Arkansas Horseshoeing School offers a full range of traditional and advanced farrier training, from 8 week introductory courses to a 24 week Modern Materials and Advanced Forging program. Classes are mostly hands on, with students under horses, in the forge, and working toward real world farrier careers. Need to learn more about starting a farrier career path?
Students who want to compare course lengths can also read more about farrier training at Arkansas Horseshoeing School before choosing a duration.
Classes start the first Tuesday of each month.
Observed holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. If school will be closed, students receive advance notice.
Farrier classes run 5 days a week, Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 8:30 am. Most days finish around 3:30 pm, but some days may go until 8 to 9 pm. In simple terms, students are done when the horses are done. Paul wants you to get as much time under horses as possible so you are better trained when you graduate.
Sep 2025 – August 2026 Class Dates. Farrier Classes: See our school calendar for each course beginning and ending dates by month.
This short shop video shows a horseshoe being made in the forge at Arkansas Horseshoeing School. Students in the traditional courses train around live horses, trimming, shoeing, and forge work as part of the hands-on school environment.
Each traditional course covers the same four areas: Hot Forge, Trimming, Fitting, and Hoof Problems & Diseases, with longer courses adding more practice hours and deeper material in each area.
Review the 8 week farrier course for full course details, training structure, and enrollment information.
This course is designed for students who wish to obtain a skill level such that they can competently shoe a horse with keg shoes given the horse’s conformation and usual work within two hours.
Review the 12 week farrier course for full course details, training structure, and enrollment information.
This course includes everything in the 8 week course and builds on that foundation with more advanced work in therapeutic horseshoeing, handmade therapeutic shoes, hoof problems and diseases, injuries, and conformation issues. It is intended for students who want a deeper training path before independent farrier work, with apprenticeship still recommended.
Review the 16 week farrier course for full course details, training structure, and enrollment information.
This course builds on the 12 week course with additional instructor time in anatomy, forging, shoeing, bar shoes, therapeutic hoof issues, foot diseases, injuries, and conformation problems. It is intended for students who want more time under instruction before working independently, with apprenticeship still recommended.
Review the 24 week farrier course for full course details, training structure, and enrollment information.
This course builds on the 16 week course with additional instructor time in anatomy, forging, shoeing, therapeutic hoof issues, lameness concerns, foot diseases, injuries, and conformation problems. Students also work on handmade therapeutic shoes, creased bar shoes, and heart bar shoes. It is intended for students who want the most complete traditional course before working independently, with apprenticeship still recommended.
Students comparing course lengths may also want to review tool-set details, veteran education benefit information, and the application steps before applying.
This is AHS’s advanced program focused on therapeutic farriery using modern materials and advanced shoe designs. It is different from the Traditional 24-Week course.
Review the 24 week Modern Materials and Advanced Forging Course for full course details, training structure, and enrollment information.
Traditional 24-Week (contrast): Develops full-spectrum farriery skills—trim/balance, keg and handmade shoes (including bar and heart-bar builds), foundational therapeutic approaches, and recognition/triage of complex cases.
*To enroll in this course, students must complete a prior course of up to 12 weeks, have one year of prior shoeing experience or be able to demonstrate sufficient skill level to the director.
For experienced farriers who want focused training on common lameness work. This is not an introductory course.
Approach to different methods of dealing with common lameness.
*Not an introductory course, for experienced farriers only. Bring your own tools.
In order to receive a Certificate of Completion from AHS, a student must pass with a minimum of 70% in 4 categories.
These are:
The written tests are graded on a 0-100 scale, with 70% considered a pass. All of the other categories are graded on a pass/fail system. Work that does not meet the minimum standard will be failed.
Student Testimonials. See what previous students have to say about the school and courses – testimonials.
Use the sections below to review the detailed AHSS course descriptions and hour breakdowns for Hot Forge, Trimming, Fitting, Hoof Anatomy, Problems, and Diseases, and the 24 Week Modern Materials and Advanced Forging course.
Note: Lab time is non-classroom hands-on work with the forge, trimming, fitting, etc.
This course develops forging skills through hands on instruction and practice, by completing several hands on assignments. Students first get comfortable with the forging tools which include safety precautions and then take those skills to the next level by building custom shoes that properly fit the horse’s foot.
This course develops trimmings skills through teaching the students anatomy which will allow them to properly trim the horse’s foot. They will learn how to properly balance a horse’s foot, which is necessary to performing farrier work properly.
This course is an extension of the Trimming and Hot Forge. It adds to the anatomy learned from Trimming and takes the skills learned from Hot Forge and combines them to allow the student to properly trim the horse’s foot and build a custom shoe that properly fits the horse’s foot.
This course develops skills that will enable the student to diagnose possible hoof problems and diseases. This course teaches students how to work with Veterinarians (such as reading x-rays) to better help the horse with foot problems and diseases.
This course better develops forging skills through hands on instruction and practice. Students will learn how to forge more advanced therapeutic shoes by completing several hands on assignments.
24 Week Modern Materials and Advanced Forging Course – There are 10 Clock hours of Classroom time and 100 Clock hours of Lab time for a total of 110 Clock hours for this course.
This course better develops trimming skills through teaching the students more advanced anatomy which will allow them to properly trim the horses foot for special therapeutic cases.
24 Week Modern Materials and Advanced Forging Course – There are 60 Clock hours of Classroom time and 200 Clock hours of Lab time for a total of 260 Clock hours for this course.
This course is an extension of the Advanced Trimming and Advanced Hot Forge. It adds to the anatomy learned from Advanced Trimming and takes the skills learned from Advanced Hot Forge and combines them to allow the student to properly trim the horse’s foot and build a custom shoe that properly fits the horse’s foot.
24 Week Modern Materials and Advanced Forging Course – There are 60 Clock hours of Classroom time and 270 Clock hours of Lab time for a total of 330 Clock hours for this course.
This course teaches farriers how to use more modern materials besides traditional blacksmithing techniques. Student will learn how to successfully use materials such as glue and epoxy as well as using plastic shoes and impression material.
24 Week Modern Materials and Advanced Forging Course – There are 60 Clock hours of Classroom time and 200 Clock hours of Lab time for a total of 260 Clock hours for this course.
If you would like help comparing the 8, 12, 16, and 24 week traditional courses or the 24 week Modern Materials and Advanced Forging course, contact AHS. We can talk through schedule, housing, and the application process.
Or contact AHS online ›