Stephen Jenkins has more than 20 years of experience shoeing and trimming. He recently relocated to the Willamette Valley and is accepting new clients!
Stephen Jenkins was first introduced to horseshoeing in 1997 when Les Wolford, a cowboy and shoer from eastern Oregon introduced him to horseshoeing. Les described and demonstrated how a horse was shod and even took him to watch client horses being shod. In 1998 Stephen began an apprenticeship with Kerry Zuest, a competitive farrier with the American Farriers Association. Kerry was a fantastic instructor that stressed excellence and continued education. By day three she had him nailing, and in eight months he was able to shoe his own clients horses while still training with Kerry.
While attending a certification testing at Cal Poly, SLO Kerry introduced Stephen to Michael Savoldi. Michael was heavily involved in equine research at Cal Poly, Pomona. Stephen began an apprenticeship with Michael and was introduced to blacksmithing at the university level. Stephen shod many horses under Michael’s teaching, including Woody. Woody helped Stephen further understand the value of precisely shaped shoes, careful trimming, and orthotics.In 2014, Stephen went to Veterinary School at Ross University in the West Indie Caribbean. He continued his involvement with horse’s feet by shoeing horses at the race track. His clinical year was spent at Oregon State University.Between rotations at OSU, Stephen continued to provide hoof care. Chewbacca was one of the special horses who was very good at giving hugsAfter graduating with a masters and DVM, Stephen was able to use his education to further help horses.He also worked with small animals.And cattle.However, farrier work continued to be an important part of his work. Now, as a sole practitioner, equine podiatry is his primary focus as he works to build a practice from the ground up.
