Are you more of a people person? Or more of a horse person? If you don't see a difference, then a career as a farrier might be your ticket to professional bliss.

What's a farrier, you ask? Don't worry, you won't have wings or suddenly become someone's godmother. You'll just spend your days giving horses pedicures.

Farriers are specialists in taking care of the most vital part of a horse—its feet. A horse isn't quite a horse without strong, healthy hooves. Farriers are trained to trim, shape, align, and shoe horses to ensure their feet stay healthy. If you love horses, want to run your own business, and live in an area with plenty of available clients (we hear Kentucky is nice), then working as a farrier may just be for you.

I'd be happy if I had new shoes. (Source)

Of course, you need some horsemanship skills, serious knowledge of horse hoof anatomy, and some good old-fashioned common sense never hurts. Combine those attributes with some certificates of expertise and you can make $40,000-$60,000 per year or more. The pay depends on the number of clients you have. From apprentice to journeyman to American Farrier Association (AFA) certification, if you have a way with horses, you could be on the fast track to a solid career.

Farriers spend their days seeing clients, checking hooves, trimming, rasping, and, if needed, shoeing (because not all horses need shoes, but they all need foot care). Farriers need to be hardy as they work in all types of weather—it's not all rainbows and sunshine like an episode of My Little Pony.

Being a farrier is a physically demanding job. You're up early, driving from farm to farm all day long checking on clients. When you arrive, you may have to go out to the pasture and lead a horse back to the barn so you can properly examine its hooves—easier on paper than in practice.

Conditions under which a farrier must work. (Source)

Being a farrier means coaxing the horse into a calm state so you can, at the very least, trim and file their hooves. You'll climb both fences and horses. On top of that, you'll haul a heavy tool kit. What you won't do as a farrier is have to get a gym membership.

Oh and keep plenty of sugar cubes at the ready. A happy horse means not getting kicked.

Farriers tend to work crouched down like a baseball catcher for long periods of time. You'll need high energy, lots of stamina, and serious patience to do farrier work. And if your nose is sensitive, be advised: It will suffer a daily assault from horse odors (source).

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