Adam Barnard

Excellence is a team sport 

In 2009, Adam was working a summer job in the tech industry outside of Savannah and hoping to become a land developer.  Like so many others at the time, he was quickly laid off as the recession worsened. Despite the setback, an older cousin, Kenneth, who shod horses in rural Georgia, offered him a part-time job a mere two days later. And as far as early mentors go, “Kenneth was a really good teacher, and he wouldn’t let me do anything before I was ready.”

This unexpected turn in circumstances proved to be a great experience and an incredible new direction. 

Two Months,  Three Insights

Adam quickly understood that being a farrier is a business, not just a skillset, an insight that continues to drive his approach to farriery. He was taking courses that summer at South University when one of his professors asked Adam, and the rest of the class, to analyze the profitability of whatever company they were working for. When Adam presented his findings, the professor was so intrigued, he asked to meet Kenneth and learn more about the business. His professor agreed that, as a farrier, your income exceeds expenses with one major caveat: the profit comes out of your body.  

A second insight about the quality of his work transformed Adam’s shoeing process. While Adam wasn’t unfamiliar with horseshoeing thanks to Kenneth, he did not immediately pick up on the difference between adequate shoeing and exceptional shoeing. When he was able to perceive different levels of work, a perfectionist was born.

A third revelation occurred about two months into his work with Kenneth when Adam realized that shoeing horses was what he wanted to do with his life– and he hasn’t wavered.

Getting better, one ride-along at a time 

While he was working a couple of days a week with his cousin, Adam caught himself admiring the work of fellow farrier Pat Hudspeth at a barn they were both working.  Shortly after, Adam started working with Pat a few days a week on top of his work with Kenneth. It was Pat who exposed Adam to the worlds of performance horses and therapeutic shoeing. Pat encouraged the younger farrier to attend clinics and seek out ride-alongs with other talented farriers like Dave Farley, James Gilchrist, Tim Cable, and Rob McCumber.  In fact, while in Jacksonville working on a horse of Rob McCumber’s, Adam unexpectedly ran into yet another mentor who would help launch the next stage of the farrier’s career.  

“There was a horse that had won the adult hunter class at Wellington the year before. It had these beautiful shoes on, and it looked like they had just been done. They were glued on. I asked the groom, ‘did they just shoe this horse?’ and he answered, ’no, tomorrow.” And I realized the farrier was coming tomorrow, and these shoes had been on for four weeks.” 

That farrier was Curtis Burns, who agreed to let Adam ride with him, opening even more doors, including the World Equestrian Games. 
 

Elevating performance 

While many find the pressure at high-performance levels overwhelming, Adam actually found the work to be less stressful. “You’re part of a team, with trainers and veterinarians and groomers, and everybody is responsible for doing their part very well. But, in situations where there isn’t a team in place, the farrier often has to solve problems that come from, say,  a shoulder misalignment. But at the elite level, if you do your job, that's all you have to do.”  

In the course of his journey from a summer job in a small Georgia town to elite competition horses all over the world, Adam gained insight into what motivated him: the deep satisfaction of taking a horse who was already at 90% of its potential and elevating it to 100%. “I love to help make a horse move properly.” 

Life lessons, business lessons  

Along the way, Adam’s mentors taught him about life and business, as well as horseshoeing. They modeled the importance of always learning, of insisting on the quality rather than quantity of work, of keeping enough time to accommodate clients, and of paying people well so that they thrive and stay. Adam himself has had the same assistant for seven years, Devan Stanfield, while Alex Chambless also joins the crew once a week. 

He turned down a good staff farrier position earlier in his career because, in the words of Pat Hudspeth, “Your time is going to come.” It did. He has a thriving business, with a mix of world-class show horses. He and his assistants shoe at private communities like Brays Island Plantation (a private island between Charleston and Savannah), Lawton Stables off of South Carolina, and Haig Point, an island community only accessible by boat or helicopter. 

Of course, his success posed new business challenges. As more of his clients traveled, he had to travel with them without letting his local clients feel neglected. This required a combination of people skills, communication skills, and negotiation.  

He takes a very nuanced approach to building his business portfolio that requires both focus and diversification. He has interests in land development, real estate, and app development, but he trusts others to run those businesses. While he knows it’s important for farriers to prepare to make a living if they can no longer work directly in farriery, he’s seen too many farriers get distracted by outside business interests. “I don't want to be answering phone calls in the middle of shoeing somebody’s show jumpers.” 

Products designed for excellence and efficiency 

His choice of products reflects his approach: focused on the horse, but aware of the demands the craft makes on his time and his body. 

Adam is a fan of Mustad LiBeros for a number of reasons: their width makes them a good fit for elite hunter jumpers and gives him more material to work with. But, because he’s never forgotten the words of a Professor at Southern University, that for farriers, “the profit comes out of your body,” he also appreciates that the toe clips require less work for a better fit, helping him spend less time bent over. For other disciplines in his rotation, he relies on products like Delta Challenger TS8s. 

“Probably 10 years ago I switched to Mustad nails, and I've used nothing but Mustad since then, with the exception of Capewell Slim Blade Nails. I use the Mustad E-Slim Nails 3s 4s, 5s, and 6s, the Combo 5 Slim Nails, Concave Nails, and a few more.”

With the humidity in the Southern States, Adam prefers the blue tang Heller eXcel Original because they don’t gum up.  

At only 33, Adam’s working at elite levels alongside other top farriers and the equine athletes that keep him excited about the craft. His future seems as limitless as his appreciation for his family, namely his wife Whitney and their daughter Kolbie. He’s holding onto family, his deeply held commitment to learning, and the tenacity that drove him to pursue farriery in the first place. 
 

Want to see more of Adam and his business? Follow him on Instagram.