FARRIER JENNA SOLHEIM — STRONG HANDS, GENTLE HEART

WRITER: KATHERINE.TWEED.| CLASSIC PHOTOGRAPHY

When Jenna Solheim greets you with her big smile and strong handshake, you feel her strength and spirit.

She is a young adventurer who counsels “Do what you want to do don’t let other people stop you go and do it.” She lives her advice. Solheim loves horses and is a farrier with her own company: Solheim Horseshoeing.

Her devotion to horses began early. The kids in her family all rode horses. Their mother made sure. “She wouldn’t let us off the horse until we stopped crying. We started young,” Solheim said.

She grew up around horses. Throughout junior high school and through her sophomore year in Moorhead, Solheim was president of her 4H Club, the Red River Riders. A former barrel racing competitor, she now competes in endurance racing. These are among the experiences that strengthen her love of horses.

Her family moved to Regent, N.D., after her sophomore year. She went from a class of 408 students to only 32. When she graduated from high school, she did what people expected and enrolled in college. It did not take long for her to know that her desire to be with horses ruled.

She enrolled at the Minnesota School of Horseshoeing. The school is practical and encourages working towards full certification as a journeyman farrier through the American Farriers Association (AFA) a three-year commitment. Her school day began at 6 a.m.

Solheim was the first to win the Jamison Albright Foundation for Farrier Scholarship. The award comes from a foundation in Woodstock, Ga. “I feel like I’m carrying on his legacy.”

Horseshoeing is an art, a practical creative profession that calls for skill in reading horses, responding to horses and knowing how to forge shoes that will fit the horse. A farrier must be able to shoe and balance hooves to prevent lameness.

The farrier life is physically demanding. Solheim lifts weights and does cardio exercise, along with cleaning stables and all the other work that it takes to care for horses. It is also a good idea to be nimble. A farrier’s career can end with a horse’s swift, powerful kick.

For 20 hours each week she is at the Brady Equestrian Center, Downer, Minn. She also works with Riding on Angels’ Wings, a therapy center at Felton, Minn.

All her equipment, including her 125-pound anvil, propane tank and supplies, are in arm’s reach in her pickup. Her grandpa made an anvil stand, with a special paint job just for her.

Her love of horses makes her patient, gentle. Solheim stays attuned to the horse. She asks herself what she can do to make the situation better. “Staying calm and knowing what you are doing is most important. The horse always has the upper hand. They are big and strong. I teach the horse what is happening. I don’t want to push a horse into fight or flight mode,” Solheim said.

“You can feel in the horse’s leg if it is tense, when it will kick. You have to sense what is happening with the horse.” She reads whether the horse is nervous or aggressive. She has a conversation with the horse, touches it. When she begins work, her rasp movement is rhythmic, even soothing.

Perhaps most important, she adds, is “to know when to step away.” Farrier and horse can get a lot of good work done when they work together. “It all depends on the horse. If they stand nice, I can do lots of work in a shorter time.”

Solheim hopes the horse’s owner or trainer will be there to correct the horse―that is not her job when she is shoeing. She is an educator―teaching the horse what is happening, building trust.

She builds the horseshoe from scratch. Her leather apron protects her from the sparks heating the bar stock steel to fit. There is a big difference between her first horseshoe and the horseshoes she does now. Her first, somewhat squarish, attempt hangs on her wall. Solheim makes horseshoe nail jewelry, too.

One day she hopes to have her own boarding facility for horses with equine massage and farrier services. Most of all, she wants to see horses healthy and happy.

Right now, her post-school journey is working toward her Journeyman Certified Farrier. She is already an AFA certified farrier. She must be a farrier for three years before the written exam to complete her Journeyman Certified Farrier education.

The horses already know she has their best interest in her hands.

Call, text or email to schedule an appointment: 701.928.0215; solheimhorseshoeing.webs.com; solhorseshoeing@yahoo.com; Solheim Horseshoeing on Facebook. [AWM]