Nikki Van Acker, Lady of Iron 

by Cindy K. Roberts

It's a typical day...her workday begins at sunup.  Wearing her leather apron and lace up boots, she grabs her tool tray and positions her small athletic frame underneath the 1000 pound horse.  Her legs are bent, her back is straight and she's eyeing the hoof that she's working on.  Her muscular forearm is pumped; the definable blue veins show off the beads of sweat that trickle down from her neck, to her hands.  She places the shoe on the hoof, takes one of the nails out of her side pocket and carefully hammers each nail into the hoof wall.  Moments later she is cutting the nail ends...then clinching them down with both hands.  Grabbing the rasp she runs the edge of the rasp around the hoof between the rim of the shoe and the foot.  Meet Nikki Van Acker, lady horseshoer...blonde, smart and lady of iron.    

It all started back when young Nikki had been thinking about what she should do with her life and that prompted her to talk with her farrier.  He said he thought she could handle the work of horseshoeing and so Nikki started checking on farrier college.  She decided on a 5 month program at The Colorado School of Trades.  Of course it wasn't an easy thing to do.  In a trade that is male dominated, she had to earn her respect in school...some guys wouldn't talk to her.  That didn't bother Nikki, she was attending farrier school for several reasons...and talking to guys was not one of them.

As part of the program, once a month the students had to work on horses at the Sombrero Ranch in Steamboat, CO.  They had 1200 head of horses to shoe in a week from sunup to sundown.   The students brought a sack lunch and lots of drinking water.  Nikki remembers it was really intense work...trimming and shoeing  7 to 7 Monday through Sunday.  Nikki was determined and I have a feeling that she didn't have any trouble sleeping at night either. 

Nikki didn't go to the gym to get in shape for her career.   A tomboy by nature, she was prepared to give it her all.   While giving it her all, Nikki lost 30 pounds while attending farrier college.  Her body transformed into a muscular frame now built for trimming hooves and pounding nails.   Nikki recommends if you are thinking about getting into the business, prepare your body and start out doing back strengthening exercises.  "Backing up to a wall and bending over while using your legs is something you will want to work on."  said Nikki,  "I remember my first experience in shoeing.  It is very hard, and you have to have the mind set."

Nikki has been shoeing since Jan of 1999.   She is booked solid on Saturdays.  She automatically sets her appointments 6 weeks after the first visit.  This will keep her clients are on a preferred schedule.  She will take Paypal (on line payment) from clients that are not able to make it to the barn on that given day.   She's organized, likes routine as well as a challenge.

Nikki has worked on show and race horses. Her expertise is in therapeutic and corrective shoeing but makes it clear that she will not "fix" horses that do not have problems.  She does a lot of work on founder / laminitis horses and works on navicular horses.  Like most excellent farriers that are in demand, Nikki has carved out her territory...people don't hesitate to call her from miles away.  Some promise her a home cooked meal if she decides to come out and work on their horse.

The worst experience she had shoeing was while trimming a broodmare.  The horse threw her on the ground and then stepped on her hand.  Yes, that smarts and there was no workers comp insurance to make up for her lost time at work.  The other time a horse reared up as she tried to pick up his front hoof.  The horse reared and tried to strike her in the head.  Luckily, Nikki was quick on her feet that day.

Nikki recalls an unforgettable and funny experience; she drove to a miniature horse breeding farm. And   parked in front of the paddock fence to see a colorful assortment of tiny, fuzzy little devils running wild.  They were all galloping in circles in a corral. Nikki knew then this was not going to be a normal day for her.   The owner then told her she had to rope the “little darlings” first.  Nikki chuckled, "That was a treat.  First, I'm not a roper, but we got the job done.  They were like little Mexican jumping beans once you got a hold of them.  They would jump every which way and some of them would bite!  They were mean little devils."

An eye-catching statement on her resume, Nikki has trimmed goats and potbellied pigs.  Nikki says, "It helps to be flexible in this kind of business."  (Yes…that would be rule number one in the equine industry.)

Nikki now lives in Rock City, Illinois with her husband, son and her quarter horses and paints. Aside from work, the "Lady of Iron" wants to be known in the show world as a cutting horse competitor.  She is mapping out her road to success in the horse who arena.  And if Nikki can cut a cow like she shapes a shoe and drives a nail...I know she's going to make it.