Woman Moves from Switzerland to L.A. for a Modeling Deal, Quits and Becomes a Horse Farrier in the Middle of the Desert Instead

She went from living in makeup socializing with L.A. socialites, to living in the mud hanging out with horses—and she absolutely LOVES it.

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Posted by Elna McHilderson

Amanda Smith decided to move from her home in Switzerland to be with her soon-to-be-husband in the U.S. They started out in L.A. where Smith landed a modeling contract. She did some alternative fashion modeling, but what really got her fashion career off the ground was her make-up project. Her makeup artistry was skilled and started doing eye makeup inspired by famous pieces of art. It was so popular that she was asked to present it at the National Gallery of London.

After that amazing experience, she decided she was done with the fashion and beauty industry. She was already going through her own problems, and the shallow scene that comes with working in this industry was not helping. So she decided to quit and start over. Her and her husband moved to the middle of the desert in a dinky little trailer and eventually Smith started apprenticing with a local farrier.

From Fashion to Farrier:

“I was very unhappy with the [fashion] industry in general at that time, so I felt like I had peeked with the National Gallery of London thing and I felt it was a great time to leave and move on to something else,” Smith says in on of her TikToks. “I was just unhappy, I didn't like the industry, I didn't like the people in it, and I really really did not like Los Angelos.” So Smith did what any person at the end of their rope would do—she abandoned her “glamorous” L.A. life and moved to a horse rescue in the middle of the desert. She started with apprenticing with a local farrier and then she went to farrier school. Now she's been an IAPF Accredited Farrier for about a year now and she's also a “Certified Equine Behavior and Management Specialist," which basically means she knows how to work with horses.

Though she came from a completely different world than fairing and she knew nothing about the trade skill, she mastered it and loves it. “I would never go back to modeling or makeup or anything like that," she says.