by Doug Butler PhD, CJF, FWCF
Butler Professional Farrier School

Every so often we hear a practicing farrier or farrier student say, as they attempt to explain away their poor performance and inferior workmanship, “Oh, it’s good enough!”

We then ask, “Good enough for who?” “Good enough for what?”

Is it good enough for the client who is paying you to do a good job? Or, is it good enough to allow the horse you are working on to give its optimum performance? What does it mean? Can a horse give its best performance if its feet are not balanced accurately and regularly?

How would we like it if our car mechanic, our doctor, our dentist, our barber or hair dresser, our appliance repairman, or even our home builder said, “It’s good enough for who it’s for?” Realistically, we can’t expect perfection, but we do expect excellence and outstanding work. We want it done right.

Good enough is not good enough, if you want to succeed in running a successful and sustainable farrier business. You must seek to be outstanding. That means you must discipline yourself to give your best performance each time you work and to have an attitude of constant improvement. If we are doing things the same way we have always done them, we will get the same results we have always gotten. To expect anything else is a popular definition of insanity.

There are three components to performing in an excellent manner:

1)    Knowing what to do. This implies you have paid the price by study, mentored observation and scheduled use of time that allows you to recognize good work.

2)    Knowing how to do it. This implies focused study, supervised practice and extensive practical experience that prepare you to perform to an excellent standard.

3)    A strong desire to do it. This must be stronger than your fear of failure, overcome your tendency to be lazy, and supersede your lack of self-discipline to carry out your resolve and achieve the desired results.

Good enough is not good enough.

Resolve today to do your best and study, practice and apply what you learn to make each performance one that out-shines the previous. Do it like your life depended upon it – since the life of your farrier business does depend upon it.