I love my farrier, He does a good job, he handles horses really well, he comes when he says he will.
The problem is, is that because of the above reasons he is always busy. I have one day a week off, and I try to schedule 3-4 weeks in advanced but it seems that he is always all full the day that I have off. And if we push it back he lectures me on having my horse go to long. If it was the odd time I would take work off, but I can’t take off work every single time.
any suggestions?
Don’t let him leave without making the next appointment.
Get a competent helper who knows your horses and can be there to catch and hold them for him if you have to work. Even if you have to pay them. Sounds like this guy is worth it!
Ditto above. Either book it before he leaves for one of your days off OR hire someone to be there. My farrier is always fully booked so we have to plan ahead so the horses are always on schedule. Of course, if there was an emergency for one horse he would fit us in.
Dancing Arabians don’t know why I didn’t think of that! For this time I might just have to track some one down who is willing to hold for me!
My farrier is also hard to schedule with (or his wife is, actually) and we’ve come to an agreement that if I can’t be there, he will get me horse out and do him without me. I wouldn’t make that agreement with just any farrier - but mine has been doing my horse for 4 years and I trust him implicitly. Also, he has an assistant so he’s not there handling him alone in case something happens.
Our other agreement though, is that ideally I will get there before he’s done to check in with him and hold the mini mule for her trim (she’s hard to catch and handle).
Mine does them without me there.I leave a check and well fly sprayed horses in their stalls after bringing them in that morning. I’m his first stop so they aren’t antsy. He turns them out when done
I schedule my farrier every five weeks for the whole year. At the beginning of January he and I sit down with my calendar and his, and we book the whole year. There are occasions when one of us has to change a date, but mostly it works out well. He doesn’t have to try to work us in, and I don’t have to try to schedule visits.
My farrier recently sustained severe burns from a flashover which occurred when he was fueling the propane tank which services his forge. He’s so organized, and does such a great job that farriers from 100 km around us have stepped up to cover his appointments. I have only a 4 day wait for my next appointment, with a farrier whose practice is located 50 km from me, and thankfully after that my farrier will likely be back in action, BUT the guy who’s covering for him for our July appointment told me he’s happy to do it, he knows he won’t have horrible issues to deal with, he’ll be paid on time, and our horses are nice to work around. That situation works both ways…
Mine schedules the next appointment before he leaves.
So does mine. Plus, he always does my farm on the same day of the week, at the same time. So he’s here on a Thursday, around 10 am, every 6th week. Both he and I can count on the schedule, and it is easy!
Your work schedule is not his problem…good of you to try 3-4 weeks ahead of time but still that is only 3 or 4 days to choose from. So I would go with a 1,2 punch and ask to set up the next appointment at the end of an appointment as well as line up some one(or two or three) you could pay to hold as back up in the event your or his schedule is unexpectedly errr changed due to circumstances beyond control. Actually when I was injured and unable to hold for the farrier I let him know and asked HIM to line up the stand in and just let me know how much more it would cost me, couple of benefits that way…it would definitely someone he would like/trust/work well with and took all the hassle and stress of finding a friend who was ready, willing and able to do me the HUGE favor of holding 3 horses off of me.
I agree with booking the appointments earlier, and ideally being able to commit to the same day of the week. I would think most farriers have standing appointments with barns that take up much of their schedule, and then fit in smaller clients such as yourself around those larger appointments. He would likely ideally want to fit you in before or after another client in the area to make his time more efficient.
BTDT 
Scheduled each appointment at the end of the last appointment. When I couldn’t be there, I hired help for the farrier.
Then farrier said for $10 his assistant would do it, or he would manage without assistance since the horse practically ground ties, so we did that.
Now the farrier says he doesn’t need help to do my horse and he will pay me $10 to stay away, he & horse are such good friends now, they have their routine down and I am just a distraction … :lol:
Horse stands for farrier with rope over his neck and his foot in the air. He didn’t learn that from me, somehow … :winkgrin:
And btw, at one point when I had just moved barns, was somewhat between farriers, still had scheduling difficulties and needed to get the horse’s feet done, since I couldn’t be at the barn per the farrier’s scheduled, I agreed with him to trailer the horse to where he was working on a particular day. That’s kind of a radical option, but it is something that can often be arranged.
[QUOTE=OverandOnward;8205637]
BTDT
Scheduled each appointment at the end of the last appointment. When I couldn’t be there, I hired help for the farrier.
Then farrier said for $10 his assistant would do it, or he would manage without assistance since the horse practically ground ties, so we did that.
Now the farrier says he doesn’t need help to do my horse and he will pay me $10 to stay away, he & horse are such good friends now, they have their routine down and I am just a distraction … :lol:
Horse stands for farrier with rope over his neck and his foot in the air. He didn’t learn that from me, somehow … :winkgrin:
And btw, at one point when I had just moved barns, was somewhat between farriers, still had scheduling difficulties and needed to get the horse’s feet done, since I couldn’t be at the barn per the farrier’s scheduled, I agreed with him to trailer the horse to where he was working on a particular day. That’s kind of a radical option, but it is something that can often be arranged.[/QUOTE]
I would take the $10 and run. but not far.
Slightly off topic. When y’all say “hold the horse” are you literally holding the horse rather than tying or cross tying it? My farriers have always either tied to a rail (before I had cross ties) or cross tied. Hence why mine can do my horse without me. Of course, all of my QH (except one) have been/are very reliable at tying.
I mean hand on a leadline hold…once a horse all the sudden went into some kind of gas colic or something while farrier was there alone just tacking on one shoe real quick…all the sudden pulled back snapped the ties bolted around like a maniac intermittently throwing himself on the ground for 5-10 minutes, then shall we say “audibly released a big gas bubble” was able to be caught and started to graze…yes vet was called. Anything can happen and usually does when you least expect it.
I have a standing appointment with mine every 4th Friday. It’s easier than having to remember to catch up with him and pick a day.
OP - always schedule a day before he leaves.
[QUOTE=UrbanHennery;8205794]
Slightly off topic. When y’all say “hold the horse” are you literally holding the horse rather than tying or cross tying it? My farriers have always either tied to a rail (before I had cross ties) or cross tied. Hence why mine can do my horse without me. Of course, all of my QH (except one) have been/are very reliable at tying.[/QUOTE]
I always hold the horse with a leadrope - too many things can go wrong at once and with a live human being under the horse most of the time I just find it too risky.
Huh. I wonder if that’s a discipline thing. At least in all the western barns I’ve ridden at the farrier shows up, checks the board, pulls out the horse(s) on that day’s list, puts them in the cross-ties, and gets to work. Clearly he does this one horse at a time. The only horses that get held by a client or assistant trainer are those that are young and/or known to be difficult or those needing special shoeing in which case the trainer and/or vet are likely present.
Even when I am home for the shoeing appointment, I only stand at my horse’s head and hold the lead rope if he’s being antsy or spooky. Otherwise he’s usually asleep in the cross-ties with his foot in the air and I’m in the area either doing tack cleaning or gossiping with my farrier while he works.
ETA: to be clear, I currently keep my horse and mini-mule at home so if I’m not there, no one is.
[QUOTE=UrbanHennery;8205794]
Slightly off topic. When y’all say “hold the horse” are you literally holding the horse rather than tying or cross tying it? My farriers have always either tied to a rail (before I had cross ties) or cross tied. Hence why mine can do my horse without me. Of course, all of my QH (except one) have been/are very reliable at tying.[/QUOTE]
I always held. Safer than tying. Plus you can move the horse a step up or back if they get in a poor position. I consider it my job to make sure that the farrier is safe, ie I watch the horse for signs of trouble and make sure he’s positioned in such a way that he’s steady on his feet. I pay the farrier to trim (and shoe, if called for), not to handle the horse.
To the OP, I always scheduled two in advance.
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