MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Jon Urich, CJF
I am a second generation horseshoer. My father (Bob Urich) was a longtime farrier in the Des Moines, Iowa area. I grew up watching and learning from him. I started trimming horses at a very young age and shod my first horse at age 13. We were going to a horse show that evening and my horse needed shod. Dad was out shoeing customer horses. I decided to at least have him trimmed before Dad got home. I finished trimming and moved onto shaping the shoes. Still no sign of Dad. I had never nailed on shoes at this point but decided today was the day. By the time Dad got home, I had all 4 shoes on and pretty proud of what I had accomplished. Dad was surprised and then informed me that I would be working with him (6 days a week) during my summer vacation from school. Not exactly what I had in mind at that time. And so, my horseshoeing career began.
At 16 years of age, I received my drivers license and bought a truck, tools, and a small stash of supplies with the money I had been saving. This allowed me to go shoe a few horses on my own, after I was finished shoeing with Dad. I found being my own boss was rewarding but that put all the responsibilities on me. It was a learning experience to say the least.
After graduating from High School, I went to college at DMACC in Ankeny, Iowa. I kept shoeing horses to pay for my college education. After graduating from DMACC, I decided to pursue a career in my father’s footsteps in the farrier business. I also married the love of my life that same year and was now financially responsible for her college education, along with all the other bills of a newly married couple. Starting a farrier business was slow at first and especially going into winter. With shoeing being slow, I picked up many different manual labor jobs until my customer book was able to keep me busy.
When I first started in shoeing, having a father who was a veteran shoer was a huge plus. It was very common in those days to be shoeing at a barn where another farrier would be shoeing. As I would walk over to them, they would lay down their tools and stop working. After introducing myself and having a great conversation with them, they would politely ask me to leave, as they were not willing to give up any trade secrets. This was a very common practice at that time.
Dad and I started going to Shoeing Clinics wherever we could find them within driving distance. Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Minnesota, just to name a few. At that time, Iowa did not have an association or any horseshoeing clinics. This is where I first met Duke Snyder and Ray Legel. They would become the future co-founders of the Iowa Professional Farriers Association (IPFA). They had a meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the Car Auction facility to see if there would be enough interest to actually start an association. There was a decent turnout and the birth of the IPFA was established. As I looked around that day, I realized that I was by far, the youngest in attendance. If I remember correctly, it is with a heavy heart, that I may be the only farrier left from that first meeting. I am so thankful to so many of the older IPFA members who took the time to share some of their knowledge with me. I truly appreciated it and always looked at it as a gift. I would like to thank my father Bob Urich, Ray Legel, Duke Snyder, John Daken, Dick Harris, Leroy Calvert, Denny Beyer, and many clinicians in helping me in the world of horseshoeing, as well as being good men to look up to. One of my highest honors was to be inducted into the IPFA Honorary Lifetime Membership with these men. For that I am very grateful.
Through the IPFA and the AFA, I was able to become a Certified Farrier and then a Certified Journeyman Farrier. I would have to check my facts, but I believe Duke Snyder was the 1st CJF in Iowa, Ray Legal was the 2nd CJF in Iowa, and I was the 3rd CJF in the state of Iowa. All as part of the IPFA. When the Ringling, Barnum, & Bailey Circus would come to Des Moines, Iowa, I would get a call to come shoe their Lipizzans, only because I was the nearest CJF. I would shoe them in the basement of the Veterans Memorial Auditorium. We would shoe the horses right next to the lions and tigers. I never got use to being under a horse when either a tiger or a lion would let out a roar. The horses never moved but I would bail every time. The helpers always got a good laugh out of it.
The opening of Prairie Meadows in 1989 was a huge opportunity for me. It has given me 37 years of shoeing racehorses. I was able to build a huge book and really enjoyed figuring out how to work the racehorse problems. A farrier is very limited to what type of corrective shoeing system can be applied, either by rules or by how it can affect the horse’s performance. It makes a farrier think outside the box, to say the least. Speed, fatigue, and confirmation faults equal problems. Good solid basic shoeing takes care of a lot of the problems. It is easy as a farrier to fall into a routine when doing so many horses day after day. Unfortunately, not all our routines are good ones. That is why it is important to stop and really evaluate your work. If you don’t, the next farrier will. That is a guarantee. With that being said, I never downgrade the work that was done before me. I find it better to explain how I would like to shoe the horse and why. I would like to think that we all have the best intentions, and that we are all just trying to make a living.
I am in the next chapter of my horseshoeing career. Preparing for retirement. I haven’t figured this one out yet, but one way or another we all must. When I turned 65, my plan was to semi-retire to 4 ten-hour days a week, Tuesday thru Friday. That started off well but by April I was up to 5 days a week again. Then by July I was back to 6 days a week. Now at 66 years of age, I am going to try to get it back to 4 days a week again. I will let you know how it goes this year. As a fellow farrier (Harry Serio) said when he retired, “I came into this business being able to stand up straight, I would like to leave it being able to stand up straight.”
I do have the sales from Iowa Horseshoeing Supplies to fall back on. So, keep me in mind for some of your supply needs. I do my best to pass on good deals to fellow farriers. I am a farrier first and sell supplies second. If I can help out fellow farriers, you bet I will.
In closing: Many of the farriers that I looked up to, that gave me guidance, and that I am honored to have called my friends, are no longer with us, my father included. I was given the honor to write about our first IPFA Honorary Lifetime Member (John Daken). I wrote something that is still so very true to this day. “For it is not the young who are busy with everyday life that are short on time, but it is truly our elderly that are limited on time.” Take the time to get to know the elderly and realize what a blessing they can be for you and you for them.
Some of my accomplishments:
IPFA Honorary Lifetime Member
Certified Journeyman Farrier
IPFA President
Licensed Track Farrier in Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Nebraska,
Contest Winner (the funniest being the Dick Harris/South English Championship)
Having several young farriers ride with me and for them to have built a respectful career and still shoeing today.
