THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Breaking gender barrier is not uncommon these days. But Oli Aman Jodha has set a new milestone by becoming arguably the first woman farrier in the country. She is just 14. Jodha, who hails from an orthodox Muslim family from North Kerala, has been leading a nomadic life for the past few years because of her love of horses and bees.
An ardent apiculturist, Jodha was presented with a horse named Aman Chand by her mother Amiya Taj who is also a horse rider. Though riding has been her passion, an incident of fixing a horse shoe on Aman by an amateur farrier drew Oli to the profession.
Right after the farrier from Tamil Nadu fixed the shoe on her horse’s hoof, there was profuse bleeding.
Following this, the next time Aman needed a horseshoe, Oli tried fixing the shoe with the help of family friend Sukumaran, a forest guard at Kallar in Ootty. She was just nine at the time. Later, her mother sent her to Nepal where she trained in fixing horseshoe under the tutelage of farrier Thaj at Kohalpur.
In the meantime, a national award came Oli’s way for her expertise in apiculture and even got an invitation to be the resource person in apiculture at Swaminathan Research Foundation, Wayanad, and National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad. Her stay in Hyderabad opened a new vista for her in fixing horse shoes as the place has a plenty of horses.
“In the peak time, I used to fix shoes on around 20 horses a month. I have done this in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. A farrier’s focus would always be on ensuring that the shoe perfectly matches the horse’s hoof,” she said.
It’s not an easy task to prepare a custom-made shoe. The farrier must have a sound knowledge of forging and basics of metallurgy.
Oli used to shape the metal with the help of an anvil, hammer, nipper, cutter and tongs like a blacksmith. She also has to bear some of the horse’s weight while fixing the shoe. In the case of oxen, the shoeing can be done by holding the animal to the ground, but it is done on horses in standing position. And if the farrier makes a wrong move or is in the wrong place, he/she can get trodden on easily. All the factors make the profession challenging, especially for women.
Oli has had her share of rough life at this young age. She is a class 1 dropout and had to continue her studies till class 8 through open education. Now, she is planning to write her class 10 exams. She is looked after by her mother after her father left the family. She doesn’t even have a permanent house to reside.
Future plans
Oli wants to be an equine veterinarian and is ready to tread an extra mile to achieve the dream. Not many Indian universities offer equine veterinarian course. But she is hopeful of God bringing luck in her life.