08-23-21: Nostalgia. My Mentor Retires

posted in: The Daily Grind | 0

This barn belongs to one of my newest clients… I’ve actually been working with her for quite some time, but she is still one of my newer clients. She came to me as a referral from my mentor, farrier Gary Stern about twelve years ago.

Gary is the farrier that shod my mother’s horses when I was in high school sometime around 1990. Obviously, I thought the whole thing was was pretty cool and I bothered him every time he was out until he finally put me in a stall with my mom’s gelding and a pair of pull offs. It was a balmy August afternoon. It took me a good hour, but I got it done. I still remember how hot and filthy it was, but I really wanted to learn more about that.

Clearly, there is so much to say about how my career was started back then and what a unique human Mr. Stern is.

Well, last week Gary’s long time account, Old Stone Stables called to talk about replacing Gary because he wants to retire. I started with Gary at that barn back in ’89 or ’90. He has been working for them the whole time. There are a lot of memories and things to unpack about it all.

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