Cheek of a farrier :o

I was not expecting it to be free i never said i was expecting it to be free! i said my other farrier would do it for free, which is why i was a little bit shocked as to wanting that amount!! but hey ho i no what to expect next time of which of asking another farrier .... as i said at my old yard everyone knew each other and knew a lot of the farriers so they were happy to help you out!! and was there for a long time, you can stop biting my head off now!!
 
My farrier either pops a lost shoe back on for free (if he is in the area) or charges us £5 but that is for a straight 'lost shoe' rather than a mangled one. Hot/cold fronts are £50 a set and full set is £65.

I think it was fair given that you are not a regular customer of his. :)

A good farrier is worth their weight in gold, our foal has a hoof abscess, he was literally on 3 legs last Tuesday so I phoned the vet (in panic) and they 'found' the abscess (not our usual vet), he was still lame but much better but the farrier came today and the vet had TOTALLY missed where the abscess was stemming from, so he sorted out properly. Normally I phone the farrier for hoof problems but in this instance I wasn't 100% sure and didn't want to risk it.
 
My farrier is the best I have ever known in many respects and has been out to us several times 'free of charge' but a) he is my regular farrier and b) I always add to whatever he charges us on a regular basis as he is way too cheap for these days.

As someone else said a good farrier is worth his weight in gold.. mine came out to us gone 10pm one night when the big lad had a bad abcess.. no charge.
 
Our old farrier we used for about 10years .... he was brilliant came out to us when we needed him, now moved areas about a year ago now, and obviously do not know all the good farriers! we have however gone off a reccomendation from people from the yard and from the y/o, he has been brilliant and came out when we needed him, the farrier we were using for the first 4months had a squabble with a few people so didnt want to come to the yard! so now using this one.

Not had a problem with him, and he came out for the first time within a couple of hours of phoning him as same horse lost a shoe!
 
My farrier will come and put a shoe back on for no charge within 6 weeks of being shod.
I would expect to pay a farrier who I wasn't a client of to pop one back on for me tbh.
 
YasandCrystal said:
Ughhh 5 minutes of his time and 5 years of apprenticeship and his insurance etc etc

Sorry he was NOT your farrier - why should he put a shoe back on for you? Folk like you make me sick (OH is a farrier). My hubby gets asked to do this and sometimes he has time and he will charge that too to 'non customers'.

The other weekend he got a begging phone call (not his client) from a woman whose horse had twisted a shoe on a Saturday and they couldn't get it off. Could he please help. He drives 15 mins out of his way only to get there and shoe is off - he goes mad as he is now late for his next client woman remarks 'oh I thought I would let you come and you would put shoe back on' - he went mad and refused and told her to employ a farrier who works a Saturday!!! Why should his clients suffer for you ad-hoc people who cry when they need help.
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I would not want my farrier to lose the plot like that tbh, he should realise customers are usually unrealistic about business practices and costs, I work on a Saturday and so does my farrier
 
i payed £25 for taz's shoe to be put back on by a different farrier as mine had gone on holiday and had left taz shoeless for a week before sending an ex apprentice to do it for him and taz had to have his foot glued back together :o
 
i would be pretty annoyed at that price, all considering you had the shoe it litteraly was just him putting it back on, at the yard i used to be at, even when the yard farrier wasnt my farrier, if taz had a lose shoe or had lost one and i had the shoe he wouldnt charge to tighten it or to put it back on as long as i made him a cup of coffee on the morning that it was getting done, if i didnt have the shoe i paid for the cost of the shoe and the nails worked out about £9 at the time, my own farrier, wouldnt charge even if he had to come out specially if i had the shoe or not, again is happy if he gets a cup of tea and a biscuit
 
There's a farrier around here that would charge £40 for that!! I wouldn't mind paying for a farrier to do it though, you pay £10 at a comp!
 
JenTaz said:
i would be pretty annoyed at that price, all considering you had the shoe it litteraly was just him putting it back on, at the yard i used to be at, even when the yard farrier wasnt my farrier, if taz had a lose shoe or had lost one and i had the shoe he wouldnt charge to tighten it or to put it back on as long as i made him a cup of coffee on the morning that it was getting done, if i didnt have the shoe i paid for the cost of the shoe and the nails worked out about £9 at the time, my own farrier, wouldnt charge even if he had to come out specially if i had the shoe or not, again is happy if he gets a cup of tea and a biscuit
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The shoe was twisted so needed refitting.
 
elliegirl12 said:
My gelding lost his shoe in the school, as was stuck in for 5days on box rest, and there was a farrier up the yard and managed to find the shoe in the school, it was twisted but just asked farrier to put it back on for us, took a matter off five minutes to hammer the shoe back into place and put it back on, mum goes would you like anything for it!! ermm yeah £15 :o for 6nails and 5 minutes of his time, mum thought he was joking i was not so sure!! any other farrier would of done it for free or for like £5 baring in mind we pay £25 for two fronts/ cold shod its only his 2nd set of shoes.
We walked away laughing thinking must be joking! totally shocked!!
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One farrier was pleased to tell us his accountant costed his shoeing visit at £30 this is to include £7000 per annum in diesel alone.
We get charged £65 per set hot shod, so one shoe at £15 is a good deal. Nails are very specific ie expensive, as is the training and they need insurance to cover them for illness, which is likely in their trade.
You say it took five minutes [would he really be able to tack on twelve shoes per hour. I don't think so] Most farriers take about an hour to do four shoes, and need to include meet and greet time, sometimes they have to wait for horses or owners to bring the horse to them, all these things add up.
 
It's £68 for a set up my way, £2 per shoe, so refits are £60.
£15 sounds right to me, why on the earth would you expect a farrier to refit for free? I wouldn't even expect my own to refit for free let alone a farrier I don't normally use.

That's what you have had done, you have had a refit done.

Oh and wow you only pay 25 for 2 feet to be shod? That is seriously cheap :D
 
He has got lightweight shoes on slightly thinner then the normal type so can bend easily, this is what i got told dont quote me on it!! my mare is hot shod and has natural balance on front and pay £65

If you read up, i did say i was not expecting him to fit it for free!! was more exspecting him to say like 5-10
 
My old driving instructor used to be a farrier (untill damaged back) and he told me that the shoes/nails etc werent expensive at all.

The farriers round here charge £5 if they are on the yard already and have the time. £15 for 5 min- I wish I earnt that much!
 
My farrier always goes over and beyond with me and my horses.

I had a tb that had horrid feet the worst my farrier has ever seen, anyhow needed lots of corrective shoeing, and suffered really bad with abcesses. The horse needed to be shod every 4 weeks, and in between he would regularly lose shoes. Tried barefoot but the horse was crippled. Anyhow my farrier was out pretty much every week sorting one thing or another thing out for me. Did he charge me any extra, hell no! He even gives me a discount too I pay £50 when he normally charges £70.
In the end he would pop in to the yard in passing. But we got there horses feet got better, no more abcesses, no more losing shoes, foot balance better, break over lots better, and just before I sold him we got to 6 weekly visits with none in between.

The only issue is that he is awful at time keeping, so he just calls me when he's on the way. Works both ways.
 
Personally speaking I think a tenner would have been more reasonable unless road nails were used which I understand are more expensive. I once asked a farrier to pop a shoe on for me, I wasn't his customer but I did have the shoe. He did it for free, I did then move to this farrier but when I moved yards did have to change eventually as he wouldn't go to the yard as fell out with owners so I had to ride to his place to get them done.
I also asked a farrier to replace a shoe ( I wasn't their customer and they were there for someone else anyway). I had the shoe and he was going to charge me £15 I think it was to put back on so instead I waited and had to lead my horse to a meeting place with my farrier to get it on as they wouldn't go to the yard.
I did like this farrier though but had to change in the end as it was too taxing to keep to this arrangement when the weather changed and also if I lost a shoe. So in the end I switched farriers. Thoroughly respect and like my farrier though and wouldn't change for the world, however would still recommend previous one as it was only the arrangement that didn't suit in the end.
 
My OH is a farrier and charges non customers an irregular rate for jobs like that. Quite rightly so. Next time you could always ask beforehand and then you can always walk away.

Very interested in the post about the accountants costings. I am sick of people thinking we are loaded because OH gets £60/hour. I wish! Tax bills, diesel, shoes and nails, insurance, its not profitable in the way it used to be.
 
Hobbitpony said:
If I understand you correctly a farrier who happened to be up the yard kindly put your horses shoe on so he could come off box rest even though you aren't his client and then when he asked you for payment you thought it was a joke!! Farriers aren't charities, way I see it he did you a favour without any guarentee of repeat custom so as a one off yes you probably will get charged over the odds. Next time I would pay him, say thank you and make him a cup of tea!!
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Couldn't agree more.

Wouldn't you want remuneration if someone came to you with something to be mended and you didn't work for them normally? Play fair, please or expect to be refused in future, he didn't have to do it for you.
 
shadowboy said:
The farriers round here charge £5 if they are on the yard already and have the time. £15 for 5 min- I wish I earnt that much!
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Have you trained in your chosen profession, passed exams, taken the risk of setting up your own business and are good enough at what you do to keep yourself in a steady stream of work? Do you get to the office an hour before you start work in order to organise your day, speak to your clients, collect your tools and materials together? Do you spend an hour or two every weekend organising your paperwork and administration? Do you pay an accountant to do your tax return each year?

It's not £15 for 5 minutes work :rolleyes:

horsemadmum1 said:
Very interested in the post about the accountants costings. I am sick of people thinking we are loaded because OH gets £60/hour. I wish! Tax bills, diesel, shoes and nails, insurance, its not profitable in the way it used to be.
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Absolutely - and people forget about the points I have raised above, plus the extra time travelling between clients and waiting for clients to turn up. They see the money for the time spent being money earnt all day, and forget about the rest of it.

I'm not a farrier by the way - but I am an accountant ;)
 
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