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  • Report:  #40993

Complaint Review: Midwest Horseshoeing School - Macomb Illinois

Reported By:
- Sherman, Texas,
Submitted:
Updated:

Midwest Horseshoeing School
2312 South Maple Avenue Macomb, 61455 Illinois, U.S.A.
Phone:
309-833-4063
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good? What's this?
If you are interested in attending a Horseshoeing school I would recommend avoiding this one!

The main complaint is that I finished the twelve week program without knowing how to shoe a horse. The instructor spent a lot of time talking on the phone, selling products (to students and customers), and shoeing horses for money during school hours. Also, the school is very unorganized and does not have a "modern classroom" as advertised.

It is clear that the main purpose of the school is to collect money without providing a proper education. I know for a fact that students completing other schools are proficient at basic horseshoeing upon graduating (usually in 6 weeks). I had to work with a farrier for several months (part-time) to learn what most horsehoeing graduates learn in school.

We did not have horses to work with on a daily basis and when we did have horses we usually had one foot to work on the entire day. We spent more time trying to make a shoe for our one foot than anything else. We had to use coal fired forges which took a lot of time to properly use.

The school was supposed to furnish tools and they did provide mediocre tools and used rasps. You also had to share the tools which was not included in the school information. We also had to re-use bent nails.

The focus of the school was blacksmithing and not horseshoeing. The school should consider changing its name to the "Midwest Blacksmithing School". We spent the majority of time making handmade horseshoes and various tools.

The owner, Roy Evans also kept my housing deposit without any explanation. I have spoke to other students who said they did not get their deposit back either.

Tim

Dallas, Texas
U.S.A.


7 Updates & Rebuttals

Steve Hedges Owner/Instructor

Springfield,
Illinois,
United States of America
New ownership and changes to Midwest

#2REBUTTAL Owner of company

Thu, September 16, 2010

Hello to anyone who may have read this report.  I am the new owner of Midwest Horseshoeing School.  I purchased Midwest in early 2010.  Many changes have taken place since I took possession.  We have incorporated the business, we have completely redesigned the ciricullum and the school is moving to a new location near Springfield, Illinois with the first class being held there in January 2011.  I would encourage you to take a look at the website and contact the school if you have any concerns or questions.  Thank you for your time.

Report Attachments

Marty

Port Charlotte,
Florida,
U.S.A.
Midwest Horseshoeing School A great opportunity

#3Consumer Comment

Sat, March 14, 2009

I attended this school in the spring of '70. At that time it was the only school of its type approved by the state of Illinois. Back then you had to have a license to shoe horses in Illinois and take an exam, administered by your peers. I still have that original license and went on to shoe race horses for 30 years on various tracks around this country and Tijuana. Without the knowlege gained, in front of a forge, I think it would have been impossible. Roy told us, at graduation, that only 2 of us would continue on. We were getting $4.00 to trim, $10 to reset and $12 for new shoes. Thanks Roy


Roy

Macomb,
Illinois,
U.S.A.
Roy - Owner and Instructor of Midwest Horseshoeing School

#4REBUTTAL Owner of company

Fri, March 31, 2006

Tim Bradley ripoff complaint from one disgruntled student out of 1300 satisfied students! Sherman Texas MIDWEST HORSESHOEING SCHOOL RIP-OFF COMPLAINT FROM ONE DISGRUNTLED STUDENT OUT OF 1300 I was unaware this report was on the internet until March 16, 2004 when one of my students brought me a copy. At this time we discussed this article and some of the comments are indeed true. But others were not and I have decided to state the facts. If one person believes this Rip-Off report that is one too many. I will answer the points of Tim's report one by one. I offer 12, 6, 4 and 2 week sessions. Tim signed up for a six week session in 2002. He then signed up for another six week to complete the full 12 week term. I am confused as to why he would sign on for the second 6 weeks if he had been disgruntled with the first six weeks. The report states that Tim did not learn how to shoe a horse. Tim could have paid more attention to my demonstrations instead of displaying affection to a 20 year old female classmate (whom he later married). He was reprimanded by me on three different occasions and by his classmates twice. One of the students commented That is sickening, if you want to do that do it at home. Talking on the phone is part of my business. Some days I may have as many as 12 phone calls, some days only 1 or 2. Many of these calls are previous students wanting some guidance about a problem horse. As it describes in the school brochure, I discuss and sell tools to students helping them set up their own business. A daily curriculum is followed very closely. Horses are scheduled on a daily basis for the students to work on. At times a student may work on one hoof or shoe 1 or 2 animals, depending on the schedule. At times I do leave the shop for whatever reasons, yes sometimes to shoe horses during the week. I employ two different reputable local horseshoers to instruct in my absence. I am confused by Tim's description of modern classroom. This is a Horse Shoeing School, not a chemical laboratory. Animals are brought in that are muddy and relieve themselves while being shod in the shop area. Coal forges are used because the heat is directed on the metal instead of the operator. If other types of forges were used, the temperature in the shop would be unbearable for the human body. Tim used the term mediocre to describe the tools and that can be interpreted in a negative way. The fact is an inexperienced student will often times use the wrong tool for an application and damage them. It would be foolish to provide new tools to be destroyed. Also, at 7 cents a nail, many horseshoers straighten out bent nails and use them. Making handmade tools is a way for the student to learn how to handle tools that they will be using for the trade such as tongs and hammers. Making horseshoes is what has to be done out in the field for special cases. It is part of what a horseshoer does. My final point is regarding the house deposit. Housing deposits are returned if the house is clean and no repairs are needed to make it livable for the next group of students. A window was broken and the house was not cleaned when Tim Bradley left. Therefore, Tim did not get his deposit back. One of my rules stated the first day of class is control your temper. At one point, Tim got mad because his shoe didn't turn out right and beat the side of a stainless steel forge hood with 2-1/2 pound hammer, making it cave in. Over the past 30 years approximately 1300 students have passed through the doors of my school. Some have gone on to be very successful horseshoers throughout the United States, Canada, Africa, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, & England. I have never had any complaints such as this. I stand strong when I say that a student will get the best training that they want but it is hard work and they must be open minded and willing to learn the trade. I feel that Tim Bradley has done this school a disservice by submitting this report. Any potential students who read this and decide not to attend my classes are being misled. Quoting the home page of Rip-Off.com Consumers, just because a company or individual is reported on Rip-Off Report does not necessarily mean you should not do business with them. You make the educated decision of attending Midwest Horseshoeing School for training to be a skilled horseshoer. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Midwest Horseshoeing School Roy Midwest Horseshoeing School 2312 South Maple Avenue Macomb, Illinois 61455 Phone #: (309) 833-4063 www.midwesthorseshoeingschool.com Email: [email protected]


G

Farmer City,
Illinois,
U.S.A.
Midwest Horseshoeing is a great school, Roy Evans a great teacher

#5UPDATE Employee

Mon, March 21, 2005

Midwest Horseshoeing school is superb. Roy is an absolute master of blacksmithing and an artist in Horseshoeing. Your experience depends on you. I attended this school for the entire twelve weeks (beginning Sept. 2004 ending in Dec. 2004) It was an excellent challenge. Roy was extremely helpful and gave you as much and more if you really tried and were honestly trying to get something useful in this trade/art from the school. Sometimes trying means you have to ask questions as well. It seemed easy at times and harder then anything you can image at other times. Roy knows a plethora of individuals in this profoession and we got to meet many different individuals while in school, and talk to them to see which area they were in, which can really help you decide what type of shoeing you might want to do. We had the luck of even having Earl Hollenback (sorry not sure if that is the correct spelling of his last name) stop in, he was another master horse shoer in his day. As far as the tools, any one who thought about this would realize you would NEVER give a new student new equipment because they have no idea how to keep the tools in good condition because they are learning the trade and in this process you can really damage or completely ruin them without even realizing it at first. Re-using nails is actually a very valuable thing to know, because it is time saving so it would actually help more money in an hour, very important in this trade because your time is money and if you take this seriously you will take all this in and use it to your best advantage in your business. What you like or dislike is largely from how hard you want to work. Horse shoeing is extreme physical labor and it appears many students did not realize this when they signed up. In this day it seems hard work is not popular along with penny pinching if it takes some work to save. So maybe Roy was misunderstood when trying to teach some valuable lessons you don't always pick up from a book. It could really depend on what state of mind your in - if you're open minded so you can take ideas and ways to do things or if you are so closed minded you can't see things in another perspective. When trying to learn which do you think would be beneficial to a student to always remember? How this school can really be evaluated is by experiencing it yourself to see, if you want the best you go to Midwest Horseshoeing School!!!


A.J.

Springfield,
Missouri,
Canada
Former Student-Same Class as Tim-Dallas, Texas

#6Consumer Comment

Thu, May 13, 2004

At the beginning of our class Roy told us we would get out of this class what we put into it. I learned a lot from Roy and now have a very successful farrier business. I did learn that after completing the 12 week session there was still a lot to learn with most of it being new and different situations. Six weeks would not be sufficient to be proficient at basic horseshoeing. We had plenty of horses to work on and they were all standing. Some schools use dead feet. On days we didn't have horses to work on we did forge work and made shoes-something you have to learn to do if you are going to be a horseshoer. Tools were shared but we did get to try tools from different companies to see which ones we liked best and learning to re-use a bent nail has saved me more than once. As far as the housing deposit-I didn't get mine back either. I am not that good at cleaning a house or toilet so it didn't bother me to contribute that $30.00. Most of us could spend more that that on a "night out". It's too bad Tim was a disgruntled student but he did spend a lot of class time-both lecture and shop-hitting on another student much younger-even to the point we told him to wait until he got home for that!!! Former student in Tim's class.


Bobbie

Moline,
Illinois,
U.S.A.
I have Comments concerning The School

#7Consumer Comment

Mon, March 29, 2004

My boyfriend has just recently graduated from Midwest Horseshoeing School in Macomb, IL. First of all I would like to Commend Roy on an excellent course of education and teaching he has provided his students with. My boyfriend came home the first day of class and relayed what Roy had said to him and everyone else. To quote Roy he told the students "You will get out of this course what you put into it" I just attended my boyfriends graduation class on 3-26-04 and Roy point blank told the students that if they EVER needed to ask a question or wanted his advise or just to call and tell him what they were doing to give him a call and hwe would gladly speak with them or offer what help he could to help them. Secondly, Roy offers a small discount to his students on the tools and equipment that the farriers need to do their job...so yes he is going to be selling products to students. If a graduated student calls and wants equipment Roy will sell it to him. Its part of his business. Thirdly, I have researched these other so called schools. Most of the schools do not even teach you how to make a shoe. What happens if you have a horse that requires something other than a Keg or factory made shoe. You have to know how to make a shoe that will work or provide something that will work to keep the horse from going lame. As for the horses, my boyfriend came home on a daily basis griping about all the horses they had worked on during the day...he said he was sick of seeing the underbelly of horses. The school provided all the tools necessary to do the job at hand. Did it provide you with one s to keep and take home...NO but he did show them how to make certain tools. As for the re-use of bent nails first off, have any of you seen the cost of a box of nails. its like 35 bucks. The purpose of re-using the bent ones...your shoeing a horse, you run out of nails in your hand, you go to the truck and your out there as well, you got a bent one...straighten it, and nail it on...ya gotta know how to get by in a pinch. Tim gripes about not having tools provided and the gripes about making shoes but he doesnt tell you that that is part of the curriculum and Roy tells you this. As for his deposit...must have been the broken window that his housemates and himself left there. Besides Roy will tellyou if he has to go in and clean up after you leave...you forfiet your deposit. Girlfriend of March 2004 Graduate


Scam

#80

Sat, January 11, 2003

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