Can't get hold of my farrier!

Nudibranch

Nudibranch

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Have been using this farrier since moving to present area/yard in December. He's very skilled and does a great job, though is pretty unreliable - last appointment he turned up 3 1/4 hours late. However, I've been trying to get hold of him for the last 3 weeks without luck, his voicemail is always full so I'm not the only one. Am getting worried about Indy's feet, she really needs a refit and in the last week the near fore is starting to overlap the shoe. Have tried three more farriers as an emergency plan but none have got back to me. Obviously there's more business round here than farriers (Northumberland), but I don't know what to do... Any suggestions?
 
I know how you feel, ive been trying to get hold of my farrier for a week now, as i bought back a pony a few weeks ago have decided to take him to a show in 2 weeks and he has terrible feet, need to get hold of him soon as i go away for a few days on saturday....the thing is there are so many people with horses now adays that they have far to many clients.
 
Farriers are fortunate to have their profession protected by Royal Charter which means that only quaified and registered farriers can shoe horses in this country. With this privelidge comes a code of conduct which they must comply with and if they act in an unprofessional manner then they can be reported to the farriers registration committee and after further investigation can be referred to the disciplinary committee for further investigation.

Your farrier should keep an appointment book and book in all shoeing appointments in advance. In other words he shoes your horse and then books in the next appointment and possibly the one after that. That way he knows exactly where he should be. Sometimes emergencies arrise and he may be late but he can always phone you to let you know he is running late.

To fail to answer phone calls is unprofessional.
 
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Farriers are fortunate to have their profession protected by Royal Charter which means that only quaified and registered farriers can shoe horses in this country. With this privelidge comes a code of conduct which they must comply with and if they act in an unprofessional manner then they can be reported to the farriers registration committee and after further investigation can be referred to the disciplinary committee for further investigation.

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That's all good and well but what horse owner realistically is going to shop a farrier!!!! If they are having trouble now they will have even more when they have no farrier having complained about them! I don't agree with un-professional behaviour either...I am self employed and if I turned up late or did not respond to calls I would be sacked off the job...end of subject! We horse owners are over a barrel with blacksmiths.
 
who is it (pm me) ive been trying to get hold of mine for weeks, horse has gone over, but he's disappeared (im in durham)
 
I can sympathise, farriers are a nightmare! When I couldn't get hold of my farrier I tried over 20 others to change, literally every single one in the area, and it took me 3 months before I could get one to come out and remove her shoes! It was so stressful I was near to tears!
 
the one i cant get hold of is a good farrier who normally comes when he's booked to come, and confirms before hand, but he's not picking up his phone or messages, we are wondering if something has happened to him
 
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I can sympathise, farriers are a nightmare! When I couldn't get hold of my farrier I tried over 20 others to change, literally every single one in the area, and it took me 3 months before I could get one to come out and remove her shoes! It was so stressful I was near to tears!

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The exact same thing has just happened to me, I can't believe how so many farriers don't give two hoots about a horse's welfare. Consequently I've given up on them and am taking my boy barefoot. My EP actually rang me at 8pm last night to confirm today's appointment, now there's customer service for you.
 
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...Consequently I've given up on them and am taking my boy barefoot. My EP actually rang me at 8pm last night to confirm today's appointment, now there's customer service for you.

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Exactly - my EP emails me to tell me when my horse is due and when he will be coming to trim her!

My other horse is shod, much as I would like to pull her shoes, but she is my daughter's competition horse and can't be taken out of work right now. My farrier couldn't fit her in when she was due, and she consequently twisted a shoe and implanted the toeclip in her sole. There is a very good emergency farrier I can get hold of easily (fortunately), and he had to excavate the hole and I think she will be OK, but I have had a wake up call about leaving shoeing intervals too long.
 
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