My farrier (a CJF) has been doing my horses for about 15 years. He’s very good at what he does, and I pay him well for his services. However, he’s been becoming more and more unreliable over the past several months. He started shoeing on the circuit, so he’s out of town a lot, and unresponsive to messages. So, in the meantime, I had another guy come out, who is quite a bit cheaper. I feel like he did a good job, the horses are good, sound, the shoes are still on, etc. But, I’m worried. I think he’s self-taught, and does not carry the certification. Should I trust a guy that doesn’t have the certification but shoes a lot of horses and seems to do just fine? Or, should I stick with my sometimes unresponsive, expensive, but certified farrier who has been doing the horses for so long. I suck at decision making.
I look at the quality of work, communication, adherence to scheduled appointments, etc. when making any decisions about the equine professionals I partner with for care.
While I deeply respect the time and commitment required to become a CJF farrier, it is not inherently enough to make my stick with someone who was not meeting my needs.
Certified schmertified!! A certified farrier who was filling in for mine while he was having health issues was negligent and forgot to put my mares pads on front
oooops. Totally screwed up our lives together, so trust yourself and not a piece of paper. Watch him trim your horse
I wouldn’t care if a farrier was certified or not. I would be looking at who they apprenticed with and what other barns they do. While it sometime happens that top barns have a not so good farrier, generally the barns that have expensive show horses have good experienced farriers. I would not drop a farrier I had been using for 15 years that was doing a good job, but it would depend on just how far behind he gets with coming to your barn. I suppose one can be self taught at many things and be good at them, but experience is necessary to really be able to address all the various issues that can come up with a horse.
A good farrier is a good farrier. Period. Your horse doesn’t care what initials come after a professional’s name or what accolades he carries. Your horse cares that his feet don’t hurt or make life harder for him.
I used to board at a barn where the main trainer used a CJF and all but required her clients to use him, too. It was like a cult. The guy walked on water, could do no wrong…it was kind of ridiculous. I ended up at one point having to find a farrier to shoe my mare, as my farrier at the time didn’t shoe at all (mostly because she fully admitted she didn’t enjoy it). The trainer approached me one day and asked if I had thought about using this CJF. I said I’m sure he did great work, but I didn’t really care for the fact that he always had an apprentice who seemed to do everything except nail the shoe on (which was true…the guy always came with help in tow, and then would stand around and chat with the horse owner while the other farrier did all the “heavy lifting”, so to speak).
You’d think I’d slapped her. Her face fell, and she looked at me incredulously like I’d insulted her. It was weird.
If the self-taught guy does good work, your horses are happy, and the trims and shoeings are consistent, go with him.
Thanks for the input. This new guy (self-taught) is ex-Amish and therefore, does mostly buggy horses (we live in PA). I asked him if he did many riding horses and he said that he doesn’t, but then he went on to say that in his opinion, the job the horse does didn’t matter. It’s all about the horse being balanced in his foot. That is what sold me. That and the fact that he is an all-around horseman, not just a farrier, so he understands the horse beyond its feet.
Most of the farriers I have used in my 30 years of horse ownership are all about bragging rights, and shoeing big dollar show horses, etc., and to be honest, most of them trim the foot to fit the shoe (my current CJF included), instead of the other way around. So really, what is that accomplishing? This self-taught guy is not the fancy schmancy kind of guy I’ve become accustomed to, but I liked his workmanlike attitude, and the fact that he actually thanked me for calling him. Whoa. What?! I’m not used to a farrier being grateful (no offense intended to all the friendly farrier folk here, just my own personal experience)!! Maybe his not being fancy schmancy and a braggart is kind of what gave me pause, but your comments have helped me work through that in my own head. Thanks!!
One of my favorite farriers is just an old guy from knowhere whose only ever done horses in his neck of the woods. completely in fancy, man of few words…does a solid proper job rain or shine, good horse naughty horse…always exactly on time…never ever made a horse sore or iffy shoeing. Always came out right away for any issue like pulled/loose shoe or suspected abscess or laminitis–anything at all he’d be there even if it was late at end of his long day. Anecdotally—few times I had work done away…farriers that were well knwn at big barns/shows…my bad luck, only time I ended up w serious problems! The old guy I liked so much had few clients felt same way…they’d give him a nice vacation to come do their horses when they moved away!
Ummm I think you kind of closed the door on using the cfj again. “sometimes unresponsive” is a pretty subjective term but I wouldn’t exactly blame him if he became totally unresponsive now that someone else he had no involvement with has done the horse. If cfj was doing a good job you I would hope you said “hey I know your good work is in higher demand recently, but dobbie can’t wait past xx date(at least a week out unless an emergency in which you substitute emergency circumstances) please let me know if you can get to him or if you just can’t who you trust to do the same type of work that might be able to stand in for this one and let’s book the next one”
Farriers should be able to handle this type of situation without getting their panties in a bind. Everyone knows horse people are crazy and if they want their horse done right now, they are going to do whatever it takes. If he is becoming unresponsive, he is probably trying to slowly weed you out as a client anyway. If he is on the circuit and you are not in any of the big states, you can probably kiss him goodbye unless he lives locally to you. When I was traveling, we had a farrier in all three states that could help us out if we were in a bind and our farrier was in Virginia while we were in FL for example.
My farrier doesn’t work that way, which is part of why he has been such a huge problem, and I had a need to get someone else. When I say unresponsive, I mean, totally unresponsive. That’s not hours, days, etc., I mean WEEKS. Though this time around, it took him 2 months to respond. I have said nearly verbatim to him what you typed. I know you’re busy, if you can’t get to me, can you point me in a direction of someone who could step in for you, and we’ll resume when you’re not busy, etc. He has told me to text him until he answers, even if its everyday for a week, because he forgets to respond. He has been this way from day one, and honestly, I’m pretty tired of it after all of this time. They say you teach people how to treat you, and I’d say I’ve taught him well. So, firing him wasn’t really my big concern. I was more concerned with CJF vs. Non-CJF. In any event, THIS CJF was going to be shown the door. So, yes, I guess you’re right, I closed the door. :winkgrin:
As far as him weeding me out. This has been going on from the getgo. Maybe he’s been trying to weed me out for a long time? I haven’t let him go sooner because I do LIKE him, we always had a good relationship, and he does a good job, but I’m over this. He does live locally to me, he wasn’t always mr. bigshot. We’ve had a working relationship for 15 years. Unfortunately, he’s always been unreliable and unresponsive, it’s just gotten worse this time around, but it’s nothing new, so the behavior doesn’t surprise me. I do know that he has dumped some folks this year, and he hasn’t been shy about telling them. I know he’d tell me if he was quitting my horses. This is just how he is, and not just with me.
The whole point to my post though was should I be concerned having a Non-CJF do my horses’ feet, and by this thread, I’ve been able to work through that and decide that no, I shouldn’t be concerned because my horses are doing well and are sound. And as a bonus, my pocketbook will be a little heavier! Cool!
I said this to him almost verbatim. Crickets. He finally responded a few days ago, which was 2 months after me initially reaching out. He thought he had responded, but realized he really didn’t. :lol: Said he would come out and do the horses. Too bad I needed him two months ago. Did he really think I’d hang out that long? It’s really ok. He and I always had a good relationship, I don’t feel any differently towards him, but, I don’t want to keep playing the “how long will it take to get the farrier here” game. I don’t think he was trying to drop me. I know people he’s dropped, and he’s upfront with them. I know others who play the game with him. I think he’s really just scatterbrained. I’m not the type of person who demands his attention here and now, either. I reach out to him a couple weeks before I really need him because I know how he is. Please don’t think I’m crazy. Well, maybe I am a little - we all are.
The whole jist of my OP though was to work through having a non-certified guy do the horses, keep playing the game with my current guy, or getting another CJF. I think I’ve gotten my answer. :yes:
Certification in anything means that at some point in time a person met some set of criteria to receive a certificate of competence in their skill. It’s been may experience that CJFs come in as many flavors, skill wise speaking, as drivers, doctors, lawyers, real estate agents, airline pilots, etc. The ticket is the beginning of the matter, not the end.
What Guilherme said. :yes:
To paraphrase the nurses I worked with:
“That’s why they call it practicing horseshoeing”
FWIW:
My newest horse came - barefoot - from a friend who lives in Amish country & whose shoer is Amish.
When my vet came for Fall shots just after I got him he commented he had never seen such a well-balanced foot.
So I agree with your non-CJF shoer. OP - balance is everything.
Actually, she said
“he’s been becoming more and more unreliable over the past several months. He started shoeing on the circuit, so he’s out of town a lot, and unresponsive to messages.”
Unreliable and unresponsive to multiple messages means it’s time to cut the cord. It’s one thing if a horse is barefoot and has great healthy feet and can go a few extra weeks every 3-4-5th trim, but shod horses really must be done on a much more regular schedule.
Another issue is making the effort to stay current in farrier technology. We are learning so much more with the available ways of passing on information. The certification won years ago is stale unless a person keeps up with continuing education. We had to move on since the farrier of 15 years was reluctant to change his technique to fit our horses.
I’m not the type of person who demands his attention here and now, either. I reach out to him a couple weeks before I 
