There's nothing in the curriculum of California high schools—or any other high schools, for that matter—regarding the centuries-old practice of making horseshoes and putting them on horses.
That's why Bob Smith, owner of the Pacific Coast Horsehoeing School, used to train students to be farriers—the technical term for someone who makes and fits horseshoes—regardless of how much formal schooling they had. It's a good-paying job, one that comes with flexibility and independence. There are no licensing laws restricting who can be a farrier or mandating a certain level of training. If you can find someone to teach you the skill and find someone to pay you to practice it, you're all set.
At least that's what Smith thought, until the California Bureau for Private and Postsecondary Education sent him a letter last year. During an inspection of Smith's records, bureau officials discovered that he had been teaching students who lacked a high school diploma or GED certificate.
The letter informed him by a 2010 state law Smith could face fines or have his school shut down by the state if he accepted students who lacked a high school education.
"You don't have to know algebra to shoe a horse," Smith says. "You don't have to know how to read a novel to shoe a horse. Horses don't do math and horses don't speak English."
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