyone! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order! The app Hank talked about can be found in the App Store- American Farrier's Association or www.americanfarriersassociation.com for more info.

Kicking the year off right with what Nigel would refer to as a "belter!" of an episode! We had the privilege to sit down and chat with our first Englishman on the show, Nigel Fennell. It's amazing to hear about all the accomplishments and accolades Nigel has achieved throughout his career. He has achieved the highest level of certification in the Fellowship of Worshipful Company of Farriers, the FWCF with Honours. And he said that there's only a handful of people to ever achieve that since the beginning of the Fellowship in the early 1300's. Amongst all his achievements in his professional farrier career, from contests and certifications, Nigel has taken to his creative side with full size horse sculptures made completely from steel. You'll have to check out his instagram page @nigel_fennell_fwcf_honours to get a full grasp on the intensity of these beautiful animals he has built through thousands of hours shaping and welding them together. There were so many great little nuggets you can takeaway from this episode to help yourself, I hope you learned as much as we did from hearing Nigel speak. Thanks for tuning in everyone! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We were fortunate to be able to sit down with Todd Walker while we were competing in Ft. Worth at the 2023 World Championship Blacksmiths Season Finals. So you may hear the tune of hammers banging on anvils in the background and the occasional train passing by in the background. We got to learn so much more about Todd and what has drove him to succeed at all the great things he has achieved throughout his life and career. Todd has been on the American Farrier's Team and WCB Team numerous times each. He also shared with us, he won the WCB "Striker of the Year" the first year it was offered and boy what a whoopin that sounded like! And still qualified for the WCB Team that year having to strike every go-round throughout the year. That's a tough accomplishment! Todd has recently become a rep for the major farrier products manufacturer, Mustad. He expressed how much he enjoys the challenge of something new and plans to be the best he can be working with Mustad. Todd shared a bunch of valuable knowledge throughout our conversation. Share with us what you learned and thought provided you with some value for yourself in the comments. Thanks for listening and what a way to kick off the New Year with Todd Walker on Forging Brains Podcast! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We were just in Ft. Worth, Texas for the 2023 World Championship Blacksmiths Season finals and thought it would be really cool to hear from some of the competitors that competed in the Novice Class. Either this was this their first one or they have competed in all three for the year and will be deciding to move up into the Categories next year. Little different style format podcast than we usually do but you'll have to let us know if you really liked this or not! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

We have a great guest this episode with the one and only, Trey Green. Trey has shod horses at the top levels of their discipline, as well as, competed himself at the top level of farrier & blacksmithing competitions with great success. Like many of you, Trey has his own unique way of how he became interested in this trade of farriery. Throughout that journey. he had secured himself a place on the American Farriers Team multiple times. as well as, the WCB (World Championship Blacksmiths) Team more than once! Trey shared many great stories about his bull riding lifestyle after he served in the Marine Corps, which then led him to becoming one of the top farriers in the world. Give it a listen and leave us a comment/review about what you liked, or disliked, about this episode and also what your favorite story Trey told us during our conversation! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

If you've been around for a while in this trade you more than like have heard of this week's guest, Travis Koons! Travis has resided in Southern California for most his life and most his career shoeing high level sport horses. You'll hear in this episode how Travis got his start into shoeing horses, his introduction to farrier competitions, the ups & downs he has faced throughout his career, and as well as the men and women that have been most influential to make a big impact in his life. He has also competed at the highest levels of farrier competitions in the world and done very well throughout. This is a longer episode, so buckle up, and enjoy! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees) www.yukonforge.com use code BRAINS for 10% off your order!

This past weekend I was at the FAWS (Farriers Association of Washington State) annual fall convention and contest, where Craig Trnka was our judge and clinician. So I figured what a perfect time to sit down with him and do a podcast to talk about their recent accomplishment with the World Championships at Spruce Meadows. We were also joined by Troy Wood, Jesse Wilson, Brian Strelow, Brandyn Davis, Richard Puglisi, Butch Whitaker and Kid Kelley to join in on this episode. Craig filled us in on the success they had from bringing the World Championships back for the first time in many years. He also shared with us their future plans for WCB Headquarters which is something that's been needed for our trade for a long time. Big things on the horizon to come! Let us know what you think and how it'll impact you and this trade by leaving a comment. Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees)

This marks the 1 year mark from when we dropped the first episode of Forging Brains Podcast! We want to thank all our guests and friends that have sat down with us to make the show happen. We certainly have enjoyed this journey getting to deep dive into people's lives and learn what it takes to become a successful farrier. This episode we talked about the highlights from this year, some of the lows, and just some goals we have for ourselves and the show in the future. Congratulations are also in store for the newly crowned World Champion Blacksmith, Matt Randles! Must've been a really fun an exciting contest to be a part of and we hope to make it next year. We appreciate all the support from our listeners and look forward to sitting down with more badass guys in this trade to hear their stories and what they have to say! Our Proud Sponsors of the Show www.farrierbox.com use code BRAINS for 25% off your first month's order! www.well-shod.com use code BRAINS for a surprise product in your order! www.worldchampionshipblacksmiths.com use code BRAINS for 10% off in their online store! (not including membership/contest entry fees)