Certified Ferrier
L'École de Maréchalerie
Quebec, Canada
the original
Ranch Hand Handyman
Simon Nugent
Simon Nugent works alongside various successful private contractors in the Bay Area, and as a handyman and equine fitness trainer on his own.
Experienced Trainer
Paradise Hills Ranch
BC, Canada
Apprentice Carpenter
Peter's Repair Service
California, USA
ranch hand
Growing Up on the Ranch
I come from rural Quebec, Canada. I grew up with my 4 brothers on a homestead ranch surrounded by pine trees. Between work on the homestead and my godmother's herb farm and flower garden next door, I developed skills that would later become my foundation in gardening, horsemanship, and building. As a kid, I never thought of these things as three separate career paths... they were all just a part of living life on the ranch.
rider & Trainer
Natural Horsemanship
I took 3 years to learn colt-starting under the Parelli method of Natural Horsemanship in Western Canada. These skills took me around the world. In Australia, I learned animal talk and photonic light therapy, a new form of acupuncture for horses. In the Canadian Rockies, I worked on a few great horse ranches, managing and training hundreds of horses. I also worked on several stud ranches and outfitters in the North West, including the following places:
Farrier
Shoeing & Trimming
My dad's a hoof trimmer, and growing up he took me hoof trimming with him on dairy farms and horse ranches in the area. I started trimming hooves from a young age, starting with my first pony. After high school, I traveled throughout Europe studying hoof disease with Italian and German vets trying to find the cure. I then went to farrier school at L'École de Maréchalerie in Quebec where I got certified and started my own shoeing practice, carrying the hoof health knowledge from my travels with me.
groom & showman
Cavalia Horse Groom
I traveled with an equine circus across the United States and Canada for 5 years as a horse groom and entryway showman. The circus had 75 horses including 14 stallions, 49 performing artists, and 150 crew members.
gear rigging
The Largest Circus Tent
in the World!
In my early twenties, I took blacksmithing classes in Europe and lead teams of builders and riggers for tent set-up and tear-down on tour with Cavalia Odysseo. This circus operated under the largest known tent for traveling show in the world. The tent required electric H-Vac, plumbing, and high performance rigs graded for 18,000 pounds.
TOUR PHOTOS
These are a few photographs from the tour I was on. It was an invaluable experience that connected me with professional equine performers from all over the world.
ON THE STAGE:
tour photos
These are a few photographs from the stables, training arena, and tent construction.
BEHIND THE SCENES:
Husband
Starting a Home
One of my joys has been teaching fun natural horsemanship games to my wife and seeing her work with horses at liberty. She grew up in the city and has little experience with horses or farm animals, but loves farm culture and country music. She's a photographer and singer-songwriter, and many of her songs have country and equestrian themes. We're the classic country-mouse city-mouse couple, and are finding a balance between the two out here in the west coast bay area.
green thumb
Gardening & Landscaper
My approach to gardening is pretty... organic.
I don't do nothin' fancy, just work with the land and help nature do its art: healing, growing, and transforming decay into beauty.
I grew up on a biodynamic medicinal herb garden for which my dad practiced closed-circuit farming. This is a system in which the animals on the farm trim the grass, till the earth with hand-made rigs, and then in turn, fertilize the earth for the next round of new growth. This full-circle understanding of eco-friendly farming greatly influences the work that I do and the way that I think.
handyman
Intro to Building
Growing up, me and my brothers helped Dad with building projects all the time. We built a story garage, fixed the roof, lifted the house and built out the basement into a duplex, installed fences on the property, built chicken coops... everything you could imagine for a self-sustaining homestead. After learning basic building skills working with my family on the ranch, I went on to build a 3 story house with my aunt & uncle. I landscaped in the summers, and studied heavy machinery welding and plumbing out west. I'd always helped out with building projects throughout my youth and early adulthood before my apprentice carpenter career. For me it was just another way to help my community and learn new skills along the way.
CARPENTER
Timber Framing
Out in Armstrong BC, I worked with a timber framing company that built custom houses from scratch. I worked specifically in finishing beams. This meant planing, sanding, and staining the timbers that would be featured in the exposed-framing of these beautiful one-of-a-kind craftsman houses.
Building with local lumber means picking ripe trees to keep the forest healthy and taking them out with horses to a rented portable sawmill. With simple hand tools, locking the timbers together into a solid frame requires following wood joints techniques. Showcasing the finished wood work inside or out only makes sense. Using environmentally friendly materials and recycling is important.