FARRIERY is regarded as one of the oldest known trades in the world.
And being a farrier is going to be around for a long while yet, particularly if Kim Broad has anything to do with it.
Mr Broad has spent the past 30 years tending to horses' hooves on a daily basis, during which time he has pursued the highest levels of industry qualifications.
And now, after all those years of refining his skills, he is passing that knowledge on at his own farrier school.
"I've spent a lifetime gathering the information, and I thought, what do I do with it now?" Mr Broad said.
"So my wife Tania and I started the school because I thought now was the time to help the young farriers learn a more in-depth view of being a farrier."
Goodlands Farrier School opened at their Serpentine property in Perth's south-east at the start of the year and is the first such venue in Western Australia where people can go to either learn how to become a farrier or improve their skills.
Mr Broad uses his years of experience, along with his more official qualifications of being an Advanced Skilled Farrier (ASF) under the Farrier International Testing System (FITS), as well as an Associate with the Worshipful Company of Farriers (WCF) in England.
He also has a Certificate 4 in Training and Assessing which enables him to help farriers wanting to obtain their government certification within the trade.
"We can teach farriery at all levels, from the beginner to the advanced farrier wanting to achieve further education," Mr Broad said.
The Broads set up the school so that they have workshops to teach shoeing and forging with horses that can be bought in at any time.
Mr Broad's passion for horses developed after leaving school, when he headed to the north of WA to work on station country as a stockman.
This was despite having grown up as the son of a wheat and sheep farmer in the Wheatbelt near Kalannie.
When asked if he ever contemplated making a life as a farmer Mr Broad said he was discouraged to do so by his father.
"Although I loved the idea of farming dad told me I might as well go to the casino and throw my money up in the air," Mr Broad said.
But he did give a nod to his childhood when naming the farrier school, as his father had run Goodlands station.
During his time up north Mr Broad worked on Kimberley stations including Leopold Downs, Camballin and Liveringa, and also spent time in the Pilbara.
He was required to work with and care for horses as part of his job, so learnt his first skills in farriery, and even contested some rodeos.
When he married Tania they moved to their Serpentine property to break in a few horses.
It was then Mr Broad decided to make tending to horses his trade.
As is the case with many other trades, he was required to demonstrate his skills for certification, and was fortunate that his prior learning was taken into account.
But Mr Broad wasn't content with simply being a qualified farrier - he wanted to be the best farrier he could.
The passion for the industry is evident in his voice when he talks about being a farrier, and how the trade has a real structure to it.
And Mr Broad certainly put his money where his mouth is by pursuing the highest levels of the industry.
His thirst for more knowledge took over in 2013, when he went and got his ASF qualification.
Then in 2017 he went to Kentucky in the United States and underwent one of the most rigorous tests to become an associate of the WCF.
This included a theory exam as well as fronting a panel of accredited farriers where he had to give an oral presentation about a shoe board.
"I had to justify the shoe board in front of the assessors and explain the function and application, as well as how it fit the horse," Mr Broad said.
"There are so many considerations when making shoes using modern materials and taking its purpose into consideration.
"You also have to know all the anatomical workings of the horse, there's a real array of information to supply."
The WCF first began in England back in 1356, with its membership consisting of craft farriers, veterinary surgeons and other people committed to the welfare of horses.
For Mr Broad, the history of the industry, including how blacksmiths in Australia's pioneering days had to use raw materials and manipulate them to forge shoes for the horses, is something he is passionate about.
But it really hit home when he achieved his associate status, the number of which is 1080.
"Here the records in England go back to the 1300s, which means only 1079 people had achieved that standard before me in more than 600 years," Mr Broad said.
Not content to stop there, Mr Broad intends to pursue a fellowship of the WCF, which is the highest level of technical competence that a farrier can achieve.
Part of achieving that fellowship requires him to be able to lecture and instruct on farriery matters, something he does in his position as an international examiner for FITS which involves travelling to South Africa, the US and the Eastern States to examine FITS exams.
And it also comes from Mr Broad's position running Goodlands Farrier School, where he is customising learning opportunities to suit individual requirements, whether they are new to or experienced in the field.
Mr Broad said they had a real cross-section go through the school, from people already working as farriers who wanted to improve their techniques, including someone who travelled from Mt Barker each fortnight for further education, to a 17-year-old girl just starting out and learning basic skills.
"We cater for everything and anything," he said.
As well as learning about the anatomy of horses, the old tradition of forging was very much a part of the skills covered, teaching students how to make horseshoes, therapeutic and basic shoes out of the more modern materials of steel or aluminium using either coke/coal or gas forges in one of Mr Broad's eight anvils at the school's workshop.
Although he makes about five or six sets of shoes a week, the economics of materials these days meant that it was more cost-effective to get pre-fabricated shoes and then make them fit the horse's foot, which was yet another skill to learn.
When it came to shoeing a horse, Mr Broad said that was something that hadn't changed much at all.
"The process hasn't changed a great deal, nailing shoes on with six nails per hoof," Mr Broad said.
"It's the materials that have changed a lot and have got a lot better - and it's the farrier's job to make sure the horse will wear out the steel or aluminium shoe and not their foot.
"If they have the right shoes it ensures they don't get sore or go lame."
Mr Broad said shoes required changing roughly every six weeks, and horses also needed their feet trimmed regularly.
Between shoeing, trimming and assessing horses, he saw about 100 horses a week as a farrier.
He said while there was an amazing amount of horses in Australia, its numbers were only equal to one per cent of the European market.
"That's six nails per foot in a horse every six weeks, so that's a big industry, but small in the world market," Mr Broad said.
"Even within WA it is a much bigger industry than you think - there are horses everywhere, and with each horse needing to be cared for every six weeks, the upkeep is quite large."
This included horses involved in thoroughbred racing, pacing, pony clubs, riding for the disabled, camp drafting, rodeos and team roping.
And Mr Broad said that meant there was more than enough work for about 300 people he estimated were working as farriers in an area bounded by Geraldton, across to Kalgoorlie and down to Esperance.
