Bad farriers.....

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hadfos

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Am soooo shocked at how many bad farrier posts there are...how the hell do they get signed off,are they qualifying at college without an apprenticeship these days????
Friend of mine got a newly qualified farrier and when he had finished horse looked liked he was stood on boxes???she thought they looked nice
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,no toe,if i hadf pushed his ass he would have tipped over he was stood sooo upright
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.... you cannot say that on here
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pmsl
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within rights...no names
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alot of bad farrier posts and my horse has met 1 before...soon sacked
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!My farrier now is the best...horses feet are now the best they ever been,and he comes out at drop of a hat if he loses a shoe as it cripples him in front
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guess am curious as to how many of us have had a bad 1???
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i actually have a good farrier but i hate him as he is so rough with them i really cant stand it.

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That is not good,this is what pisses me off with farriers....up here there are not enough
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......they work of the attitude we need them not the other way round
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,what the hell happened to keeping your customers happy??(they know they are,especially the good 1's sort after???so bugger the rest of it
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I am lucky to have a good 1
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I did have one, on recommendation after moving ponio to new livery yard & being recommended theirs. Never. Again!

I only had her trimmed & he cut so much back she was footy after & lame the next day. Day after that she was ok but seeing as I said to him how far I wanted it taken back & then him carrying on to ignore I was not amused with.

Only a fiver cheaper than regular farrier. Believe me, I learned from my mistake & never again! Poor pony suffered for it too which I felt horribly guilty about
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that is what i mean my mare is pigeon toed and when he came and shod her she didnt look any where near as bad, he makes a good job of theyre feet, BUT its him loosing his temper with them that i cant stand
 
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that is what i mean my mare is pigeon toed and when he came and shod her she didnt look any where near as bad, he makes a good job of theyre feet, BUT its him loosing his temper with them that i cant stand

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What do your horses do???If nothing to make him lose his temper then you are quite within your rights to say something
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,even if it only subtle,dont let him make your neds hate the experience as he is telling them off for nothing??
 
he is fine with mickey my 13.2 as he stands and goes to sleep. but bisciut will fidgit a little but nothing that she would deserve getting smacked for, its not just that im soft with them as they do get smacked if they are bad mannerd which isnt very often as they are quite good most of the time! i have no objection to him giving her a dig to stand still, its that he REALLY loses his temper with her! i would never have him doing the younger nervous ones though.
 
Someone yesterday told me he saw a farrier doing a shocking job of shoeing a Riding School horse... told him so. Farriers response? That he was charging less for the school horses (job lot, I assume) so he what sort of job did he expect?
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I was utterly disgusted, but after my own experience, not surprised
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the attitude we need them not the other way round ,what the hell happened to keeping your customers happy??

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What also happened to the idea of taking pride in their work? How many farriers watch the horse trot up before and after they've trimmed or shod them? At £60 for less than an hours work, they certainly should do!

The farriers I've come across fall into the following categories:

*Newly qualified or new to the area - Great to start with, punctual, reliable and thorough. However, within a year they're just going through the motions........ turning up 40 mins late, taking 30 mins to do a full set.

*Everyones had him - And everyone has a story about this guy. About his drinking, and his aggression, there's even a rumor about drugs. He now mainly gets business from people new to the area and those with bad credit. Never leave him alone to shoe your horse, as he's sure to stick the rasp in its ribs for sneezing.


*Older than the hills - The only thing older than this guy is his van! Friendly but totally unreliable. If you do manage to get him to turn up, he'll shoe so tight the full set he puts on will stay put half the year!

*Wannabe - This guy competes himself and has a chip on his shoulder about professional yards. So he gets professional too... Very new, very sign written van; his name on his polo shirt (in case he forgets who's name to write on the cheques?); claims to 'specialise' in remedial work - negates to tell you that its his trimming that will cause your horse to need remedial work! He's usually the highest priced in the area........ oh, and he'd like to come back in 5 weeks.

*Gold Dust - This guy is tall (what's with all the short farriers?), he turns up on time, and always discusses your horses needs with you. He balances the foot properly and doesn't rasp the foot to within an inch of it's life. His stud holes are always perfectly threaded and his dogs don't pee all over your lorry wheels.

Okay, so I've never met a GD. But if Carlsberg made farriers........

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I have a Gold Dust farrier with my horse at the mo & have done for the past 9 years. If he was portable he would be an essential part of my kit!
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I moved to Gloucestershire from Cornwall & unfortunately this farrier is in Cornwall but as ponio is on loan down there with a friend. I know her feet are in tip top condition
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tinker belle i think i might have your ex farrier , hes shod my horses for 15 years does a good job is patient with the babies is never late without phoning me to warn me he might be and charges a reasonable amount , if he retires i think i will too lol
 
I have a Gold Dust farrier, and what is even better is he lives round the corner from me, and is pretty much always available, and we do a deal, I mow his paddock, and he shoes my horse. Bargain!
My uncle is a farrier and falls into the Older than the Hills category, but he is always handy to meet at a show if a shoe needs replacing (very rare!)
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Best of all worlds.
 
Have to say, have a gold dust one too I think. Always on time (if not early damm him!!), can get a bit stroppy with one or two of them - but they do deserve it on most occasions!!! Watches the one with the dodgy feet (very straight sided - confo issue, not his.....) trot up and turn afterwards to make sure the shoes are not pinching, will change them if they are.

And always comes out within a day or two if one of them loses one. My mum has had him for at least 20 years to do our horses
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and tbh I think he just comes back for the cuppa and choc digestives we give him
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I do know a few of the bad ones though, and don't know why people put up with them - esp with them not turning up with no phone call to say why - so rude!!!!!
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Our farrier is great and I have a difficult horse (bad feet) who makes things difficult and yes he has shouted at him (but then so have I - often!) but never out or order - it's his livelihood and if my horse sits on him that could be his job over!

Also farrier comes out at the drop of a hat too if my horse suffers any problems post shoeing/loses a shoe etc so I def can't complain about him at all!
 
had one who altho was a good farrier skill wise was a pain to get hold of and would often leave you 2 weeks waiting for a visit, always with the promise that he'd be there next week.
Found a new one when we moved yards and he is absolute Gold Dust, you book an appointment through his wife, date and time and he will be there,
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ok so he's a bit more expensive than most round here but he has the experience and the professional attitude worth paying for! he's not that tall tho lol and the apprentice is even shorter
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My last farrier was a very good friend and when he came out to do the horses at the yard I worked at, he would also do my horse for free. He was wonderful and very good at his job. He regularily did shoeing competitions and went on courses to get better and better.

My current farrier is wonderful and does an amazing job. He is quite quiet but very lovely. He works very closely with my vet which is such a help and he also always texts me if he is going to be late. He has a huge number of horses at raceyards to do but comes out to me at a one horse yard because he likes bacon sandwiches and a chat!!

Both complete stars.
 
I have a gold dust farrier but unbelieveable how many rubbish ones there are!! Our whole yard is trying to get my farrier to shoe theirs now as the ones they have been through are either totally unreliable or manage to make sound horses lame in one visit!
 
I've just changed farriers and I'm surprised that he takes twice as long as my other one did to shoe, he seems to take more care and even asked me to walkhim back and forth (on 1st visit) to check everything ok?! Slightly more expensive but worth it, shoes actually fit, no risen clenches and jsut a nice proper job!:D
 
I have witnessed exremely good farriers (gold dust in their capabilities but not looks
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) and the ones you want to take the tools off and do it yourself!!

When I was at college the college horses were shod by a top farrier(award winner etc)..no names but he was ace, did lots of different feet and even kept one of the TBs with THE flattest feet sound for years...

Then we had a farrier who did my Exs horses and he was one of these that would turn up when he wanted or not at all, would do them if they were left in for him and not need us there (but not good if its middle of summer and they are stuck in beacuse he didnt turn up
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Ive worked at yards who only send their apprentices and at one who used 2 seperate farriers beacuse even though Farier No 1 was good , she didnt like him as a person
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and the other was , in my eyes,much better and alot nicer!!!!

I suppose there will always be a farrier debate with a mine is fantastic and a mine is crap
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Mine = Gold Dust

Vet says he's saved my horses' legs and never, ever to change farrier EVER!!!! (unless unavoidable)

He's very good and quiet with her too
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Thanks Gordon
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I now have a gold dust farrier (and yes he is good looking), his dog is lovel, aincient but absolutley lovely.
 
I had a farrier who everyone said was good but Rocky looked like ski jump feet anywhy I thought that this would correct its self but it took him not returning my called to get a new farrier and he is awesome rockys feet still look good 6 weeks later and he is being re shod on monday. I can not understand how they get away with it, charge you loads dont answer the phone ect!!!
 
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tinker belle i think i might have your ex farrier , hes shod my horses for 15 years does a good job is patient with the babies is never late without phoning me to warn me he might be and charges a reasonable amount , if he retires i think i will too lol

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Yup. Sounds like him! That's was the biggest drawback of moving from there to here, not being able to bring him with the pony!
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I now have the only good farrier that I've ever had.

He is absolutely super, does such a good job and is brilliant with the horses. He will come out at the drop of a hat if your horse loses a shoe and is reliable. A little pricey compared to what I've paid before but I would pay a lot more for him.

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my farrier is fab, (was at the yard today ) he has another farrier who works with him a couple of days a week who qualified in january,They both trained with the same farrier who is one of the best in the area. The whole time they were there today was a laugh a minute, the girls had a history/human biology/equine biology lesson off the new farrier as he likes to keep up to speed with all the theory and not just forget what he learnt in college. The rest of the time we just took the P out of the regular farrier who gives as good as he gets! The horses were also all very well behaved to boot, probably to hot to muster the energy to fidget!
 
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