BE HONEST! If a Farrier is rough/shouts at your horse...

shoeey

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When I was a teenager our farrier used to be really rough with my mare, hit her with the rasp and yelled at her. As a result she was was terrified and behaved really badly for him.
We changed farriers as I finally had her at home and she was like a changed horse once she realised not all farriers were like him.
I was just a kid so in no real position to say who shoed my horse but I would not put up with it now - no way!
 

harrihjc

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I changed farriers after an argument with one when I had been holding flash so watching his every move and the farrier suddenly announced that Flash had bitten him 3 times and he was going to smash his f***ing teeth out with a rasp, which he raised as if he was about to do it... totally unacceptable, and whilst I won't tolerate bad behaviour and wouldn't expect others to, I will not keep quiet about something like that even if it was an idle threat!
 

AmyMay

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I've been with the same farrier for 15 years - only once has he had anything to 'say' to a horse of mine. And that was Thumper. A quick elbow and growl and conversation over........
 

TequilaMist

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I have a great farrier is VERY patient with horses that are genuinely worried but will not take any c**p from horse pratting about which imo is fair enough.He will give them a smack etc but not OTT.As has been said its their lives and livliehood.
Do like that he gives them a big hug once finished shoeing them
 

LankyDoodle

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If my horse could be endangering my farrier, or is doing stupid things like nipping, nudging with his head, then I want the farrier to do something and not just carry on like a lemon.

If the farrier is doing stuff to my horse which is uncalled for, then I will step in.
 

jinxy

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When I first got my young (3 year old) horse they had left his feet a month overdue
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when he was first done he wasn't (understandably) very happy but the farrier was amazing with him, extremely patient and did a really good job and cold shod him because of this. All visits since my boy has been the perfect gentleman and is hot shod. If the farrier had been rough etc with him I would have gone ballistic!
 

teddyt

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You are a paying customer. Bad handling just makes the horse worse. It is unacceptable for the farriers ego/desire to shoe as many in a day as possible/bad temper/impatience to be taken out on a horse. A mild reprimand for a reason is one thing, anything more than this or if unjustified is unacceptable. So many farriers expect the horse to stand like a piece of wood and are so unforgiving of a minor fidget.
I would say something if i felt my horse was not in the wrong. I never used to be like this but have got fed up with farriers being rough for no reason.
 

Accy

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Had a farrier once who wcked my horse in the ribs, I didnt let him finish the job and asked him to leave the yard, the farrier I have now is fantastic great at his job and great with the boys I would recommend him to anyone I am very untrusting with my horses but i have no problem with not being at the yard when he is doing them, he has cured my new lad, he used to rear and break the ties take off and generally be a nightmare, with my farriers help and calm approach he now dozes while he is being done and has not reared for over six months. but I will not tollerate a harsh farrier at all
 

Cop-Pop

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I don't mind them telling my horses's off if they deserve it but I've had some nasty farriers in the past - one of which nearly ruined my mare
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I always make sure I'm there for the farrier and if I think they are being too rough I tell them, especially as both of them are scared of men shouting.
 

Theresa_F

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My farrier is very good - he was so good and kind to Cairo when his joints got bad and he found standing on three legs difficult. He is also good at using my lift up command so they know what is being asked of them.

With my two young and large horses, I have no problem with him giving them a growl or an elbow if they are snatching or putting their weight on him - it is what I do. Ditto a slap on the bum if they don't move over when told to. They are big horses and a slap with the hand does not hurt them but does get the message through if they are in one of their stubborn moods.

I would not stand for him hitting them with anything other than a hand, and never near the head, unless they had kicked out or bitten in which case I would expect them to get a hard thump. However, they never kick or bite so this is not an issue.

Mine are generally well behaved and I don't have to hold them. Farra could be difficult holding her feet up, but I have had a few discussions with her about her manners and she now on the whole stands nicely.

Any farrier who gave my horses anything more than I have said I permit them to would be out on their ear instantly.
 

Hullabaloo

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My farrier is great although we've never tried his patience as Boo is very well behaved with him. However, he has my full permission to shout at him or give him a nudge or a smack if he did misbehave. If I didn't trust him to be able to do this only when needed and without losing the plot, I wouldn't use him as my farrier.
 

tabithakat64

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Both my horses stand nicely for the farrier whether I'm there or not (I do try to be there).
Farrier is fab with youngsters and nervous horses, if they are ill mannered and try to kick, bite, barge or snatch there legs away they will be shouted at, if they do it again they will get light smack with the rasp.
Anything that's really naughty he asks the owners to work on their manners, (having feet picked up, banged etc), if this doesn't help he requests that they be sedated.
I think my farrier is great and will be upset when he retires.
 

MarinaBay

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My last farrier booted Angel 3 times in the stomach because she snatched her foot away - she was bored out of her mind! He knew she had a history of abuse too so I was so cross!
 

Ranyhyn

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I have always found Brian/Mike to be calm, useful horsemen who have only once had to smack my horse and that was when I couldnt get to him quick enough.
 

BFG

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I have a problem with anyone smacking my horse even if they deserve it.

My farrier has been riding for years and really understands horses. My mare had really bad laminitis and sore feet he was really understanding and would shoe one front foot completely then the second one so that she wasn’t stood without a shoe on. She is all better now and he is still really gentle with her.

I trust him enough to show both mine when i am not there.
 

Tia

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Oh god I can't ever imagine my farrier shouting or hitting any of my horses. He is one of the kindest, most genuine horseman I think I have ever met. He is excellent with my babies and they are excellent with him because he is so gentle that he never frightens them and actually they all love him. I keep telling him he must spray something on his butt as my lot crowd around him when he is trimming.

I have 50 horses in all here that I hold for the farrier; half of them belong to me. There is only one horse here in all of that lot who can sometimes be a little bit of a trial (and she sure as heck isn't owned by me, I don't stand for bad manners), but he never raises his voice at her. I have a couple of times and I have thumped her a few times but she is definitely much better now and generally she only needs a "behave" and she does.

I've been pretty lucky with farriers to be honest. I've always made it perfectly clear that if anyone has to smack or shout at the horses, then it will be me as they will forgive me a sight quicker than a farrier who only comes along once every 6 weeks. Once an apprentice farrier went to hit one of my mares with his rasp because HE made the mistake and let his rasp slide. It was not my mares fault at all as she stands perfectly for farriers, however she knew what he was about to do and jumped away. He raised his rasp and I intervened immediately! I didn't have to say anything to him - he knew he was in the wrong. I stopped using this farrier and his lad when they had an issue with trimming my little babies, not due to the babies being bad (they weren't, they were great with their feet) but because he didn't believe in doing babies feet ... thought it was a total waste of time. Obviously his philosophies were different to mine hence I found another farrier whose ideas ran parallel to mine.
 

not_with_it

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My farrier has no need to shout or hit my mare as she is very well behaved for him. I would be mortified if she did anything to him, but on the other hand if she was to misbehave I would have no problem with him repprimanding her within reason.

My youngster on the other hand, he can do whatever he needs to. Horses need to learn manners.
 

amandaco2

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one farrier kept hold of my mares foot as high as possible, repeatedly whacking her with the POINTY end of a rasp on the legs and belly because she tried to put her foot down
(she was standing with her other foot at a really odd angle and she had a tendon injury to it at the time too!)
he got his marching orders and wasnt allowed to complete the job and i told him i wasnt paying for the work he had done either.i had told him about her injury before hand and she may need to put the leg down a few times.

i dont mind farriers giving a horse a little poke or telling them off if they are bign naughty.if they are simply unbalanced or have any sort of pain i expect them to make some allowances(eg holding each leg as short as possible)
i dont tolerate anyone hitting my horses for no reason or with undue force
i also ensure my farrier has a clean(ish cometimes!) horse tied up, feet picked out and clean, who is used to having their feet messed about with and a flat/concrete area to trim/watch trotting up on.
i understand farriers being protective of themselves having seen the way some horses misbehave with the owners clinging on the end of the rope going 'oh hes just spirited, gggoooodddd boy.....'.
 

Vicki1986

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Farriers never been rough with mine but know if he did shout at her then she would deserve it as hes not the type to otherwise. And if she was bad mannered enough to deserve an elbow then thats her fault - i trust him not to be unneccessary with her and luckily shes pretty well behaved anyway.

if anyone roughed my horse up unneccessarily i'd have something to say no matter who they were - shes my baby!
 

ihatework

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I have actually never met a farrier that has been excessively rough with a horse.

I have seen the odd 'oi' or 'stand up' or rarely a nudge with the elbow but thats it.

If mine deserved the above then I wouldn't hesitate to let the farrier do what he thought was best. If the horse actually kicked out then if the farrier didn't wallop it I most certainly would.

My older horse is a cheeky sod and when my farrier started shoeing him 6 years ago the first couple of times he took the micky big style. I was at work but heard the stories of farrier walking horse round the yard, then doing a bit more, then walking horse round yard etc! I made sure I was at next shoing, gave naughty horse a telling of and gave permission to farrier to do the same!
 

Jericho

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My farrier got a bit pokey with my horse when I had only had him a week in that the horse obviosuly had an issue with farriers and lashed out, cuaght my farrier on the leg and boy did he get a wallop. It all got a bit stressful then with my horse barging the farrier around and the farrier equally barging back.

I agreed with the farrier that I would bute him next time to take away any pain issue and we would take it a lot slower. It wasnt a pain thing as he still kicked out and amazingly the farrier hung onto this kicking back leg - i was stunned - but he did nt smack him or shout just hung on and then carried on - horse has been as good as gold since . We now know that he is scared of farriers and we take it very slowly.

Farrier is a bit of a rough diamond and wont take any sh*t but I have to say they have a hard job and if a horse is just being naughty then I think the horse needs to be shown who is boss but in a firm rather than aggressive / violent manner. A loud growl / smack assumes authority, excessive smacking / shouting just scares.
 

Erehwemos

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My father used to be a farrier.
When he was younger, he had an excellent reputation for being calm, patient and fair with babies and troublesome horses; he worked in many racing yards, and often had to turn people away if they asked him as he worked 6 days a week - he was that good. For whatever reason, as he got older, he seemed to lose his nerve - he had a couple of nasty incidents where he was kicked/thrown over his tripod etc, and he began to get rough. I often went to work with him, and witnessed some truly awful sights - I have seen him mercilessly beat a horse with a rasp or a hammer, punch a pony in the mouth until it bled, as well as kicking them in the stomach with steel toe caps.
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Now I am not denying that sometimes the horses were deserving of discipline, but not of this violent, relentless nature. Witnessing this kind of behaviour made me determined never to leave any farrier alone with my horse, ever.

That said, my farrier now is fab
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He is perfectly gentle with Ellie - I've seen him give her a nudge in the belly when she insists on fidgeting, but I have no problem with this - I would do the same myself. But general 'roughness' - no, I would not tolerate that, ever.
 

RoyalPolo

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Have seen one farrier hit a horse with the rasp in the belly which i didn't agree with but was to young to open my mouth and say anything at the time but it disgusts me as she wasn't being that naughty just a bit of a fidget.

Then my last farrier had been fairly good with both my ponies i had warned him when i had my new mare that she could possibly kick out when shod but she had been fine for well over 6 months then one evening she had a bit of a funny turn i think the horses had got very upset in the field that day as one had come in hopping lame also and she kept kicking out and eventually kicked him he slapped her once which i wasn't to fussed about but then he went to lay in to her so i put a quick stop to that he said he wouldn't bother finishing her feet if i was going to shout at him so he didn't i used him once more after that to see if it was a one off but then i found out that he wasn't doing a very good job and was terrified of horses who were a bit naughty so that was the end of that.

Told my new farrier that he is never to hit either of my horses and if they need telling off i will do it.
 

silverstar

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I've had a few that have been too heavy handed with their rasps. I cant seem to find any that arent tbh and am trying to find a decent one. Dont think there are any around here.
 

Ziggy_

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No farrier has ever had reason to be rough with my horse.

The farrier my old yard used to use had an atrocious temper - I used to watch him like a hawk when he was doing my horse. I spent hours teaching the new/young horses to have their feet handled because I knew what would happen to them if they didn't behave
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One little mare I spent hours and hours working with - it took a month just to be able to pick up her hind feet, she was that nervous. I got her to the stage where she could be shod as long as I was standing at her head - two weeks after I left that job I heard at his last visit he'd beaten her round the face with his rasp
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I don't mind a telling off within reason but I would never tolerate that - I think if I'd been there I'd have clobbered him back. I loved that horse
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natalia

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if they are rough with mine, they normally deserve it! Treat others how you like to be treated and all!
There's only one farrier who I know who is a bit rough though, and i have seen him really lose it on a couple of occasions, but both times he was being squished against a wall with feet flying at him. So i'm afraid I can't say i blame him! plus he had to get the job done and we didn't have any dope. if somethings that bad i normally just dope them up, as it saves the hassle, and normally after a few times they are better anyway and don't need it. there are exceptions though! Its a very physically demanding job anyway, and i think they should be allowed to discipline horses, i would be more angry with someone not letting the farrier tell their horse off, as its not nice being laid off work.
 

PapaFrita

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[ QUOTE ]
my Farrier has no need to be "rough" with my ponies as he is confident in knowing that they all have enough manners to stand up for him...so much so, that i don't even need to be there!!

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JM, one of my farriers once told me that I HAD to be there, something to do with insurance. Was he telling the truth or did he just enjoy my company?
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Oh, and of course my horses, including the baby, are VERY well-behaved for the farrier (disclaimer; the foal is NOT having shoes on!)
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TheFarrier

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i never hit a horse with any tools ever, i may give a horse an elbow if its hurting me however i wish some owners would take more responsibility for repriamanding their horses.

at the end of the day it is my lively hood and i cant afford to get hurt. that said i dont hurt animals thats not how i opperate.

but am i rough? no. if i was i would not be the right person for this job, you cant be rough and work with a animals of any description.

many of my clients are not there when i shoe/trim their horses. they trust me and i think that speaks for itself really.
 
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