This blog is sponsored by the PRO FEET range of hoof care products from NAF
Last week ended on a really positive note when a couple of the trims I undertook weren’t a complete disaster. I’d been starting to worry about whether I was ever going to make any progress with my trimming and so it was with enormous relief that on Friday Kris, my training farrier, was able to tell me I’d made some improvement.
There have been plenty of occasions when I have doubted my own abilities and felt low on confidence. It’s amazing how confidence affects everything about the job. Low confidence leads to self-doubt, which in turn is self-prophesising — definitely a vicious circle which is hard to break. So when Kris told me that I had made some good improvement, it was just what I needed to hear.
I started my farriery apprenticeship in January and cannot believe that I’ve already completed eight months. As I understand it, the hardest part of the four-year apprenticeship is the first 12 months. The learning curve is steepest as everything is new.
After the first year there is an established base layer of skills from which all subsequent training can build. In theory, therefore, I only have another four months left before the learning curve becomes less steep. Do I dare to hope? Is there light at the end of the tunnel or am I kidding myself?
Certainly, I’ve never done anything as tough or as challenging as this before and so I will bank those 12 months and take heart that I will never have to repeat that year again. Roll-on the first anniversary and I hope my confidence doesn’t desert me before I get there.
Until next week,
Roland
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