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Mason Mitchell Howard grew up in Stockdale, Texas, and has spent most of his life around horses. Not through a single apprenticeship or formal plan, but by showing up, helping where he was needed, and learning over time. Shoeing wasn’t something he set out to do. It became part of the work because it had to be.

He began picking it up in his late teens, watching other farriers, helping where he could, and figuring things out as he went. A turning point came while working summers in Arizona, where long days moving cattle made it clear that sound horses were essential. When shoes came loose or problems showed up, Mason learned to fix them himself. He learned on good horses and difficult ones, and the difference, he’ll tell you, usually comes down to how they’ve been handled over time.

Mason’s approach is steady and practical. He works calmly around horses, paying attention to how they move, how they stand, and what they’re reacting to. Shoeing, for him, isn’t rushed. A typical horse takes about an hour, sometimes more, depending on the animal. He trims, shapes, and fits each shoe to the horse rather than forcing a standard solution. Driving nails is the part he treats with the most care. A poorly placed nail can cripple a horse, and that’s not a mistake he takes lightly.

While shoeing is part of his skill set, it’s not the entirety of his work. Mason spends most days riding and training horses, often working with ten to fifteen in a day. Many of the horses in his care belong to other people. He feeds them, rides them, and helps bring them along until they’re steady enough to go home and be used. Starting young horses, tuning older ones, and adapting to what each owner needs is central to what he offers.

He’s worked across West Texas and Arizona, picking up methods and habits from the people he’s ridden with, then shaping them into his own way of working. He doesn’t label himself easily and tends to let the horses speak for the work. If something matters to him, it shows in how the animals move when he’s done.

Mason offers horse training, riding, and limited farrier work for his own horses and for people he knows, focusing on soundness, patience, and long-term use. His work isn’t about speed or volume. It’s about doing the job well enough that the horse is better off afterward than it was before.