We recently connected with Joshua Rushing and have shared our conversation below.
Joshua, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear a story from back when you were an intern or apprentice. What’s a memorable story you can share with us?
All I can ever remember wanting to be was a cowboy. I just wanted to ride horses. We always had horses or mules around growing up. We really weren’t into sports much so I rode a lot. We mostly trail rode but I also had some friends with cattle and so I never skipped an oportunity to do some real ranch cowboy stuff. We didnt really have great horses but we got by and had a blast. So I had started a colt or two and had a job cleaning stalls on a paint horse farm. I had to find a way to support my horse habit but couldn’t make up my mind coming out of highschool what to do so I tried college for a minute. That wasnt for me! I ended up with an opportunity to apprentice as a farrier (the art of trimming and shoeing horses hooves). I remember thinking I really don’t want to do this, “I want to be on a horse, not under it” but horses are expensive and so is their care so maybe I can learn enough to do my own and save some money. Little did I know that shoeing horses would put me in contact with so many different type of horsemen and women. We worked on everything from back yard horses to world champions, dressage horses to reiners. Those people, those conversations, the connections made would last a lifetime and are still so important for me today. I decided that I didn’t want to just be a cowboy or a colt starter. I wanted to be a horseman. I wanted to master the art of training and communicating with a horse. So although I didn’t set out to be a farrier it was such a good avenue to explore and learn how to capitlize my true calling, my greatest passion, to be horseback!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Simply put I am a student of the horse. I have a passion for being horseback and a love for horses in general I take every oportunity I can to learn how to be a better, trainer, communicator, and leader. Part of my job is to teach other people about how to do the same with their horses. I never really set out to teach but studies indicate that a person only retains about 10% of what they hear and 90% of what they teach. So when I learn, I try to learn in a way that I can articulate the information to others. This means I get to travel and share my passion and knowledge with others in the form of horsemanship clinics. We have travled much of the U.S. and Canada. I’ve also been to France as well as Austrailia. I never thought I would see the world growing up but here we are.
I made a good living as a farrier for over 20 years. I provided for my family while meeting great horse professionals, making lifetime connections and financing my passion for riding and owning horses. My wife and I have been slowly developing our property into the perfect training facility. We have a great property south of Kansas City. We broke ground on a indoor riding and stall barn in Feburary 2023 and are currently ahead of are goal for completion in Feb 2024. I still shoe horses up to 3 half days a week but most of our time is focused on our training horses now. We have horses come from all over the U.S. and Canada here to be trained from start to finish. We also compete in American Ranch Horse Association, AQHA VRH, and an ocassional Cowboy race or Horseman’s Challenge. I absolultley love developing young horses and preparing them for competition. I really just wanted to ride growing up and never really gave competition a lot of thought. I have come to learn that many of us are great in our own controled environment or back yards but to put your skills to the test in the spirit of competition is unlike anything else. To take a horse out of his environment, a horse you have spent hours with, learned to communicate to, a horse you have invested in and taught all the manuevers to, and to call on them and have them step up and willingly offer everthing they have offer….thats a true partnership, one thats been tested. For seven years in a row My horses and I were top 3 in EXCA’s futurity world championships, we also went undefeated for several years in UHCA’s Colt Class. Its a testemant to good consistent training program. Although we aren’t currently focusing on EXCA personally I am so proud to have sent one of my clients on his horse (This Cat’s a Jewell) that we trained here, to world finals in 2022 to win a Reserve World Championship Futurity title and then back again in 2023 to win a Ride Smart World Championship. Also a horse we trained and sold to a young lady in CA carried her young rider to a Young guns Reserve World Championship just 3 years after our own daughter won a world title on the same horse. Its one thing to develope and train a horse for yourself….but to train a horse and communicate to it in a way that others can learn to ride and enjoy and even compete at a high level is pretty exciting to me. Even more so now that we have kids taking over our most trusted mounts and earning their own World titles.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
So I took an apprenticeship as a farrier (horse hoof care) it was related to but not really what I wanted to do. I knew I needed to make some money and to do that, I knew I could either do something noone else wanted to do or something nobody else could do. Ultimatley after 5 years I decided to start my own business as a farrier. I used it as a means to get to where I am now. Where I really want to be. At the time there was a lot of competition. While working for somone else I never really gave much thought to my appearance or deamenor. I mean this is a tough job and sweaty and dirty work. As a kid we had a family friend who was a real estate agent. I thought a lot of him because he always had a nice truck and he was really nice to my brother and I. He gave a speach once at our highschool and he talked about how much your appearance mattered and how for him that may change depending on the client or what he was selling, a ranch verses a condo downtown. So number 1. I had the skill to be a good farrier and now number 2. I decided just because I have a tough dirty job doesn’t mean I need to look like a bum. I basicly decided I would never wear a hoodie in public again. I put on a collored shirt everyday, button down or polo depending on the season, I avoided thathered and worn clothing and encourged my helpers to do the same. Later in my career as I sarted competing horseback I earned an edorsment deal with Cinch Jeans and Shirts that made staying sharp a lot easier. I feel like keeping a clean, professional appearance earned the favor and respect of a lot of higher end clients. It definatly opened the door to my current side gig as a licensed realtor in Ks and Mo. (over 5 million in sales for 2023) (Yes, inspired by the gentlmen that gave that speach) Number 3. Farriers had a bad reputation for being late. Afterall your working with animals and you can expect the unexpted. I decided to make a point to be on time. I spent extra time managing my schedule and only scheduling barns in a certain area for that specific day. I also refused to take on clients unwilling to stay on a regular schedule. I set up the same routes every 6 to 8 weeks and made sure I never missed an appointment or had clients waiting on me. I always kept reliable help and really had to become a good manager, not just a good farrier. It didn’t take long to develop a reputation for quality, reliable service. A reputation I am working hard to carry into the dream job I have now. So ability, professionalism, and doing what you say and when you said you would do it is a sure formula for success in any business.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Yes, being a horsman/cowboy/trainer was a side note for so long. Primarly a hobby but a serious passion for most of my life it is hard to make a living in the horse industry. Ocassionally I would get some day work (cowboy work by day). I was shoeing horses for a ranch outside Amoret, M0. The foreman there would always have me bring a horse and after shoeing we would spend the rest of the day doing cowboy stuff (gathering, doctoring, etc) In 2007 He had payed an entry fee to some cowboy race competition that came through town and set up at Saddle and Sirloin Club in Kansas, City. Turned out to be Craig Cameron’s Extreme Cowboy Race. (Craig is a hall of fame cowboy and clinician). Turned out he couldn’t make the competition and altough the entry fee was non refundable it was transferable. He convinced me to take his spot. The $450 entry fee was a lot for my family at the time but we traded it out shoeing horses. So, I really hadn’t had much interest in competing but I had a decent horse and we went. I didn’t do great, might of been close to last but I was hooked! Nobody asked for my card as a trainer that day but it did steer my passion down a new road. I began to practice and train and ride with anybody and everbody that would give me the time of day. I took, dressage lessons, jumping lessons, I rode with a western pleasure trainer in and effort to look better on a horse, I rode with a reining trainer so my horses would handle better. Meanwhile EXCA began to really grow a year later I was a founding member of Ultimate Horsman’s Challenge Association (UHCA). I competed as a non-pro for a couple years befor going Pro in 2010 and ended up winning my first EXCA world championship at Domer Arena in Topeka, Ks. Over the next few years I would go on to earn Four EXCA World Championships total. I stayed in the top 3 of EXCA futurity (horses 3-4 years of age in their first competition) divison for seven years in a row. I earned 3 invites to the Calgary Stampedes Cowboy up Callange winning the competition in 2019. I won multiple UHCA Championships. Equifest Top Horse Champion in 2016 and 2018. In all well over 40+ buckles won in cowboy competitions. In 2022 I won a American Ranch Horse Assocation World Championship in Ocala, Fl. So over the years my success as a competitor has proven my ability as a horseman and created demand for my ability as a trainer and clinician. Basically enabling me to live my dreams everyday.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shoe.n.r_horsemanship
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shoenrhorseman