Imported liquid in a bottle.
It took a long hard time to find him, so anything to keep him around.
Cash and a thank you card. I am so grateful to have an excellent farrier who is good to my horse, shows up on time and really knows her stuff.
I sound like such a jerk saying no…but No, I don’t. I pay a lot of my had earned money to him every month, and honestly I never ever see him. He comes out during the day, my barn owner holds all the boarded horses for him, and I leave a check. So I don’t even think he’d know what to do if I DID leave him something. But I don’t. Maybe if I had more money in general I’d think otherwise, but when you’re on a super duper duper duper tight budget, it’s hard to be giving :-\
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Well he got a bunch of my flight points when I booked our vacation to PR for February so he didn’t have to pay for his whole flight but he is also my little brother so of course he gets a good Xmas gift 
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I tip my farrier $50 every single time he comes to put 2 shoes in my horse, I do it at his convenience (midweek, middle of the work day) and pay $90 for sedation, because horse has shivers. That makes it $290 for 2 shoes. I’m tapped out…
Yeah, I saw a book that I thought my farrier (at the time) would really like. He was a Civil War reenactor and it was about the horse cavalry. But the present one? Nice guy, I pay a boatload of money, and while he is an excellent farrier, I have to beg, nag, email and call constantly to make sure he shows up, usually a minimum of four days later than he said he would. A Christmas gift? No. I’m on a tight budget, still working full time even though past retirement age simply to keep my (now semi-retired) horse. I only buy xmas gifts for family and my BFF.
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I give a small amount of cash as a “thank you” for a Christmas tip. My horses are no fuss or problem to work on and they are always dry, clean and the hooves are cleaned out in advance of his arrival to work on them every six weeks. If my horse needs a shoe tacked back on in-between visits during the year I tip a bit for that extra trip out.
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Last year, a gift card to nice restaurant. This year, cash. He has worked his *** off trying to figure out the best way to shoe my difficult horse. Yes, I pay him a boat load of money throughout the year but it beats having an unsound horse. No hoof, no horse.
I don’t get my farrier anything extra for Christmas. He is an awesome farrier and I am happy to have him shoeing my horse. But I pay quite a bit for his services and he has a much higher standard of living than I do.
Most of our contact is via text. We rarely see each other at all. If I could arrange to be at the barn when he is there I’d probably bring some goodies for him to share with his wife but I literally catch him in person only a couple times a year.
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I give an Amazon gift card equal to one farrier visit (4 trims).
She is worth every penny (and more). She is careful and kind to four old horses that have trouble standing on three legs. She’s always on time. Good farriers are extremely hard to come by.
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I always tip extra on my last trim before Christmas. I appreciate what he does for my mare. And finding a farrier that actually shows up on time every time, does a good job, AND returns your calls in a timely manner is priceless! I just tipped him today, it was my mare’s last trim before Christmas.
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I give him a $50 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card. (I see he drinks the stuff, always had the cups. I figure he is alway driving and can stop for a cuppa.)
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this describes my current farrier. Not that I don’t like or appreciate him but there are close family and friends I don’t give gifts to…farrier may get a Christmas card and a Starbucks card. Anything more would not seem appropriate. He’s shod my horses once so far.
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I’ve never been the person who gives Christmas gifts to a lot of people. It’s pretty much down to the hubby, kids and grandkids. I do tip my cleaning lady at Christmas in large part because I know she can use the money. I’ve never seen farriers as being in the service/tip/gift profession.
That’s just me and I’m sure you that do tip are very appreciated.
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I tip every visit. Or round up actually. So it’s about $300 a year. And my hubby brings him down buttertarts when he’s around.
I tip every visit. Period. My farrier keeps my horses sound. No hoof. No horse. I usually do cash equal to one regular visit at Christmas time.
My husband is also an equine professional (not a farrier). This week, most clients have either given him cash or sent him with a box of goodies. To be honest, he loves the homemade cookies as much as the cash gifts. It’s really not the money, but the thought behind it. Everyone loves to feel appreciated.
I like to do a gift or a gift card for both the farrier and the vet.
This year I got them both the same gift - a small box of Belgian chocolates and a gift card for a 3 month subscription to Audible. I figured that both of them are on the road a lot of the time and might appreciate a few audio books to pass the miles.
Oh, and BJ’s has a nice discount on the Audible subscriptions - three months for the price of two months. I’ll pass that information onto them as well in case they want to extend their subscription.
I also have a cold bottle of Polar Seltzer water ready for them whenever they’re here. They both like seltzer and enjoy it even when it’s cold outside.
Mine is famously cranky! A few years ago I made him some peanut butter cookies, and he told me over and over again how much he loved them. Now that’s what I give him every year. He hoards them, won’t take them into his house to share with his family, either. Cracks me up, but he’s not cranky when he does my horses anymore!
I write a check for $100 and put it in a Christmas card. I seldom have cash on hand, which I would prefer to give, so I write a check instead.
Yes. I send farrier and vet christmas cards with cash or gift cards every year.
