When researching old skills, modern practitioners are great to watch. My heroine in the Under the Harvest Moon is a farrier, and here is how a farrier shoes a horse (then, and now, bar the forge and the portable sander).
Jude Knight Storyteller
Creating determined heroines and the men who appreciate them
Wow! What an interesting process. Obviously something that requires skill in order to do effectively and efficiently. I would imagine a good farrier was well paid.
Like a good car mechanic today–an essential and highly skilled service. As well as making and applying horseshoes, and making the nails for the process, they also did minor repairs, and made small tools and other hardware. They were also horse doctors, and most of them were very good at it, though the growing profession of veterinarian was beginning to spread doubt about their skills. This happened in a lot of professions–those skills traditionally passed on by apprenticeship were taken over by those taught formally, and the society to which the doctor or vet or dentist or surgeon or lawyer or whatever belonged went after the reputation of those who were not qualified to belong to their society.