Thinking back to the first time I had to cold shoe a draft horse in the rain

Last week I was teaching a new kid how to shape a shoe, and he pulled out his phone to check a video. Three years ago, I was in a barn near Salem, Oregon, and my old boss just had us watch him do it once, then handed us the hammer. I remember the rain coming through a hole in the roof, hitting the anvil. We used to learn by feel, not by screen. Now everyone wants a perfect reference before they even start. Does anyone else feel like that hands-on trial and error is getting lost?

3 comments

3 Comments

lisa_jones213mo ago

My cousin tried to follow a YouTube tutorial to fix his sink and flooded the kitchen. @johns18 is right about messing up being the point. I see it with my friends too, they won't even try a new board game until they've watched a full how-to play video online. It's like everyone's scared to just touch the stuff and figure it out as they go.

xena_anderson1mo ago

Yeah I was thinking about this too, and what hits me is it's not just about being afraid to mess up but also losing the whole mental map you build. When you watch a video you skip the part where your hands learn the shape of the tool and the sound of the metal. @johns18 is spot on about the scrap metal thing though, that freedom to fail ugly is how you remember what works.

johns183mo ago

That "learn by feel" thing is how you actually build the skill. Tell the kid to put the phone away and just bang on some scrap metal first. Messing up is part of the job.