A Typical Winter Day.

Beep beep beep. There is the alarm again. Every morning at 5:00 am, my wife rolls over and pushes the snooze button. I don’t know who invented alarm clocks, but they should be severely punished! I understand why they make the most annoying sounds, but why? Maybe they could make a sound that makes you want to wake up. A coffee pot brewing, sounds of birds chirping in the spring, the sound of horses hooves clomping along the rocks taking you to your favorite fishing spot high up in the mountains. I would jump out of bed with a gusto, ready to tackle my day with a smile every time!

There it goes again, beep beep beep. My wife sighs, turns off the alarm, rolls off the bed, and gets in the shower. That is my cue to get my butt going. I put on some clothes and head upstairs to get a cup of coffee. I pour one for me and one for her. Mine is simple—a little creamer to knock the edge off. Hers, on the other hand, is not so much coffee but what I call a coffee cocktail, almond milk creamer, one package of Stevia sweetener, with the occasional shot of caramel flavoring. Way too much to think about first thing in the morning. 

I walk back downstairs and give her the coffee. She is usually out of the shower, starting to watch the daily local news, and getting ready for her day. I give her a kiss on the cheek and head to my office.

Even though I like getting up early and starting my day, I need an hour or so to get going. This is the time to read for a little while and get my wits about me. This is generally the only quiet time of my day. I will edit photos, write, and decide what to post on social media for the day. 

By about 8:00, the dogs are getting restless; they want to go outside. The horses are giving us the “we are starving” look through the kitchen window. It’s time to change gears. I get dressed, grab a cup of coffee in a to-go cup, and the dogs meet me at the back door. You have never seen frustration like a dog that has to pee while its owner is taking his sweet time to put on his boots. 

I will usually make my first shoeing appointment for the day at 9:00. These days most of my shoeing is done in my shop at the house. About three or four years ago I made a decision to work towards bringing my business to haul in’s instead of going out. Every full-time farrier I know, at some point in their career, will start to think about what they can do to have an income, not crawling under horses. Mine is photography and selling prints. But also it’s having horses come to my shop. My father-in-law is 78 and is still shoeing horses, and I attribute that to thirty years ago when he started having horses hauled to him instead of him going out. It saved a lot of wear and tear on his body.

In the winter time, I will try and get out into the barn a half hour or forty-five minutes early. I get a fire started to warm up the cold bones of this time of year, get tools sharpened and ready to go to work, and get my head in the game and ready for a day of shoeing horses.

The first two horses that come to the shop are team roping horses. One is an older horse I have shoed for ten or more years. The other is a young horse the owner has just bought. I shoe a lot of rodeo horses. They are by far my favorite. Rodeoing was all I thought about and did from the time I was fourteen until I turned thirty-seven and picked up a camera. I can’t believe it’s been over ten years since I nodded my head to bulldog a steer. Since I don’t rodeo anymore, I like to shoe rodeo horses to keep me involved in the sport. 

I once considered going into rodeo photography. I loved the days when I rodeoed—traveling around the country with good friends chasing dreams—nothing better. But I spent so much time in rodeo arenas that the thought of spending even more was not very appealing. I wanted to get out and spend time in the mountains or the high deserts chasing wild horses. 

After I finish shoeing for the day, I will feed the horses, take care of any chores that need to be done, and then go back inside. I like to sit down and edit photos and write as much as I can. So I will do that again for another hour or so before it’s time for dinner. 

I do ninety percent of the cooking. I like to cook, especially in the winter when there is more time inside. My wife could take it or leave it. She could eat string cheese and tomato soup and be content. I’m a little more complicated than that. I like good home-cooked food; I always have. I stay away from fast food as much as possible. It’s terrible! 

A typical winter day is not that exciting for me. Life mostly consists of a regiment and daily grind sprinkled in with some story-worthy days here and there. But I’m good with it. I have a great life with awesome people around me. What else could a guy ask for?