@findeight That’s what we’ve been doing. my appointment is in two weeks, but I have scheduled him to come next week anticipating the trend of sore feet. I love my farrier so I’m not bashing but he does not enjoy doing shorter cycles on horses even if he gets paid more??? 
He’s a really funky guy but he’s the only one who has kept mare sound and we’re on farrier #5.
Why is he resistant to shorter cycles? Does it mess up his schedule of visiting certain barns and doing all the horses at preplanned intervals?
@Scribbler its a good question and one I dont
lnow the answer to. I think his schedule definitely is messed up but I also believe that he feels a little guilty knowing a shorter cycle means a little less to do for him, but would still be charging me the same ammount. Kind of a funny anxiety but he’s VERY good though not always confident in himself, and feels he needs to do A LOT to be worth something to someone.
Well make it clear it’s worth it to you to pay for more frequent trims to ensure your mare is sound. If she is nqr for a week of every cycle that’s a huge amount of time added up and ifvirs throwing out her back every time then it’s increasing the damage over time. If he can’t work you in then you need another farrier.
@Scribbler I am not about to find another farrier. Not after all the heartache and pain other farriers have caused her. We set a date, and he says if she needs to be done sooner, then I should call him and we can do it sooner. I believe perhaps conformation plays a part in why she is sore 6-7 weeks into a trim. We have made it work for us. I refuse to ride my horse whenever she shows signs of physical discomfort despite the frustrations of my trainer. To me, it is not fair to her, for all she put up with in her life, to be subjected to more pain just for a 40 minute joy ride. I can wait until she feels better to ride her.
Maybe he will teach you to rasp? You could rasp at 4 weeks, and she might be happy with 8 weeks between real trims that way.
@Gemma - she is shod on all 4, so no rasping 
she has very thin soles so that was the suggestion by the vet. I don’t know if she’ll ever go barefoot.
OK so you can get him out earlier then.
You should. If it’s hurting her to ride then it is hurting her to just walk around the paddock.
Farrier is a professional and I think you need to expect him to do what’s best for the horse. You are worrying about his self confidence…I’d be worried about your horse being too sore to ride 8-10 weeks out of the year if she needs 5 weeks and he only comes at 7 weeks…that’s nuts. She hurts even if you don’t ride her, that’s not fair.
The way he described it is “let’s schedule for 7, if she needs to be done sooner call me.” So I don’t see that as leaving her in pain? The minute she becomes sore I call him and I get him out that weekend. I don’t let her stand around aching UNTIL my appointment. If it needs to be sooner, it needs to be sooner. he comes on the weekends. I have to be present for him to shoe her. He does a very good job, why she cannot hold a 7 week cycle may just be her and I have no problems having it shorter.
For example, her last shoeing was in the middle of october. She is not sore, but her hooves are getting a little long and it’s been 4 weeks since her last appointment and I want to be ahead of the curve, so I am calling him out now.
You need to figure out a schedule to keep her from ever getting in pain, OP. All my horses get done on a 6 week schedule but I have had 4 week horses before. You shouldn’t be waiting until she hurts to call! Shorten her cycle so she doesn’t hurt because of her feet.
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@fordtraktor I’ve started doing that this cycle. We are at 4 weeks. It’s been trial and error. Her hooves have only become healthy in the recent months. She used to hold a 10 week cycle, not grow at all and only need a rasp. Now my farrier clips at least 1/2 an inch off at 6 weeks. Glad she is healthy but keeping up with her feet is not easy! It’s also expensive 
Expensive yes but remember, no hoof
no horse. This is a better place to sink your money than plenty of others. Especially if her feet are making her sore. 10 weeks is crazy long!
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@fordtraktor Very good point! And this horse is EXTREMELY sensitive to hoof angle changes so I am very on top of it. My farrier is relatively inexpensive compared to some near me so that helps.
