Farrier stressing me out

[Meshach1]

My farrier and I were just talking about this at my appt this week.

He said he and one other farrier are the only ones in the area that schedule appts in advance. I could tell you for the next year when my appts will be – every 5 weeks on the Tuesday at 5:30AM. He arrives on the minute at that time. I’m an early rise person so this is perfect for me. He said to me “you would be surprised at the amount of people who do not like a schedule” His theory is that some people like the thrill of the chase like oh trying to get him, trying get him, I GOT HIM! whooott!! lolol

Subject came up when I was mentioning one lady who was frustrated that her farrier was two hours late with no call and then took 3 hours to shoe her horse.

[MorganMaresVT]

@Night_Flight

Wouldn’t it be easier on everyone for a farrier to just keep a standard schedule for all of his or her clients? Is there a reason why more of them don’t just keep a consistent schedule?

This is definitely how mine works- after he’s done with the last horse, he goes to the truck and grabs his book, I have my calendar on my phone, we pick the day/time. He texts me the night before saying, “Are we still on tomorrow at 8am?” and he’s pulling in the driveway at 7:59. I’m fortunate he lives about 10 minutes from my farm so rescheduling is possible if I have something random come up at work or have an emergency. And when he’s needed flexibility (e.g., when he got behind during two weeks of 90* weather), I am happy to reschedule to help him out.

[Pico_Banana]

Farriers can be a very touchy group, too, which makes all of these issues even more difficult.

Agree with comments that women farriers tend to be better on communication.

[rockymouse]

We live in a ranching area where most people shoe their own horses. I don’t have that skill and my back won’t let me attempt to learn it. It is very, very difficult to find a farrier - and by that, I mean any farrier. We had a friend’s husband barefoot trim for some years and he was okay. When he moved, we lucked out and got a guy in his 20s whose wife assisted him. Great people; they became friends. He was certified, he was reasonably easy to get hold of, and I made sure that things were great for them when they came. Our horses’ feet were amazing. This happy existence continued for six years.

Well, he’s suddenly been offered and has taken a straight job. One guy is talented but his substance issues make his work inconsistent and his scheduling a nightmare, eg, doesn’t show up. One guy didn’t return calls. The last guy writes to say he doesn’t shoe for the public anymore. I was actively thinking I might have to somehow get rid of these animals when my neighbor tells me that a farrier from years ago still does it. Hallelujah.

He’s 68 years old. Slow as can be. His work is only pretty good. But - he answered the call, he showed up when he said he would, he says he’s not retiring for a few years and you’ve never seen a more gentle hand with horses. Pretty good is good enough for now.

[candyappy]

I changed farriers for this same reason. It escalated to where even if I called 3 weeks before I needed him he just couldn’t seem to get here within that time. I just couldn’t handle it anymore.

I would ask him if you can schedule a time when he is there? My new farrier does and it is wonderful. If not start looking.

[atr]

Mine schedules ahead. And he’s really good. And he only does my one horse in the barn–but he has to drive past the barn to get home. He’s also a nice guy who is fair to my horse.

My last one I had for many years. But he got very unreliable and his work got inconsistent. Substance abuse issues related to old injuries, I believe. I tried to be a loyal client and make it work but he finally ghosted me completely at a very inconvenient time.

I’m extremely grateful for my current guy. He’s more expensive than the barn farrier, who is OK, but mine does a better job in my view.

[Pokerface]

Goodness, this thread has reminded me how hard it can be to get and keep up with a good farrier.

My farrier is great, we recently put shoes on my horse for the first time and it’s been a lot of adjustment as we figure out what works best for my guy. Farrier checks in regularly and is great to talk to and kind to the horses. My horse is a bit funny about his feet/legs, so I had anticipated more issues than we had with the first shoeing, horse did great, I expect a lot of this success is due to a calm and patient farrier. It also helps that his wife rides at my barn, so he’s around a lot . This thread makes me think I might owe him a 6 pack!

[LilDunFilly]

@MsM

A couple of younger ones had career ending injuries or conditions.

That was an issue with the flaky farrier I mentioned upthread. Sometimes when I DID get ahold of him it was only for him to tell me that X horse had kicked him in the back so he was off or that he had stitches in his hand from horse Y. I was always of the mind “oh thank God you are ok” followed up by a “this happened a week ago and I’m only being told now that you are no-showing”.

[sweetsalute]

My farrier schedules the next visit once he’s packed up after shoeing! He’s usually very good, on occasion he’ll text/or call if he’s running late or has to reschedules such as when he came down with covid.

I feel very lucky, he’s the best in the area and despite me being off his very busy books for a few years while pony was barefoot and I trimmed myself, he was happy to slot us back in! I still trim the young horse myself, but he runs his eye over her feet for me, and is happy to do little touch ups if I need a hand (and doesn’t charge me for those so extra yay!). I was pretty chuffed when he told me that if I hadn’t said I was doing my own trimming, he would’ve thought it was one of the other really good farriers around.

[KBC]

I guess I might understand a bit better…maybe. Was chatting to someone about my farrier woes, their response “sounds like he fell off the wagon again” very sad if that the case, another talented guy possibly ruining himself through drink, if this is true, I really hope he finds his way back to the wagon.

[stb]

@Sdel this is exactly what my farrier does. It drives me crazy, because I really, really prefer an actual appointment well ahead of time so I can plan MY week. However, my guy does a really good job, is great with the horses, and is totally reliable. He has never no-showed or left me hanging.

There have been times where I have had to tell him that the time slot he has given me will not work. He does always figure something else out, although I can tell he’s not entirely happy about it. I will say at those times I am tempted to say “well, if I had known you were coming I wouldn’t have scheduled whatever thing I have scheduled”. But I bite my tongue and keep quiet (which is totally off brand for me, BTW).

[endlessclimb]

I left an otherwise very good farrier for a “new guy on the block” for scheduling issues. I told the farrier to his face why I was leaving him. My horses were always behaved, and I left him a blank check that I never questioned the dollar amount on. I will not tolerate 2-3 weeks of “yes I’ll be there” and then he’s not. It was happening every cycle.

New guy is great. He’s always on time, and really took a good look at the xrays I had done recently, and adjusted the shoeing accordingly. Also listened to me when I told him that she was tripping, and really reassessed her shoeing at that time to help find a solution.

[Minxitbabe]

Gosh this thread makes me cringe! I have been in the same camp as everyone else with the hope they get back to me before horses feet are so ugly I can’t take them out in public. It drives my husband insane. Like another poster he just cannot believe that there is such a large part of a profession that is flat out unprofessional! I have switched farriers multiple times as I have switched barns and young or old the song and dance is usually the same. I have had one female trimmer and while she was always on time you usually wouldn’t know she was coming out until the night before. I sympathize that not everyone has well behaved horses like I do and sometimes things happen that making a real solid arrival time can be hard. I do my best to have mine ready when I get the heads up that farrier is heading my way. Sometimes the barn owner sucks at their job though and the horse that should already be inside and had breakfast isn’t and it is 9:30… But that is another story all together. My one mare that has been my constant for the past decade is a slow grower so I am often in a position of farrier just wants me to call when she is ready but that kinda sucks when they take 2 weeks to get to you.

[appendix100]

I think the profession is unreliable because horsepeople tend to tolerate it/make excuses for them.

My last farrier tended toward 20min late, & I was starting to question some other things. Then we had a snowstorm, he showed up 1 1/2 hours late the next day. Called me to say he was there, told him I was no longer available. Excuse was he didn’t have cell service where he lived & he had to plow himself out before he could get down the mountain.

1. storm was the night before, so he knew he had to plow - get out of bed & do it so you can make your appointment on time. This wasn’t a surprise overnight storm.
2. knowing where he lived, no he did not have cell service at his house, but he did have it for the last 45-60 minutes of his drive, why didn’t he call me then & let me know he was running late. I would have been OK w/ that.
3. Then he wanted to just go do my horses unattended NOPE NO WAY!!
4. then he tried to guilt me about how he’d just have to eat the gas for the trip down. Yes, your fault, your consequences.
   We parted ways.

I have them ready, I pay promptly & they all stand well for the farrier. If we do something different (like hot shoe for the first time) & they are squirrely, I sedate sooner rather than later. I schedule the appointments for the next visit before they leave. I am happy to move an appointment if they need it done as long as they let me know. In return I expect them to show up, & do their job professionally. Not that much to ask.

[SusanO]

I had one of those. I had three horses to trim and I lived in the boonies. The person I was using was fabulous but then she had a high risk pregnancy so she had to stop and this guy said he wanted to take over her clients. I didn’t think he wanted to drive out this way just to trim three horses but he swore that he had other horses in my area and wanted the work. It started out great. He did do a good job and I was able to get him on a regular basis. Then he started getting squirrely.

I wasn’t retired so I had to take a vacation day or half a vacation day to get it done. Then he started to call me with the excuses at the last minute. " I have to pick up my son at school" - It was July. No school." I dropped my cell phone in the toilet and I will be three hours late" when I had been taking a vacation day and sitting there since 8AM." I just broke my hand yesterday when a colt kicked me. It will be fine next week because I am taking the cast off myself next week".

He was a pretty funny guy and when he finally showed up we were talking mortgages and paying bills. His wife was a RN and I gathered she made more money than he did, He said they kept their money separate and they had a contract - he paid the mortgage and she paid for everything else. But they had rolled all their debt into the mortgage payment and he felt like he was getting a raw deal and wanted to redo their “contract”. So I kind of figured out his MO. He worked until he had enough to make the mortgage payment each month and then stopped working. So since I was not in his vicinity he only showed up here when he didn’t have enough $$$ to make the mortgage payment. I found somebody else.

[Obsidian_Fire]

There are so many threads on ‘farrier issues’, on FB, here, wherever. Just as many ‘bad clients’ too. Holding their feet to the fire doesn’t really work, at least not where I am, because there just are not very many truly good farriers around here, and those that are, totally booked up and usually working only at barns where they can do multiple horses at once.
Those of us with one or 2, maybe a drive away, get short shifted. They know they have us over a barrel. It’s too bad.
I am so damn grateful to have the farrier I have. I am beyond lucky I got into him before his book got so full he quit taking new clients. Let alone problem horses. (not behavioral, but conformational). He is an absolute gem and I make sure I tell him on a regular basis. Wish I could clone him to replace all the sucky farriers out there!

[OnAMission]

I’m really glad that my husband learned to shoe/trim horses, well enough to do it for others in the past, with a vet’s blessing. I feel like I have just a slight edge on getting the horses done now compared to the distant past! And I’m not saying he’s johnny on the spot, just a little more under my control lol He’s good at it but… cobbler’s children here.