farrier here - the most common complaint I hear about other farriers is poor communication and hard to schedule. If you are trying to fix angles 8 weeks will most likely keep you behind the 8 ball forever, so I would be in the camp of if you can’t get the horse into a shorter schedule with the other barn horses I would start looking for a new farrier. Some farriers only want to go to a barn, do a bunch, only deal with the barn manager, leave invoices and never see the owners, you would be happier with a farrier that wants to work with the individual hands on owner I think. I have no idea how other farriers who don’t rebook before they leave can function - how the hell do you plan your life (and finances!) if you don’t know what appointments you have until the week of?
I have no patience for service providers like this, and I would absolutely be on the hunt for a new farrier.
If you’re going to be a service provider, you absolutely must learn a certain level of customer service. You have customers. You are providing service. I have no tolerance for people that justify their shisty behavior with “well I’m a farrier not a secretary.” Um no, you chose to go into business for yourself, you are both, and also you’re the call center rep, and the accountant, and the CEO. Act like it.
My farrier is hard to schedule, like to talk my ear off and always makes fun of me
Oh wait, he’s my brother lol
Seriously though when I get fed up with something I tend to learn to do it myself. I would pull shoes, learn how to trim and do boots or glue ons, problem solved
8-9 weeks would be a deal killer for me. no matter how good he is, that’s too long between trims/shoes.
Yeah, I prefer no more than 6 weeks. The farrier that I wasn’t a fan of kept trying to push things out because he wanted to be able to trim a substantial amount off “to make it worth his time,” but that’s not how I roll. My previous good hoof care providers never said anything like that.
He was already in the area frequently and I was paying the same regardless of how much he trimmed, but I suppose it’s up to him to decide what his time is worth, so fair enough.
So, BO does handle it for the most part which is why I didn’t ditch him before. I ask what day it is and usually just get “he didn’t send out the schedule yet”. Then at week 6 I insist, I text farrier and BO. Farrier rarely texts back and BO tells me she’ll try to get an answer. Another week goes by… nothing. I ask both again, usually don’t get response from farrier and BO tells me “Maybe you should try getting in contact with him if it’s important. I don’t know, ask him. Ect.” like it’s annoying her. I originally was doing the appointments myself and scheduling with the farrier became such a huge issue that BO offered to do them since she lives at the farm and can accommodate his availability. Every time he comes out to do my horse there’s different horses on the schedule for the day, I don’t understand why? If they aren’t on a set schedule or if the others get done and not mine?
I’ll be using him to do this last shoeing as she’s just passed the 7 week mark and already overdue and I still don’t have a date. I contacted a local equine hospital yesterday for a list of farrier recommendations and will be contacting the people on that list to switch her to someone else to start with her for her next cycle as I’ve had it. I want her on a 6 week schedule and I want to have a farrier I can speak to who is respectful towards me. I’ve never had a farrier I didn’t feel comfortable talking to until now. I’ve given the benefit of the doubt since May when we moved here and it’s just not improving. I want to do the best I can for my horse and hitting 8 weeks most cycles isn’t it and it’s miserable for me to deal with it too.
I’ve been considering learning to trim and doing glue ons. How difficult is it in reality? I would 100% be willing to commit as long as my mare doesn’t suffer for it.
I absolutely do not understand either. If I were a farrier I would have a nervous breakdown trying to figure out the schedule last minute.
My farrier before I moved was amazing. He went above and beyond for her and I. I had a paper with her next appointment date and time before he left her appointment. He always came out ASAP if she lost a shoe, came out on his day off once to help me pull a half off shoe after my old BO left me on read. Worth his weight in gold.
I try to be an easy and good client. I always give an extra $20-30 if I am inconveniencing them by rescheduling (which isn’t often) or for them coming out fast for a pulled shoe. I’m never late, she’s always ready, payment before I leave, etc. Up until now I’ve always had a good relationship with any farrier I’ve used. I think that’s partly why it’s so frustrating I feel like I’m trying so hard to make it be better and it’s just not working.
It depends I think. I took 6 months of classes but I wanted to be able to shoe traditionally as well. I think if you can do it physically and understand the mechanics of it, it’s really not too hard. Its pretty common for people in my discipline to do their own.
I personally do not find offering my service providers a warm/cold drink and maybe a snack as going above and beyond. I consider it just being polite.
This farrier seems like someone I would not want to deal with, but I would still offer him a drink and a snack if he was doing my horse.
It really depends on where you’re starting from. If you have a good grasp on the anatomy and an eye for geometry, trimming isn’t the hardest thing to learn. Starting with a distorted hoof is harder than maintaining a good one, but a LOT of people get fed up and start with crap feet. A lot of people learn to do maintenance trims between appointments before branching out on their own (obvs doesn’t work for shod feet). Plenty of people have a trimmer and apply glue ons themselves.
IIWY, I would pursue a new farrier and also start learning everything you can about hooves. Be aware that it can get a little contentious online, like anything, and not every guru knows jack about horses. It’s much easier to take on trimming and glueing in a pinch if you have a base of knowledge and some low risk experience like doing maintenance trims.
I have a thread on my experience doing exactly this. I’ll link it - it’s long and ongoing and I’m just fiddling around with my own horses and learning as I go.
I’m willing to tolerate poor bedside manner for good work. But part of good work is being able to schedule appointments within a realistic timeframe for the horse’s shoeing/trimming cycle.
As you probably should have!
It is a big red flag for me if the farrier is unwilling to answer questions.
Same would go for my horse’s vet. My horse’s chiro. Etc etc.
Unacceptable, in my book.
I get it. But, that would not work for me. I want to understand what my horse’s need and I’m going to ask questions to achieve that.
Some people would be willing to put up with that and that’s your own individual decision. Me? Nope.
In my experience, the farriers that are unwilling to answer questions are doing farrier work that is unacceptable and subpar … and that’s why they don’t want to talk about it.
I know that some day my farrier will retire. I hope it’s not for another 10 years but it will happen someday. As of right now, the only farrier I know of that I would trust is an hour and a half driver (one way) for me. And I would absolutely make that drive.
One of my horse friends (who uses the same farrier I do) used to live in Colorado. She drove 3 hours one way to get to a quality farrier. Again, I know not everyone is in the position to do that, but sometimes you have to do what it takes.
If I had a horse that did not need shoes, I would rather trim my horse myself and deal with a rotten farrier, if I didn’t have other options.
Same. When I hired my current farrier, one of my questions was “can I ask you questions and will you explain?” I interviewed 3.
OP, call your local farrier supply store. They should have names for you.
Or, they are great at doing hoof care and they are simply not human compatible.
If I had to guess, my current farrier is either just very socially awkward or maybe has a diagnosis of some sort.
To me it does not matter that he appears to not want to chat away with me. (He does thank me for the hot/cold drink and cookies. He also talks to the horses quite a bit.)
He does a fine job with the animals/hooves.
He also communicates fine over text.
I have not asked him care questions, but I am guessing if I did face to face the answer would be very short.
Local farrier supply store is a thing?
well they gotta get their supplies somewhere, right?
There are 2 within driving distance of me; I stopped in to the closest one and asked for names.
My previous farrier (now retired) ordered his supplies online.
I am not sure we have any local farrier supply stores here.
My farrier does excellent work, comes by the barn frequently, and is well respected in our professional horse community.
He is also moderately grumpy (some days more, some days less), can be hard to get ahold of at times, and has been known to fire clients he doesn’t like.
He is what I believe would be considered “old school” farrier professional, but as an adult beginner (me) he will take time to talk to me and explain things, genuinely cares about the horses, and will go out of his way to help someone in need.
Given what you’ve described above, I don’t read it as merely difficult to schedule and talk to, but rather they don’t particularly care to have you as a client, but aren’t bothered enough to outright fire you. In your shoes I’d possibly start asking around for other options. I MIGHT even ask the farrier directly if there is another person they recommend who could come out to see your horse on a shorter cycle. At least in my area farriers have some folks they will refer work out to, essentially giving the client access to two farriers for things like vacation coverage, emergency work, etc. If you think that’s a feasible option, it wouldn’t completely close the door on the relationship with this farrier (and also reduce the risk of adverse reaction on the part of your BO if that’s a factor?).
I’d fire the guy if I could. I’m too old and too cranky from putting up with crap I had to take for too long to put up with crap that I don’t have to** from someone I’m paying.
**So is there another farrier whose work is good enough for your horses’ issues, soundness and your wallet?
Otherwise, I’d have the BO handle it all. You can explain why. If they get along/she has bought him, then great. You can get in on that. But that would be the one way that I’d stay with the guy, if I had an alternative.
I’ll spare you the full rant, but riddle yourself this: If you were such a prick to deal with in your job, would money be flowing your way? If not, why are you ripping the fabric of the moral universe by co-signing this dude’s violating the first principle of how money ought to flow?
If I were you** I would not discount a young, hungry and professional/interested in continuing education farrier. Find the guy who wants to do better and learn to do better, plus grow his book. Get in on that, understand that it takes time to fix any hoof balance problems and— bottom line— employ the farrier who wants to do the corrective shoeing you need. Either he knows something I don’t** or the guy who fixes all the NPA issues but does that by making a horse wait 9 weeks for a shoeing isn’t trying hard enough to be the technical farrier you want. Amirite?
** Here’s who I am: I have been around and had/seen some very high-end farriery. I am educated in general and in this particularly. I appreciate the value of a good, technical farrier. And I have seen plenty of those guys do fine with the professional- and customer service side of the business. But I am also happy/able to coordinate a farrier and vet (often just with vet providing radiographs and his opinion, but letting the farrier take the lead since hoof balance is within his professional wheelhouse). I’m happy to ask all the questions I need in order to catch up with the professionals and understand all of what we are doing. I attend all the appointments. From this position, I think I’m more or less able to evaluate a young farrier who wants to work with me but doesn’t have quite the résumé as your old grumpy guy. I am telling you all this so as to provide context for my recommendation that you look further afield for someone who can handle your horse’s technical issues without sacrificing all the other stuff.
