Sorry this is honestly kind of dumb but how do people normally tell their former farrier that they’re switching? In the past, I’ve only switched because I moved barns or the former farrier was going to be away when I needed an appointment. However, I didn’t move barns so I’m a little unsure of how to communicate this without sending being too abrupt or longwinded from too much information.
- First make sure that you have another farrier in hand.
- Fire the first farrier at the end of an appointment and after you have paid him/her. that way all shoes are done.
- Make the actual firing short and too the point. Don’t get into a discussion over it. Just say “this isn’t working for me. Thank you for your work but we are going to be using a new farrier from now on.”
That’s it. Don’t get drawn into a discussion or debate. If they try just say the decision has been made and I’m sticking with it.
Some of the greatest management advice on terminating employees comes from the movie MoneyBall. “would you rather get five shots in the chest and bleed out or one in the head?”
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Agree with be sure you have another farrier lined up. I wouldn’t get into a face to face discussion with your farrier. Who needs that. At some point prior to when you’d be having him/her come out, send a simple text: “Hey, just letting you know I’m switching to another farrier. Thank you for all your help in the past.” No need to explain. It’s a business, you’re the customer, and you don’t have to explain why you aren’t using them anymore.
You’re not his boss, so you’re not “firing” him, anymore than you’d be firing Walmart if you start shopping at Publix.
Edited for clarity.
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One of my favorite sayings is “Be nice to people on the way up. You never know when you might need them on the way back down”. Unless your farrier has done something horrible, I’d try to be kind. Farriers have a unique brotherhood…
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In my opinion, which is different from others listed here: you owe the farrier an explanation. And you owe the farrier a small discussion in person.
It’s a very small world in farriery. Also, being kind to other people is a reflection of you.
So, there’s a reason why you’re switching farriers. What is it? Cost? You don’t like the shoeing? Your horse is having problems? Just be honest with the farrier. They’ve likely been fired before and they’ve likely fired clients. Just say “hey, I love your work but honestly I can’t afford it anymore with the other expenses I have,” The trainer out of my barn told my current farrier just that (he has many horses) and they’re still good friends. Or, “hey, my horse is still lame despite your changes and I want a fresh opinion.” A friend at the barn told his old farrier that and the old farrier said “Please try someone else! I’ve tried everything I know”. The old farrier does other clients and a couple of the guys other horses. No drama at all. Or, “hey, I am trying to change the angle on my horse’s feet and So-and-so is more aligned with what I think. I’d like to try so-and-so.”
Terminating anyone you’re regularly contracting without any explanation is kind of rude, IMO. The person should know why you’re firing them so they can consider changing things in the future for other clients. Or at least they can say “She doesn’t like my angles? Yeah, she needs to find someone else and I’m fine with not doing her horse anymore”. You never know if you’ll need to use this farrier’s services again. Don’t be rude!
For example, my farrier had pretty major surgery and area farriers filled in for him. When my horse lost a shoe, farrier of my friend above came out and tacked it back on. He told me to give the money to my farrier. Another area farrier came out and shod my horse at my farrier’s rates (not as pricey as his). A third area farrier learned much from my farrier / used to travel with him and used to come out to tack on shoes and a fourth farrier said he’d be willing to tack on shoes. They ALL know each other.
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I don’t really have an issue with providing an explanation, was worried that an explanation could be kind of insulting if I accidentally misphrase it so I was curious for others’ input. For reference, I haven’t used this farrier for very long so I wasn’t sure about what would be appropriate here. In the past it’s just been me mentioning that I’m moving and asking if I’m still within their range & any recommendations if I’m too far. I very much agree about not being abrupt or rude, definitely don’t want to burn any bridges!
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I have fired farriers if they are doing a bad job and/or don’t listen to me. I’ve also fired farriers for not working with my vet when needed. If it’s a bad job I just don’t reschedule. I say oh I’ll call/text . If it’s refusing to work with the vet, I straight up tell them after I’ve secured someone else and gotten a second opinion.
Your farrier will know if you aren’t explaining it correctly because you aren’t a farrier. That’s not insulting to them, it’s telling them you’re moving to another farrier for a reason you can’t explain well. That’s fine. If you’re passing on info from your vet that you can’t explain well, and your farrier isn’t taking your vet’s advice seriously, great. Great for you. You can say So-and-so is eager to work with my vet and I think that’s the best plan right now. Whatever your reason is for switching farriers, I very highly doubt they’ll argue with you, they’ll want to leave the relationship, too. Tell them in person.
Your farrier is likely NOT going to argue with you, they’ll move on to different clients.
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This is a super post. Every farrier I have worked with who filled in for someone passed the money along. You are right…they ALL know each other.
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I wouldn’t be so direct. Why make him feel bad?
Just schedule the new farrier 1 week before your normally due. Make sure it’s all good and just let your old farrier know you got it covered via text after you are sure the new guy works out.
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If you already hired a new farrier, it is fairly likely that the old one already will know he is being fired before you get to tell him. My long time farrier has told me that before they accept a new client, they ask the old farrier if they are a good paying client, etc.
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They definitely talk with each other about clients. At the farrier supply store, so I’m told.
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I had to do this after having the same farrier for over 25 years. He’d followed me through several barns, then came to my place when I had my own farm, and when I sold the farm and started boarding again, he came out there as well. But when I realized that despite being reliable and one of the nicest and most honest people I’ve ever known, he really wasn’t doing my horse any favors with how he was trimming him. The barn had a top-notch barefoot trimmer and rehabilitative farrier who has made a world of difference in my horse’s feet and overall well-being.
As hard as it was, I just texted my old farrier and told him I was going to try the barn’s farrier to see how she did. He was fine with it and told me if I ever needed him to let him know. He even texted me a few month later asking if everything was going okay and I told him it was and he said “good deal, glad to hear it.” Seriously, the nicest person, which made it easy and difficult to make the switch.
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I have never actually fired a farrier. If they do not do a job that is right for my horse I just don’t call them back to schedule an appointment. Moving of course, I let the farrier know.
I don’t see the need of criticizing their work to their face because what I expect is obviously different from all their other clients since they have plenty of satisfied customers. If they called to ask why, I would just say honestly ( and kindly) what my issue was ( none ever has).
My current farrier is the only one who schedules me again before he leaves and he is so awesome I would never fire him.
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I just did earlier this year, sucked. I waited til after the appt, but either he knew what was up or I noticed things more, such as just dropping feet after being done etc, or my Dad (who had been holding for me for about three appts in a row) hadn’t said anything and the guy had been getting away with it. Regardless, unacceptable.
Anyway, told him after the appt while writing the check. He got snarky, hucked his stuff in the truck, and departed without waving at me. Like… bro… ok.
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I guess I must be pretty good at “firing” farriers because twice I have gone back to one I “fired” after the next one didn’t work out, with no hard feelings. The first one I told honestly that I liked his work when he finally showed up but he was too unreliable. He knew that was true and didn’t give me a hard time either when I let him go or when I asked him back after a few cycles because the new guy was leaving everyone’s toes too long. We had also dated and he kept shoeing my horses after we broke up, so I guess he was a pretty laid back guy. I did eventually fire him for good though.
With the second one, I just didn’t text her to schedule the next shoeing. That felt awkward because I really liked her as a person. Then after two cycles I asked her back because, again, the CJF I had replaced her with damn near ruined everyone’s feet. She was gracious and has even thanked me for giving her a second chance because she’s learned a lot from my LTLH horse. Love her! She’s still my farrier and we sometimes joke about that time I ghosted her.
When I fired the CJF who didn’t know how to trim a foot to save his life, I said I couldn’t afford him anymore. Total lie but I don’t like to burn bridges and me saying he sucked at his job wasn’t going to make him better at it.
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Why do you want to switch?
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It’s nothing to do with skill, just factors surrounding the actual appointment. Both farriers are great at their job thankfully! Sorry for the vague information, I don’t really want to post it online since my name is not very anonymous for people in my area.
Great points.
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