Adane Abay, 22, lives in woreda of the Oromia regional state in Ethiopia. Adane, used to work as a gharry (cart) driver for his father as a teenager, and after two years, he bought one for himself and started working hard to make ends meet for himself.

Adane kept making a decent income without compromising the safety of his horse. To make sure of this, he had to go through challenging situations. "Lack good services by local farriers was the major challenge for me. Four years ago, there was a young man everybody depended on for his services. Unfortunately, this man had no clue what he was doing,” Adane shook his head.

“We knew something was not right, but we keep going back to him as he was the only provider. He was cruel and careless with the animals. One day, while shoeing, he hammered the soft spot of my horse along with the hoof. My horse groaned in pain and jumped away. It was a very painful situation, and I lost my temper and started a fight.”

Adane remembers the moment that pushed him to make changes for the better.

After the incident, he thought, ‘what is the worst thing that would happen if I started shoeing my horse?’ Adane was not an expert, but he knew that he was patient and would be gently with him. After years of watching the local farrier, he believed he could do it.

He began scavenging for pieces of rubber and nails from the trash, reusing them to shoe his horse. In the process of learning, he admittedly made some mistakes. However, he took the time to learn, and people in his community started to notice the difference and asked for his services.

It has been six years since Adane started his own farriery shop. He is the best in town, but it is an undeniable fact that he requires great technical support. After all, it is a discipline that requires qualified candidates to carry out the procedures. Even for someone like Adane, making standard farriery is impossible without mastering discipline and using the right tools.

Adane himself agrees with this. "Don't even ask me about the damage I caused during nailing rubbers. Here, we both (the farriery and the animal) would get hurt. Because of the design of the wooden nail, I accidentally nailed the soft part of the hoof and would jump into me. This was quite common until I got the chance to take part in the global farriery training program organized by Brooke Ethiopia."

Brooke had observed the skills gap in the area and conducted training for selected local farriers. Adane was one of the chosen participants. The first training was an eye-opener for them to evaluate their knowledge gaps. But after the third training session, Adane became one of the best trainees selected by the trainers. As he immediately began acting on the skills acquired from the training, it took no time for his customers to see the results and satisfaction.

"After the training, I realized personal safety and animal welfare are the top priorities. Previously, I knew nothing about personal safety. Horses used to kick and push me aside and sometimes I was unable to make my living because of pain. Thanks to training, now I know how to avoid such incidents by following the proper safety measures and care to the horses and my clients. After the training, I understood the importance of unloading and freeing the horse from any form of harness except the head collar and a handler.  Resting and watering are also important. This will allow me to see the horse moving freely so that I can evaluate if there are problems on the hoof, which leg is lame or not and why. I would talk to the owner regarding the horse's behavior so that I would know what to expect. Then I will proceed with the procedures of shoeing."

Adane has become a known farrier expert around Adaba community. Almost all gharry owners prefer his service over others. He manages the busiest shop in the town. He makes a very decent income in his small town, one which would place him on top of many small-scale businessmen.

As managing the workshop only by himself is very challenging, he hired two additional workers. He trained them with the same knowledge he learned from Brooke, and now they can provide an expert level of service and care. He also has trained his little brother and another young man on how to provide proper farriery services. Adane's simple act of experience sharing assures the sustainability of the training and funded project in the community. 

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