Roland’s nags and nails: staying awake for 7 days and 7 nights
How far would you be prepared to go? Would you stay awake for seven days and seven nights, forgoing all your creature comforts, to make sure your horse was OK after an operation? That’s what one of our customers did after her horse mysteriously sliced through its eyeball in the field.
The vets did their bit, giving the horse a chance to keep its eye. The tricky part was to prevent the horse from rubbing its eye and potentially rupturing the eyeball. So, for seven days and seven nights, the owner held onto the lead rope, preventing the horse from scratching or moving its head suddenly. If she nodded off, then the lead rope, which was attached to her, would wake her if there was any head movement.
When we saw her on the eighth day, she had just handed the horse back to the vets and was preparing to collapse! What a monumental effort and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she’s still asleep now. I’ll never know how she did it — a truly amazing feat.
I’ve been back at work now for a week since returning from the important college exams. Failure to pass these exams can mean removal from the apprenticeship so I was shaking like a leaf when I phoned to get my practical results. Thankfully, I passed.
I must say a huge thank you to Steve Cooper, a recently qualified farrier, but old timer like me, who knows how hard it is to teach an old dog new tricks and who coached me out of hours at his forge. If/when I become a fully fledged farrier, he will be one of the many people along with Kris, my training farrier, who would have helped me on this long difficult journey.
I owe a lot to them and others already but, my god, when I get my diploma from the worshipful company of farriers, I can’t promise I won’t give them a big manly kiss, which is an unusual way for a farrier to behave I know…
Until next week
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Roland
www.twitter.com/nagsandnails
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Roland owned a computer software business until he realised he didn't want to be stuck behind a desk for the rest of his working life. So in 2011 he started the four-year apprenticeship to become a farrier on the borders of Somerset, Devon and Dorset. He became fully qualified in 2014.