Farrier stressing me out

[LovieBird]

Disclaimer: I’m not sure what I’m looking for here. Commiseration? Advice?

Our farrier is great and my horse’s feet have never looked better. However, he is hard to get ahold of!

I’ll say “horse is due next week.” He’ll say “ok.” Next week comes and I usually won’t hear from him, so I’ll text “Think you’ll get to horse this week?”. He’ll say “Yes, on Wednesday.” No time, no AM/PM, nothing. I’ve basically been taking off of work and sitting around waiting for him to let me know when he’s on his way. Sometimes he says “On my way” and I have to run out there (I live 35 minutes from barn). Other times, 5 pm comes and I still haven’t heard anything. He does come out late sometimes, so I’ll text him “Think you’ll get to horse today?”. Usually nothing. That’s our typical interaction.

I’ll add that I try very hard to be a good client- have my horse in the cross ties and ready (sedated), don’t make too much small talk or be annoying and pay him right away. I don’t contact him unless I have to and give him plenty of time to reply before reaching back out (days). I would think that maybe he’s trying to fire me, but once he actually comes out, all is well. It doesn’t seem like he’s irritated with me.

WHAT. THE. HECK?!

[showy]

I’ve been there and the farrier was married to my then trainer.

I would explain your work/ drive to the barn situation. If it doesn’t change, find someone else.

[cutter99]

You need to be direct with him and ask point blank. Explain to him very nicely and politely what your work situation is, and that you need to be able to schedule specific time for appointments. If he cannot do that, could another option be explored?

Communication is key in any relationship, especially when it is involves a live animal and the person whose earnings support said animal!

[LilDunFilly]

@LovieBird

Disclaimer: I’m not sure what I’m looking for here. Commiseration? Advice?

Our farrier is great and my horse’s feet have never looked better. However, he is hard to get ahold of!

I’ll say “horse is due next week.” He’ll say “ok.” Next week comes and I usually won’t hear from him, so I’ll text “Think you’ll get to horse this week?”. He’ll say “Yes, on Wednesday.” No time, no AM/PM, nothing. I’ve basically been taking off of work and sitting around waiting for him to let me know when he’s on his way. Sometimes he says “On my way” and I have to run out there (I live 35 minutes from barn). Other times, 5 pm comes and I still haven’t heard anything. He does come out late sometimes, so I’ll text him “Think you’ll get to horse today?”. Usually nothing. That’s our typical interaction.

I’ll add that I try very hard to be a good client- have my horse in the cross ties and ready (sedated), don’t make too much small talk or be annoying and pay him right away. I don’t contact him unless I have to and give him plenty of time to reply before reaching back out (days). I would think that maybe he’s trying to fire me, but once he actually comes out, all is well. It doesn’t seem like he’s irritated with me.

WHAT. THE. HECK?!

Ooo, he must come from the same school of thought as my (former) farrier. Farrier was great with my girl’s hooves but flaky. He wouldn’t come regularly; I could schedule it for X day, call him 2 days before to get confirmation, and then he’d no show/arrive at 6 pm when it started getting dark. Nothing I could do would get him there and so I switched farriers.

I’ve seen a lot of people hand-wave poor communication with horse-related carriers as just part of the package, but I disagree. I’ve met plenty of farriers who show up on time on the day they said they would. There are just a lot of others who still retain clients despite being flaky.

[trubandloki]

I agree with @cutter99!

When he shows up talk to him about how your job works and how you can’t just not know when he is coming.

Communicate clearly. Express how you love how Dobbin’s feet look during this conversation too.

Either this farrier can accommodate your need for some sort of schedule or they can admit that they simply do not work that way and you can find a different farrier.

[KBC]

Empathy, all kinds of empathy. The guy I have been using is supposed to be the best locally, so when my vet suggested putting shoes back on my gelding, he was shod last summer, barefoot in the winter, I called the same person and asked if he room on his list. He said he did, great, he then made two appointments, only to no show, when it was 3rd time lucky I then booked my next appointment 5 weeks ahead…guess what, no showed.

I’m over it, he had lost a shoe, got barn owner to pull the other one, vet visit tomorrow, hopefully, no more shoes needed

[Xanthoria]

I’ve never yet encountered such an unprofessional profession as farriers.

My farrier hasn’t responded to any texts from me since June. Horse gets shod without me there at the barn and farrier deals w my trainer only it seems.

This is all because my vet took rads and requested a shoeing change so I guess farrier is on a permanent sulk with ME now? I’d drop him like a hot brick but horse is being shod… anyway the big princess on thin ice…

We need a horse owners union. We all go on strike and dump farriers who are acting like babies and wasting our time. Who’s in???

[RMJacobs]

I had an excellent farrier whom my horses loved who got very flakey. DH and I were worried at the farrier missing an appointment then not answering phone calls for weeks at a time, to the point that DH actually drove out to the farrier’s house to make sure he was OK. He was fine. We ended the relationship.

I ended up with one lousy farrier who got fired quickly, another who was unnecessarily harsh with my horses, and then got lucky and found someone (friend of a friend) who was our farrier until we left the state years later. The horses loved him, he did a great job, and he was a very nice guy. I felt I’d won the farrier lottery.

Rebecca

[trubandloki]

@RMJacobs

I felt I’d won the farrier lottery.

This is an amazing feeling, isn’t it?

I had that for lots of years. Then he retired.

[RMJacobs]

I was lucky that my farrier was significantly younger than I was. He wasn’t going to retire with young children still at home. Luckily he loved the work.

Rebecca

[Sdel]

I have to say, I love my current farrier. The last one kept my horse too short/sore and I also had the never ending question of “what day are you going to make it out here”?

The current guy tells me all the time my girl is his favorite in the barn. He puts her where he wants her and she doesn’t move. Last visit we found out that he dated my aunt in high school. He’s been told he isn’t allowed to retire.

[SusanO]

Do you not make your next appointment after he does your horse? My farrier does that and texts me the night before my appointment to make sure we are still on. Now if he would just take off a little more toe…

[173north]

I had a GREAT farrier but same situation, down to having to drop everything and run to the barn to hold horses, show him rads, etc. And then he was amazing when he was actually there, so we just put up with it. He just dropped our whole barn so our vet’s farrier is taking over - I was told on Monday that my horse would be done at 9 am on Thursday! If he’s decent at his job I’m going to be in heaven.

[Sdel]

@SusanO

Do you not make your next appointment after he does your horse?

My old one did not. He’d give you a week but he didn’t make the decisions as to who he would do on which day until the night before based on what he had going on during that week…

[KBC]

@Sdel

My old one did not. He’d give you a week but he didn’t make the decisions as to who he would do on which day until the night before based on what he had going on during that week…

I had one like that, drove me crazy BUT he never missed a visit, and was so patient with my horses he was so worth putting up with. He was the only one I’ve had that when he texted tomorrow at 6? I responded with am or pm?

[Sdel]

@KBC

@Sdel

My old one did not. He’d give you a week but he didn’t make the decisions as to who he would do on which day until the night before based on what he had going on during that week…

I had one like that, drove me crazy BUT he never missed a visit, and was so patient with my horses he was so worth putting up with. He was the only one I’ve had that when he texted tomorrow at 6? I responded with am or pm?

I might have put up with that but I wouldn’t hear anything until 11pm at night and then he still wouldn’t give a time and usually showed up with 3 kids under 5 that proceeded to crawl around my barn.

[KBC]

Oh gad, NOOO

[Warmblood1]

Yup. The impossible formula - a skilled farrier that can ALSO maintain their schedule.

I’d ask how much notice he needs to schedule. Then I would contact him and ask, with their preferred amount of notice, specifically what day and time works for their schedule. Then I follow up the day before (or they do) and confirm.

If that doesn’t work, get a new farrier. Check the American Farrier Association website and search for Certified Journeyman Farriers near you. Contact whoever is in close proximity and ask if they service your area. They should ask you some questions like what you need and number of horses if they are serious about scheduling.

If you can’t find one there, ask local eventers or foxhunters or whoever, who they use and who is consistent.

And if you manage to find someone good and reliable, be a great client. Sounds like you have it covered, but I always have the horses waiting for the farrier, pay at time of service, and work hard to make it as easy as possible for them.

Don’t be afraid to cut your losses and find the right farrier. They are usually out there, it just takes some digging.

[Texarkana]

You have ALL my support.

Growing up, that’s how every farrier I knew operated. I thought it was standard practice.

I moved away from home and had some consummate professionals for farriers. I thought what I had experienced in my youth was a thing of the past.

Then I moved back to the general area and oh my god nothing has changed. The majority of the farriers operate on standard farrier time around here. Maybe they will show up, maybe they won’t. Maybe they will answer your call, maybe not.

Pretty much the only reason I use the person I do is because they can adhere to scheduled appointments.

[OnDeck]

I wouldn’t even try to fix this relationship, personally. He clearly does not respect your time and nothing will change that.