does anyone else have this much trouble getting their farrier out?

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alfirules

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I think i need to start looking for yet another farrier. My farrier was supposed to come out like 3 weeks ago to shoe my pony, and everytime he says he's going to come out he doesnt turn up and he always has alot of excuses. Now alfie's shoes are hanging off, the hoof is splitting and growing over the shoe
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. He has good feet but a bad farrier.

Haven't been able to ride him for a while now and farrier was supposed to come yday, but blamed the weather for being too windy, and again today but yet again its' too windy. He says he'll try again tomorrow.

I also bought another horse last wkend who is shoeless and i desperate for a set.

I would have got another farrier a long time ago but farriers in my area seem to be a nightmare!! In about 5 years i've got through at least 6 different farriers and their all the same!! I know of some good farriers but their always fully booked up and say they have no time to take on anymore horses to shoe!

What should i do?

Is it just me that has this much trouble with farriers??
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I have no trouble, but then my horse is well mannered, I book every 6 week, pay cash, have clean level concreted area for shoeing (undercover if needed) and the kettle aways on..................So guess that helps!!!!!
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I know a lot of people have this trouble. I think it's because there are not enough farriers in some places for all the horses. Really annoys me though - you pay for them to shoe your horse etc and it is really bad manners just not to show up. Luckily where I am at the min, if you lose a shoe etc farrier can normally come out next day.
 
I gave up on farriers 3 years ago! Unreliable sods!! Then they either do a really good trim and are bad with the horses, or are great with the horses and do a rubbish trim.
Mine are all barefoot anyway...
So I went and invested in a 3 day barefoot trimming course and do all mine myself now. The course cost me £350 3 years ago, and on occasion when I had a farrier out to do a bad trim, I paid £25 per horse x 5 = £125
So that trimming course paid for itself several times over already, and all my horses have great feet!
 
No. I would struggle to find fault with my farrier. He's coming to do my two today despite the wind...
 
I've heard of people having probs too. I've recently moved yards and spoken to my new farrier for the first time as my boy has lost a shoe - he is going to be out to me by about1130ish.
 
Oh yes. I always pay cash, book regularly, in advance, my horses are perfectly well mannered and have a decent area for shoeing, yet he often doesn't turn up and when he does can be up to 4 hours late (I don't live near the yard either). ATM none of the horses have shoes but I have actually had to trim back one of the YOs shetland's feet as we haven't been able to get hold of the farrier for nearly 6 months! There are 3 other registered in the area but none will reply to voicemails and messages - the promise of 9 horses on a regular basis is obviously not enough incentive round here...
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Can be a problem up my way as well. My farrier usually turns up although as with all of them - he has had the odd time where he has disappeared off the face of the planet! Although, he surprised me today as its bucketing it down with snow so I phoned him and left a message (he never answers) to see if he still wanted to come - he did! Was shocked as he'd normally not come given the choice. So he's outside right now doing my horses in a blizzard (in a stable though of course)!! My one is weird though, he only seems to be faithful to people he likes that month!
 
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I have no trouble, but then my horse is well mannered, I book every 6 week, pay cash, have clean level concreted area for shoeing (undercover if needed) and the kettle aways on..................So guess that helps!!!!!
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well all our horses are well mannered, i would like to book in but my farrier always prefers us to ring him a couple of weeks before he is needed and we have a good level concrete yard but i suppose we dont have a covered area or a kettle
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Mine is brill, always turns up and always within 30 mins of appointment time
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I book in advance and have the kettle on plus if he is lucky I have been to the shop for choccy!!!

Merlin managed to pull a shoe half off on wed, and I had a major panic when usual farrier wasnt able to come straight out (he did offer a farrier friend to come out the next day if he could though).

I decided to ring my old farrier who lives very near yard on the offchance he could put the shoe back on..... he was out within the hour and didnt even charge me!!!!!

Guess I just get on well with my farriers,..... or pick nice natured ones!!
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Our farrier is very reliable, doesn't ring back you must keep ringing him, he books in when he's here, we have a dry, windproof place for him to work always offer coffee. We have had one that was dreadful for him to trim, but he still comes back. We have had the same farrier for years, he was apprenticed to the farrier befor him
 
Theres loads of farriers around here but very difficult to find a decent one!!! and reliable at that!!
Where abouts are you??
Maybe you need to change counties-probably easier!!
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I think the problem with many farriers is that people do not make appointments in advance, then ring the farrier when they need shoes and expect the farrier to come out within a day or so. We always book the next appointment before the farrier leaves and we have never had our farrier miss an appointment or even be late.
Farriers can obviously run late if they encounter problems, but I think their service would be much better if we helped them in the first place. Obviously there will aways be bad farriers though.
 
My farrier has a diary and books all his clients in advance when he shoes them. Most his clients are private yards. He tells me that some owners can be a nightmare as they are not there as arranged or do not bring the horses in ready for him which causes delays for any other clients that day.

At any point in time I have two appointments booked in advance - the next one in 6 weeks and the one after in 12 weeks so when the farrier is with me I book the next one. I tend to book the first appointment in the morning so i know there will be no delays.
 
mine turned up a day early!! hes great though, but ive know him since he was an apprentice (did stop using him at one point.) but i guess the insentives for him coming are he lives 2 minutes away, has 4 horses to do at the same time, and gets provided with bacon rolls and coffee,

my last farrier although proberley the better one, was a pain, and if a shoe was lost could take weeks for him to fit it in.
 
I dont what I would do when my farrier retires. He is brill. Comes 6wks to the day, always on time. Has a dry concreted area to work on. A sort of well behaved Charlie to shoe. Will come out within 48hrs if we loose a shoe, as he knows how footsore Charlie can be. Also does an excellent job. A lot of the farriers in this area are extremely unreliable and just never turn up. Once you get a good farrier then you need to keep hold of them, by any method
 
Nope we have a regular visit on our yard. He comes every single Thursday! being on a large RS yard does have it's advantages. He comes every week so you just write down you want your horse done whenever need be!
 
My farrier is booked in when he shoes, and STILL he is late/disappears for weeks on end, etc. He's good when he turns up but there is just too much business around here and not enough farriers.
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