Monday, December 27, 2010

Well the cat is out of the bag

I did not want to put this on here until I knew for sure but now I know. I told everyone close to me when I remembered but really it was just one of those things that I was doing regardless of what anyone said because it was not something I talked about then forgot. This idea has been with me for years.

See before I did my equine science Diploma with Guelph I aspired to pursuit a study of the horses hoof. I contacted several schools of horse shoeing in Canada and the USA. I was greatly disappointed by the closest one to me in Canada after the head instructor was incredibly rude to me over the phone and the large sizes of the class put me off of ever thinking about going there. I heard more than one case of people who went in pursuit of a career in farriery only to not get the training they needed in school. There were far more students than the instructor could give hands on in a day. So I went in search of a school that had small class sizes and offered more hours of hands on than lectures or watching someone else. I wanted to handle a horse from day one.

My mothers best friend Souix was a farrier. In fact one of my first memories of riding was with Souix's daughter and friend of mine, Mindy when I was very young. The memory of Souix's rasp and hoof nippers stuck with me my whole life.

Souix went to Belleville school of horseshoeing in Michigan, owned by Red Tomlinson. Red offered me a couple years ago being good friends with Souix, a scholarship to his school in Michigan. It is only a few minutes walk from my cousins house. At the time everyone told me not to do it, not to take such a big risk and I half halfheartedly listened to them. I pleased my mom and dad and finished my diploma at Guelph with distinction. Then I went to work. I've been riding and doing management and barn cleanup. It's true that I make more than the average sh*t shoveler and have a very excellent reputation. But I was still left with this void. It certainly wasn't enough to live off of and I felt like my learning had halted to a crawl.

Not being a person to sit around and wait for results I bucked up and pulled out the old applications I had filled a few years back but never sent in. I looked again at all the schools I had decided were worthy and made my final decision. I am going to the Oklahoma school of horse shoeing. One because it's got amazing reviews. I've talked to many different farriers and they exclaimed although they thought other schools were great Oklahoma was not only one of the best in the USA, the class sizes were small, a new class starting every Monday but many good farriers and even vets resided there to help the learning process.

So I finally got my acceptance papers in the mail Thursday. As I peeled open the envelope and started reading the letters and looking at the other papers I realized there were two things very wrong.

First of all the week they said I was to start was the first week of Jan. My eyes must have popped out of my head. Not the week I applied for. Mild panic attack. I started pacing and reading more. Because I am officially living in Canada I have to complete papers and hand them into the US customs. Everything was printed out on them except my name. Now if you know me I was named Sydney for my grandfather who lived in Perth Australia for a number of years and always wanted to go back. Sydney Australia is spelt with a Y. My name was printed Sidney. Not like I could just take a pen and correct it. I think the whole world could have heard me palmface at that point. Of all the papers they could spell my name wrong on, the customs papers were the only ones.

After a bunch of frantic phone calls I should have my new papers and the correct date of me starting school (the 24th of Jan) by next Wednesday. I've never wanted the mail to come so bad so I can get all my loans and travel plans finalized. What a headache.

Then my main computers power supply died Christmas eve. It's still dead. I am really mad at it.
So if bad things come in threes whats next? Spare me karma, please?

So in all of this the hardest part is going to be leaving my horses. I've never been a homesick person, my sister covered that but I am going to miss for 12 weeks my horses so dearly.

23 comments:

Jeni said...

Good Luck Syd!!!

Paint Girl said...

Congrats on going to horse shoeing school! Good luck to you and we know you will be very successful in whatever you do!

Unknown said...

Fantastic news; congratulations. My (Northern Irish, now green-carded) husband will be starting at the Oklahoma School of Horseshoeing in January as well; probably a couple of weeks before you. :)

Crystal said...

Wow thats pretty exciting! Thats where my farrier went and he thinks its the best! Good luck!

Jen said...

Goodness girl, you certainly know how to do drama don't you? *grin*. Congratulations, and I wish you all the best on your educational adventures (just focus on the happy reunion you and Indigo will have when you're done).
She might even honor you with the horsey happy dance - I got one once from a mare we used to own when I saw her again and it made me cry (in case you're looking sideways at the monitor here, I'm talking about that horse happy tail flagging, head bobbing, circling celebratory trot :o)

Dreaming said...

I am so excited for you. Just think of all of the wonderful things you will learn! I can't wait to hear more about it!

juliette said...

Wow! This is very exciting! I had you going off to Australia - lol, but 12 weeks away from your horses will be tough no matter where you are going. (I can tell you that because these 5 weeks away in Florida this year have been difficult for me.) I am so happy for you - Congratulations!!!! Good Luck - you will teach them all a thing or two about bitless riding!

Mrs. Mom said...

Proud of you Sydney!! And hoping to hear from you now and again when you are over on this side of the border. Fingers crossed that things smooth out considerably too, and that nothing else misbehaves!!!

KICK BUTT girlfriend! Welcome to the "I see hooves in my sleep" club ;)

Unknown said...

Thanks for all the encouragement. You all know you'll hear from me when I am there. Now it's just a matter of getting everything together before then. I thought my trip to Ireland was difficult to get ready for and find people to do my stuff, this is gonna be a nightmare.

Shirley said...

That's awesome- you are going to make a terrific farrier.

Mellimaus said...

That's so awesome that you're going to school! But I feel for you...I always wonder how I'll leave my horse when I go to school after high school... At least it's not a full year. But that's still tough. :/

Jessie said...

Congrats and good luck. I used to pass by the school all the time when I worked in Texas--I'd have to drive up 35 to northern Kansas to pick up a trainer who couldn't drive. Anyway, it looks like it's in a decent area. Be sure to visit Taco Mayo when you get hungry--to me, it's the best thing about Oklahoma! LOL!!!!

Unknown said...

Congrats on the acceptance letter! My farrier went to the OK school and he's the best I've ever used.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Well, how exciting! So much to do...not much time!
Looks like we'll only be 9 hours away from one another. We should hook up!

I think I remember my farrier said he attended that same school, too. I'll have to ask him when I see him next.

I checked out the website and was fascinated with how they focus on teaching students who do not speak English, or who can't read or write.
And then I couldn't help laughing when I read the section on the teaching technique of learning how to start and run your own farrier business is "Almost like following a cookbook."

Well, how do they accomplish that for folks who can't read?
Picture cookbooks?
lol!

You're going to have so much fun and do really well. It's too bad you can't bring Indigo down with you. Those long fence-lined lanes look perfect for driving Indigo.
I know you'll miss her especially, but the reunion will be that much sweeter :)

~Lisa

Rising Rainbow said...

Good luck to you Sydney. I've done my share of papers for customs between Canada and the US so I sure get the problem with the spelling on your name. That and I know the mail between the two countries can be pretty darn slow at time. I hope this process goes smoothly for you from this point forward.

Twelve weeks sounds like a long time to be away from the horses but I suspect it will fly by as you learn this thing that has interested you most of your life. Pretty darn cool that you are following your heart.

Janice said...

Good for you Sydney. I look forward to hearing about your adventures.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on something you've wanted for a long time. I had no idea that it was so difficult to get into a good ferrier's school. Hopefully you can keep us posted will you are in the U.S.

Susan said...

Good for you. I considered farrier school once when college wasn't going well.

SoraSoul said...

Congratulations Sydney!! I am quite envious even if you couldn't pay me to go back to school right at this moment :) Have fun!

Fantastyk Voyager said...

Congratulations! I've heard so many good things about that school for years and years! Way cool!!!

Kristen Eleni Shellenbarger said...

Oh congrats! For a second I thought u were going to be in Belleville, Mi and I was going to be very excited!
Can't wait to hear more about this!

Jamethiel said...

Good luck! It's amazing you get to go to the official school...all I got was an independent study, most of what I know I've learned from books. Will you let us know what they have to say about barefoot trimming & such?

Achieve1dream said...

That is so great!! I hope you can get everything sorted out really quickly so you don't have to stress over it. Congrats!

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