How to find a GOOD farrier?

[Keenah]

How do you pick a good farrier? What are they key questions and things to look for (or red flags)?

As background, I am a somewhat new owner working with a trainer. I have been using my trainer’s farrier, but I’m not crazy about the results (soreness after shoeing, a little bit of mystery offness, difficult to schedule.) It’s time for a new farrier! My trainer is helping, but I also want to be educated on my own. To further complicate, I travel A LOT for work making in person meetings a bit tough. Appreciate any thoughts from the collective wisdom! If it matters, I currently ride hunter/jumper. Given workload, mare has front shoes.

Separately, if anyone is in the Tampa, FL area and has an awesome farrier, please reach out.

[Scribbler]

You need to educate yourself as to what a balanced foot looks like.

Then you need to ask folks who have horses with nice feet, who their farrier is. Also ask people who are successfully rehabbing horses with founder or navicular, and switched to a better farrier for this.

There will only be a certain number of farriers in your area. I would try to get a comprehensive list which might involve online research and talking to people.

As far as sore after shoeing you should discuss with the farrier and with your vet. Is the shoeing making horse sore or is there an underlying problem that needs to be addressed?

Honestly I think many horses dont quite prosper when owners delegate basic care to trainers.

Anyhow if you send good photos side and sole of your horses feet COTH can tell you how good a job your current farrier is doing.

[costco_muffins]

I found my current (excellent) farrier through my vet. It also allowed me to get onto the schedule of a farrier that is normally not taking new clients because of her recommendation.

Unfortunately that all happened because the poor balance on one of my horse’s feet had caused enough worry that I had to get the vet involved.

[NoSuchPerson]

It’s hard, especially if you’re not in a high-density horse area and only have one or two horses.

I used to recommend checking the farriers’ professional associations directories and looking for someone who keeps up with continuing education, but then ran into one who is certified out the wazoo and who did a crappy job. It’s still probably a good place to start, but take it with a grain of salt.

Otherwise, just ask every horse person you run into who their farrier is and if they recommend him/her. My local tack shop lady is a great source of information and not afraid to share an opinion.

[atlatl]

Check out the American Farrier Association website and look for an certified farrier in your area. I finally did that and have been happy for the last 15 years with my farrier.

americanfarriers.org

[alibi_18]

@Scribbler

Honestly I think many horses don’t quite prosper when owners delegate basic care to trainers.

When the care under a trainer is not good, you should also question the training. To me, it all goes hand in hand.

OP, you need to educate yourself about your horse’s needs. Is he older? with some arthritis? or does he have a really thin sole?
Contact your vet for an evaluation.

You need to determine the cause of the soreness first.

[tbchick84]

If you show or go anywhere there are lots of other horses, take a walk and look at other horse’s hooves. If you see what looks like a good job, ask them who their farrier is. If you just ask for recommendations, everyone is going to tell you their farrier is “the best!”. It just holds no credence. Either watch some videos or find a good book to learn how to recognize a good trim and shoeing job. You’ll be in a better position to find a farrier who will be able to shoe your horse properly.

[walkinthewalk]

What “Scribbler” said in post #2.

and yes it is hard. I had to give up trimming my own horses thanks to old injuries playing havoc in my old age. My area is over run with “shoers of horses” who talk a great game but barely know a pinch of salt when it comes to corrective work on a foundered horse.

i got really lucky and found a great farrier who also studied a year with a barefoot trimmer and prefers to leave a horse barefoot whenever possible. I found her on www.newfarriers.com then I went to my home state.

i wish you success in finding someone of high caliber:)

[Glyphica]

I’m another vote for talk to a good vet – especially one that deals with lameness issues.

[mroades]

hmmm I am a trainer in the Tampa area and I am also trying to find a good farrier…we have an ok fella, but not accustomed to h/j show horses. If anyone has any good suggestions I will be grateful.

[IPEsq]

Who works the Tampa h/j shows? I found mine by poking around the A show circuit.

[TWH_Girl]

I would check local vet clinics or hospitals as well as word of mouth. Maybe some local FB groups or local horse clubs may have referrals too. It’s so hard. When you find a good one, you just stay put.

[talkofthetown]

Do farriers really care what discipline the horse is trained for? I’ve never heard that before.

Right now I would KILL for a farrier to simply respond to my calls and texts. My poor horse is so overdue and I cannot for the life of me get a response. The one guy who did respond doesn’t travel my area.

[IPEsq]

A correct trim is pretty universal following the structures of the individual foot, but there are some shoeing differences based on discipline and possibly also breed (my farrier also does “long footed” show horses (as he calls them) that take a bit of a different approach than his h/j clients). With the synthetic footing in a lot of places, that can dictate different shoe needs. And my area, though, we tend to have too many people trying to shoe WBs like they have QH feet and they shoe too tight/too small. In some cases this is just laziness (not wanting to carry bigger shoes/pads/etc.–no, really, I’ve heard that), and in some cases it seems they think that all horses have the same conformation or deal with the same footing or stresses.

[candyappy]

I have found several excellent farriers over the years and sadly there is no magic formula.

1. I had just moved to a new state and a neighbor lady and her husband rode up on their horses to welcome me to the neighborhood . I took one look at their feet and got the farriers info. He was a keeper!

2. I moved again 13 years later and in desperation looked on the AFA website for a certified journeyman farrier in my area. He was the best I have ever had and I still miss him.

3. Moved again and put a plea out here on COTH. Farriers wife replied and I used him for several years.

4. My vet gave me a recommendation ( at my request) and he was a good one.

5. I found my current one (on a local internet website) after 3 years of being unhappy with how my farrier was doing things( I had used him previously, but his quality had changed). After 4 visits I am thrilled with how they look and move.

There were a lot of farriers in-between the " keepers" . Some were fine and with some I made do. A few , after 1 visit I continued looking. What helps is knowing what a foot should look like. I know how my horses should look and if I can’t get a farrier to do what needs doing than I keep looking. It is one of the worst parts of ownership.

Several times I have thought about learning how to trim, but thankfully I always find a good one before it comes to that!

[talkofthetown]

Yikes, interesting. I guess I’ve just been blessed with really good/educated farriers in my past.

[Scribbler]

@candyappy

I have found several excellent farriers over the years and sadly there is no magic formula.

1. I had just moved to a new state and a neighbor lady and her husband rode up on their horses to welcome me to the neighborhood . I took one look at their feet and got the farriers info. He was a keeper!

2. I moved again 13 years later and in desperation looked on the AFA website for a certified journeyman farrier in my area. He was the best I have ever had and I still miss him.

3. Moved again and put a plea out here on COTH. Farriers wife replied and I used him for several years.

4. My vet gave me a recommendation ( at my request) and he was a good one.

5. I found my current one (on a local internet website) after 3 years of being unhappy with how my farrier was doing things( I had used him previously, but his quality had changed). After 4 visits I am thrilled with how they look and move.

There were a lot of farriers in-between the " keepers" . Some were fine and with some I made do. A few , after 1 visit I continued looking. What helps is knowing what a foot should look like. I know how my horses should look and if I can’t get a farrier to do what needs doing than I keep looking. It is one of the worst parts of ownership.

Several times I have thought about learning how to trim, but thankfully I always find a good one before it comes to that!

Yes, it bears repeating that if you don’t know what a foot should look like you won’t know a good farrier when you do find one!

[luvmyhackney]

@talkofthetown

Do farriers really care what discipline the horse is trained for? I’ve never heard that before.

Right now I would KILL for a farrier to simply respond to my calls and texts. My poor horse is so overdue and I cannot for the life of me get a response. The one guy who did respond doesn’t travel my area.

They should care. How you shoe or trim can directly affect a horses way of going. You have to trim my hackney differently than you would a quarter horse and have to make sure you leave enough foot and get the break over with the shoe right. You have to sit his shoe farther back on one foot than the other front just to support the leg that is put together from spare parts.

Farriers always try to take too much foot off my guy until they see x-rays. He has a decent sized foot in width for a pony and they always want to make it smaller.

My saddleseat farrier can totally change the way a horse goes, whether winging or over reaching, longer stride, better grip on turns for road horses and ponies, pressure off hocks, etc.

My current farrier does a nice balanced foot but doesn’t take into account of variables that can make a big difference in a high level show horse no matter the discipline. But he calls me back and comes out every 4 weeks like clockwork and I don’t have a high level horse.

[jawa]

As others have said, learn what a balanced foot looks like. Which can be hard if your brain isn’t wired to see those things.

When my very good farrier, of almost 20 years now, hurt his shoulder and had to have surgery and was out for 6+ months, I asked my vet who he would recommend. He named 3 people, one he said was just really good. He told me the reason why he was really good. The vet would take x rays, show them to this farrier and the farrier could see what needed to be done. And both vet and farrier could come up with a plan to bring the horse back to soundness.

It it took my vet calling the farrier to get on his schedule. Then it was up to me to stay on his schedule. 1. Have horses in and ready before he got there. 2. Pay promptly and in cash if possible. 3. Schedule my next appointment before he left.

Since my farrier got hurt, I have been looking at feet and asking who their farrier is. Good AND bad looking feet. I want to know who to avoid as well as who to call.

[JLR1]

The best thing you can do is educate yourself to what a balanced hoof looks like…toes too long, heel under run is a common complaint with the farriers around here. Vet, trainer and other recommendations are useful, but unfortunately some farriers go on and off the recommendation list in the blink of an eye. Look for someone who has been providing good service to a trainer for a consistent number of years…not just the flavor of the month. Being certified doesn’t necessarily mean the quality of the work is always good.