New Farrier is a ?

[candyappy]

GASP – * barefoot trimmer * He also shoes, so best of both worlds.

I liked my previous farrier but he didn’t schedule ahead of time. No matter how far in advance I called he was always late in getting here, which meant my horses got long. He was always reluctant to take the amount of toe off that I wanted so when you factor in they were long and he was late, that equals long toe low heel issues, that worsened over time.

I found a farrier online who lives in the next town over. He had good reviews and the pictures of feet posted looked good to me. So I put my fears aside and made an appointment. He was here today.

After 1 trim I can see the difference in the 2 farriers and how the trim of 1 differs from the other. He was very good about explaining what he was doing and why. I do think my girls will benefit greatly from the way he trims. Only time will tell, but he took off more toe than my other guy ever did and I thought they looked great.

[tazycat]

Glad you found a good trimmer, hope he continues to do a good job.

[stb]

Nice! Good farriers are so hard to find.

[ChocoMare]

Oh that more would add a proper Barefoot Trim to their arsenal as farriers. Wise man.

[Princess_Sparkles]

Guess I am confused, because I would call this guy a farrier, not a barefoot trimmer who shoes. True barefoot trimmers are generally nutjobs who thing all shoes are evil and anyone who shoes their horses is a bad, bad person.

Any farrier worth their salt can do a good trim for a horse that is staying barefoot. In my area and at my level I would hazard a guess that farriers probably have more trim clients than shoeing clients, particularly in the winter. Even at my own barn the barefoot horses outnumber the shod ones–due to light work, being retired, or simply not needing shoes.

In my opinion barefoot trimmers try to act like they are doing some super speshul magick trim, when really a well-trained farrier can do the same thing (often better, because most farriers I know actually, you know, went to school and apprenticed with a farrier rather than taking a weekend barefoot trimming course and calling themselves a professional).

But in any event, glad you found someone who you are happy with.

[JB]

I wouldn’t say trimmers are generally nutjobs. I do agree there are some who are rabidly anti-shoe, but there are also farriers who are rabidly anti-barefoot.

I fully agree that any competent farrier is also entirely capable of trimming a bare foot, and not just some lazy “pasture trim”. The $500 barefoot pasture ornament deserves the same level of care as the $50k GP Show Jumper.

[candyappy]

@Princess Sparkles

Guess I am confused, because I would call this guy a farrier, not a barefoot trimmer who shoes. True barefoot trimmers are generally nutjobs who thing all shoes are evil and anyone who shoes their horses is a bad, bad person.

Any farrier worth their salt can do a good trim for a horse that is staying barefoot. In my area and at my level I would hazard a guess that farriers probably have more trim clients than shoeing clients, particularly in the winter. Even at my own barn the barefoot horses outnumber the shod ones–due to light work, being retired, or simply not needing shoes.

In my opinion barefoot trimmers try to act like they are doing some super speshul magick trim, when really a well-trained farrier can do the same thing (often better, because most farriers I know actually, you know, went to school and apprenticed with a farrier rather than taking a weekend barefoot trimming course and calling themselves a professional).

But in any event, glad you found someone who you are happy with.

He went to school to learn the specific method of barefoot trimming and on his website it says he is barefoot trim.
I’ve never had a horse trimmed like he did by a regular farrier.