Smoke billows up from a horse's hoof as Tom Siegenthaler presses the red-hot shoe to the pony's hoof at Kocher Farm. At 62 years old, Siegenthaler still spends the majority of his time shoeing horses, spending time with his horses, and working in his blacksmith shop. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Tom Siegenthaler heats up a horse shoe to shape it to the horse's hoof at Stone Fence Farms in Centre Hall, Pa. Siegenthaler quit construction work in his twenties to go to horseshoeing school. He has been a farrier for 38 years. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Tom Siegenthaler uses a file to shape the horse's hoof at Stone Fence Farms in Centre Hall, Pa. His love for working with his hands started when he worked in his father's wood-working shop as a kid. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Tom Siegenthaler takes a moment to examine the horse's back hooves while his assistant, Dawson Young, files the toe of the horse in preparation to remove the shoe at Kocher Farm. Siegenthaler has taught four or five assistants over the years. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Siegenthaler's bills are posted on the bulletin board at Kocher Farms, the stable where the Penn State Equestrian Team rides, on November 11, 2014. He went to horseshoeing school in Steamboat Springs, CO. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Tom Siegenthaler hammers a hot shoe into shape on his anvil at Kocher Farm in Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Tom Siegenthaler glances back in response to a horse whinny before stepping inside his blacksmith workshop in Spring Mills, Pa. He used to do a lot more metal work, but now only does it once in a while to make gifts for friends and family. / Photo by Haley Nelson

The light of the coal-burning forge lights Tom Siegenthaler's face as he heats the piece of iron to the point where he can hammer it into shape in his workshop in Spring Mills, Pa. / Photo by Haley Nelson

A stack of veterinarian and farrier books sit on the work bench beneath handing tools in Tom Siegenthaler's workshop behind his house in Spring Mills, Pa. Siegenthaler hopes to retire from farrier work within the next five to six years. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Sparks fly across the room as Tom Siegenthaler hammers pieces of iron together in his workshop in Spring Mills, Pa. He is making a basket handle for a barbecue fork as a gift for his 22-year-old daughter. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Tom Siegenthaler's personalized spurs sit on the workbench in his workshop in Spring Mills, Pa. Siegenthaler learned riding in the English style, and then switched to Western, taking up trail riding and then roping. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Tom Siegenthaler talks quietly to his old horse, Fred, in the stable behind his house in Spring Mills, Pa. He and his friends used to call the pony "Fast Fred" because he was so quick when out roping cows. Seigenthaler has owned Fred for 10 years and feels like he and the horse have become old men together. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Swinging the lasso, Tom Siegenthaler prepares to toss the loop over a pair of plastic steer horns in his backyard stable in Spring Mills, Pa. He says that a roper should be able to lasso the dummy 100 times in a row before attempting to rope from the back of a horse. He is part of a roping team in the dry season. / Photo by Haley Nelson

Tom Siegenthaler glances over at Fred as he leads him back to his stall after a grooming in Spring Mills Pa. He says that once you have horses in your life, there's no giving them up. / Photo by Haley Nelson