How long do you wait, on average, for your farrier to come replace a lost shoe?
Two days for my working horses. 3-4 for my retired horse (different farrier)
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Depends. Is my farrier magnificent? ( check yes he is ). Is my horse a 1400 pound overstepping warmblood that gets squirrelly regularly. Can I bring my horse (trailer) to him to his podiatry farrier shop ? Yep. Then I haul and still pay him. Do I expect he will drive out ? Well. That should be compensated. If your farrier is as good as mine. It will cost you. And he came out 1 week later. The one time he came to me. I guess my point is are you losing shoes because of the quality or is your horse removing them like a fiend.
There’s a difference And I guess it also depends on the availability of Farriers in your area and how good your current Farrier is because if you find a good one, you do not want to do them wrong
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Same day usually. Next day is the longest I have had to wait. But my farrier limits his practice to a very limited geographic area around his own farm, and unless he is on vacation he is usually working very close by. And when he takes a vacation, he will move us all up a bit so our horses get new shoes shortly before, and his long term assistant keeps his truck and covers urgencies.
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I hope you realize how lucky you are.
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I was extremely lucky to always have wonderful farriers, especially since I had to move around with the military. Average wait time was 0-4 days.
Have to explain the 0. One of my mares, OTTB, went through a period where she was ripping off shoes regularly. We never did figure out exactly why since she didn’t do it before or after, but she was always a rabble-rouser in the pasture and needed special shoes prescribed by Dr. Bill Moyer at New Bolton Center. My farrier had coordinated with him about exactly what she needed, and they took quite a while to make.
Luckily, my farrier lived nearby, so he could always pop over when I would get to the barn after work and discover a missing shoe. One evening I arrived at the barn and saw my farrier’s truck. I walked into the barn to find him working on my mare. Unbeknownst to me, he had gotten into the habit of stopping in before going home. Apparently, I had interrupted him in the middle of dinner more than once, so he figured he’d check on her before he went home to settle in for the evening. And it gets better. He wasn’t making a new shoe. He had gone out to the pasture and found the one she had lost since it only had about 3 weeks of wear on it.
Best farrier ever!! Thank you, John. Love you and miss you so much. 
RIP John Kirsch
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Since I live in a horse farm development with over 200 hobby farms my farrier frequently is driving past my place. Last year I was picking manure in the front pasture and found a shoe. As I picked it up my farrier was just cruising down the road. I flagged him down and It was taken care of. Pretty good timing. And the last time I forgot to put bell boots back on too.
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Sounds like the perfect place to live for horse people. Now if there were just a beach next door, it would be perfect for me, too. 
ETA: Beautiful horse!
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I like it to be less than a week. Mine is only in my area every five days or so. If it gets pulled right after he comes through, he isn’t making a special trip out. The farriers in my area seem really stretched thin over the last two years. A lot of guys and gals that used to be the out within 72 hour types are now upwards of a week. A friend recently had to wait three weeks and couldn’t find anyone else to come out.
Same or next day. It helps that our farrier is another client’s husband.
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I am lucky that mine has only lost a shoe once in 3.5 years. That said, we have some that lose them with regularity (poor feet, mud season, grass turnout, etc), and they are usually dealt with in a day or two, often the same day.
I have yet to lose a shoe that was not either overdue for a new one due to my crazy work schedule or it was twisted and bent because the horse pulled it. That has nothing to do with my farrier so we usually just deal until he comes back out for a regular visit.
I did haul to him once because we had a big show coming up. I have used him for over forty years and have no idea what I will do when he does retire. He is always on time, works with me on schedules, actually coming Father’s Day because that is the only day I have available this month, and is great with my horses.
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In the past, If it was imperative, before a competition (3-Day) immediately --though sometimes that meant I haul to him. My current competition horses go barefoot (Mounted Archery).
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That sounds really cool!
We have lost 2 shoes in 15 years with this farrier. Both within the last 3 months. Both were reset within 5 days (the last one was 2 days).
Usually within a day or two. My gelding has thin soles so we have a hoof boot to throw on in the mean time.
In addition to being available, my farrier has taught me how and when to pull loose shoes if necessary. He has even given me the necessary tools from his supply that are old but still perfectly serviceable for my occasional use.
If I notice a loose or questionable shoe I just text him a few pictures or video clip and he texts me right back with advice. But loose shoes rarely happen.
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What area of the country are you in?
One hour outside of the heart of one of the largest equestrian areas in the southeast. I guess there’s enough business to be had in 20-30 minute radius that we get the scraps. Seems to be the trend with all equine service providers unfortunately in this area.
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I have always had excellent farriers. I think in 25 years we lost one shoe.
