Blimey!! How much?! farriers and shoeing gulp

[Fieldlife]

BD rules are that no hoof boot or any form of shoe replacement are allowed to be worn during competition.

That's from the 2022 Handbook - after rule 88 ( permits plastic or glue on shoes providing not more than 50% of the hoof is covered, and none of the heel. )

I only know because my friends Spanish horse wore Cavallo's for schooling and hacking but was not allowed to compete in them. Which was ok until he had to walk across stoney car parks to get to the warm up or from the warm up to the arena for competing. Which is ridiculous. Maybe they will change it to be more inclusive.

Yes think I was mixing up US rules. I have found hoof armor does help with soreness a bit - might help your friend.

 

[AUB]

Wow. Whereabouts are you ?

Denmark, greater Copenhagen area.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Denmark, greater Copenhagen area.

Ah OK, that price would be unheard of here in England.

 

[thommackintosh]

£105 a set here in Central Scotland.

 

[fredflop]

Hoof boots are great, but I find you need to be in the right “situation” to use them.

For example my horse kept on grass livery… rather impractical to use in the depths of winter where the horse has muddy hooves and legs. You have to remove the mud with cold water, probably getting yourself drenched in the process!

 

[Lintel]

My farrier put his prices up earlier this year from £65 to £70 for a full set of shoes.
£2 more for road nails. I’m in Devon.
I’m aware he is in the cheaper side though.
He always on time too and does a great job.

This is the most astonishing thing to me on this thread.
There are farriers who do and great job… good price and on time?! What sort of heaven is this?

 

[ycbm]

I only know because my friends Spanish horse wore Cavallo's for schooling and hacking but was not allowed to compete in them. Which was ok until he had to walk across stoney car parks to get to the warm up or from the warm up to the arena for competing. Which is ridiculous. Maybe they will change it to be more inclusive.

There isn't anything in the rules to stop Cavallos being used on the way to and from the arenas and Cavallos are so simple to put on she could have done that.


A friend of mine had 6 months dispensation from BD to compete with boots on while her horse was transitioning to barefoot. I don't know if that is still possible.
.

 

[Bobthecob15]

basic set in Shropshire is about £80, and that is actually less than some others which are about £105. So yes fairly typical! I've not been around horses for 20 years so it was a big shock to me!

 

[Zoeypxo]

Cornwall £80 a set is average. Mine is £140 for remedial every 5 weeks at the moment ?

 

[Flowerofthefen]

OMG that is a lot. I organised myself a bag of pick and mix outside the trafford centre on Friday. I took it to the guy, who weighed it and said "That will be £29, please."

Me: "What?"
Him: "£29 (plus grams, kilos, blah, blah, blah)"
Me: "£29? For a Pick and Mix?"
Him: "Yes, £29."
Me: "Really? Definitely? £29?"
Him: "Yes, £29."
Me: "Right, you'd better keep it then."

I walked off feeling a bit twilight-zoney.

Lol!! I did this at a County show!! Mine was about the same price but I dare not say no!! I didn't enjoy any of it!!

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Farriers in my area differ quite a lot. One charges £120 as standard. My old farrier was £75, new farrier £85 for a full set.

 

[Calico1]

I'm in the Northwest and feeling very lucky that I'm only paying £20 for trim.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

B costs £150 for a full set of Duplos. Refit of the same set £100. Fronts last 3 fits and hinds 2. Pony seen every 7 weeks. When in steel he was going through a set every 5 weeks at £90.
DP isn’t shod and a trim is £36.

Both have the same farrier.

 

[SOS]

You will find the vast price differences are often VAT related. My OH had to go VAT registered as he reached the threshold, which increased the price of his sets by 20%. Most farriers with a decent amount of work, and I suppose experience, are VAT registered. Good farriers who aren’t make a conscious effort to stay under!

Cost of materials has gone up a lot, shoes are atleast 25% more to buy, some types 40-50% more. Fuel is almost double what it was a few years ago, gas is expensive and hard to get at current times, steel is very expensive now. Even buying an essential new van earlier this year was almost 10k more than it was a few years ago - pre covid.

You may remember paying a lot less a set but 4/5 years ago, I was paying £70-80 dependent on who I used. Those farriers are now charging £90-100 but that doesn’t actually reflect the cost increases truly.

Also remember the price of a set has to cover: the shoes, their time, their expertise, their fuel, their insurance/life insurance/income protection, their register fee, their time spent driving inbetween jobs, holiday, sick and in theory build up a retirement fund for when they inevitably have to stop manual working mid life as their back is knackered.

 

[Kaylum]

Our farrier made all his shoes, something not many know how to do any more and they where £75

 

[Hollylee1989]

West midlands area: £85 for a full set, my horse is now barefoot so I pay £50 for him and my shetlands trim. Pretty sure trims are going up to £30 soon

 

[MagicMelon]

I remember back in the good old days (!) of the "barefoot taliban" on here how going bf was often the more expensive option between supplements, boots and trimmers. I'd be surprised if current price rises don't cause an increase of shoes being pulled and boots bought.

I genuinely dont understand why people think going barefoot is a big thing and that you have to maintain the horse in a very specific way to do it successfully. Horses live in the wild barefoot without any drama! I dont feed any specific feed or do anything at all different to how I would a shod horse.

 

[paddy555]

You will find the vast price differences are often VAT related. .

if say a farrier shoes 5 a day at say £85 that is £425 pd, doing that 5 days a week is £2125 pw (turnover)
say he works for 45 weeks a year that is an annual turnover of £95k
the vat reg limit is 85k.

So if you add 20% vat to and £85 shoeing cost you get an overall cost of £102 which is around what some of you are paying. I would guess that some of the ones paying lower charges may not be paying VAT for some reason or other.

The about doesn't take into account extras such as studs, road nails, remedial shoeing, trimming the old pony in between shoeing, farriers where the apprentice does part of the work so the farrier does more, horses lined up in a livery yard so there is little time wasted in travelling. 7 weeks holiday may well be generous for some and doesn't take into account those who turnout on a Saturday to do the odd horse.

 

[TPO]

I genuinely dont understand why people think going barefoot is a big thing and that you have to maintain the horse in a very specific way to do it successfully. Horses live in the wild barefoot without any drama! I dont feed any specific feed or do anything at all different to how I would a shod horse.

Its a "big thing" when the hoof is damaged and compromised by shoeing, a less than ideal diet and movement.

It's less of a big thing if a hoof I'd already relatively healthy.

Less so now but "back in the day" some people were only trying barefoot as a last resort with very sick hooves. That's why it was a "big deal" and it was advised to take certain steps and condition the hooves accordingly

 

[GreyDot]

BD rules are that no hoof boot or any form of shoe replacement are allowed to be worn during competition.

That's from the 2022 Handbook - after rule 88 ( permits plastic or glue on shoes providing not more than 50% of the hoof is covered, and none of the heel. )

I only know because my friends Spanish horse wore Cavallo's for schooling and hacking but was not allowed to compete in them. Which was ok until he had to walk across stoney car parks to get to the warm up or from the warm up to the arena for competing. Which is ridiculous. Maybe they will change it to be more inclusive.

Slightly off tangent here, but it always amazes me how horse-unfriendly all the big BD venue car-parks are! My horse is unshod and although he has no problem hacking over most terrain, every competition we have the careful stumble from the wagon to the warm-up. You'd think there would be at least a bit of a 'path' made for the horses. (and don't get me started on the 'last mile' to any and every venue....pot-holes and a tiny country lane where you dread meeting another wagon coming the opposite way )

 

[JBM]

Ireland..it’s gone up €5 I now pay €65 for a full set ? these prices sound mad

 

[ycbm]

I genuinely dont understand why people think going barefoot is a big thing and that you have to maintain the horse in a very specific way to do it successfully. Horses live in the wild barefoot without any drama! I dont feed any specific feed or do anything at all different to how I would a shod horse.

A lot of people are not lucky enough to have the quality of grazing or hacking which will will allow the more difficult horses to cope barefoot. Why do you think shoes were invented in the first place if it's so easy for all horses to work barefoot? I've also read that the average age wild horses reach is 7 and that they cover about 20 miles a day, and they definitely get laminitis, so I'm not sure they're a good comparison.

TPO has a very good point too.
.

 

[Bellalily]

Best reason in the world to abandon shoes I reckon.
I pay my barefoot trimmer £45 each, which has just gone up and I’m assured he won’t be increasing again.