Emergency farrier needed

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funnyfilly

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Due to being let down a number of times, my horses feet are really long, and she is now lame as a result. I am in urgent need of a farrier, but most seem to be fully booked. My regular farrier cant get out until the 9th July, and she cant wait that long. Does anyone know of a farrier that will come out in an emergency in the fawkham, kent area. I took today off work in order for a farrier, but again they didnt show up. I'm really desperate and seem to be getting nowhere, as they are all fully booked
 
You need to find yourself a reliable farrier that books you in in advance and you always have an appointment pre-booked. For instance I have a farriers appointent every 6 weeeks and I have two appointemnst booked in advance to enure no issues. If you have a a good long standing relationship with your farrier then he should always be able to come out in an emergency within 24 hours.
 
PeterNatt said:
You need to find yourself a reliable farrier that books you in in advance and you always have an appointment pre-booked. For instance I have a farriers appointent every 6 weeeks and I have two appointemnst booked in advance to enure no issues. If you have a a good long standing relationship with your farrier then he should always be able to come out in an emergency within 24 hours.
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That's wonderful in theory!

IME the good hoof care professionals are unreliable, and the cr@p ones are reliable :rolleyes:.
 
Aren't you the lucky ones, then :rolleyes:.

The messing around has certainly contributed to me exiting horses when these are gone. Totally fed up.

Btw I do always try and book well in advance (if only they'd bring their s0dding diaries with them), I confirm arrangements immediately, I pay the farrier when he is still here, the horses are always in, well presented and well behaved, I have stables, hardstanding, shelter and lights etc.

I'm trimming my own now.

ETA. OP, as Red-1 says, you may be better off pulling the shoes and rasping the worst of the overgrowth off yourself.
 
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OP I don't know who has been letting you down but if you are on FB go on to Kent equestrian grapevine lots of farriers in your area
 
My new farrier is my old farriers apprentice. I had to change when I moved. Every visit I book my next appointment and when my horse got laminitis he came out the same day I phoned him. They are out there but it is a relationship you have to look after. Maybe I have been lucky because I've never had a bad one
 
That’s a bit harsh TP and quite sad you have such a jaded view of farriers. I have two different farriers and both are 100% reliable and very good at what they do. The one who shoes is booked every 5 weeks two cycles in advance and the other I call and ask him when he’s in the area to come and do a trim. Neither have ever let me down and likewise I always ensure horses are in, ready with clean dry feet.
 
Ask your farrier to recommend someone if he can’t come out…if he thinks he might lose business it may prompt him to show up….and I say this with tongue in cheek but make sure you are a “good” owner…horse is caught, dry clean and ready…and pay cash … they prefer that as they can choose whether it goes through the books or not.It seems very odd that no farrier is showing up….are you in a hard to find place?
 
Lindylouanne said:
That’s a bit harsh TP and quite sad you have such a jaded view of farriers. I have two different farriers and both are 100% reliable and very good at what they do. The one who shoes is booked every 5 weeks two cycles in advance and the other I call and ask him when he’s in the area to come and do a trim. Neither have ever let me down and likewise I always ensure horses are in, ready with clean dry feet.
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May be harsh and sad, but reality for a lot of us. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely great farriers out there who do a fab job, show up, and are relatively organised.

Here it is a struggle. Sometimes they will book in advance but still not show up. Sometimes they'll come a few days later, sometimes a week or more later. There are a few good ones, but they're always booked full, which is good, but difficult when you get a new horse or want to switch to someone good.

Having 3 farriers royally eff up my horses hooves, really turned me off. All 3 have mostly decent reputations. I have a thread on it (the f-ed up hooves).

I pay at the appointment, tip/gift around holidays, have a well behaved horse, he's clean, he's ready, plenty of hard standing, shelter, lights, power, water, etc. None of that matters, sometimes they're just flakes or straight up not good at the job. You have "duds" in every profession, and with farriers, it is no different. It's a shame because of the animals welfare.

It's also a hard job, so I do respect them, but a job they chose. It's one of those that you really have to give your all to.

My trimmer is excellent. Books ahead, shows up on time, and does fab work. I never want to part with her.




To the OP: When my horse was shod, and my farrier had to get surgery on his arm, I phoned a local clinic and their farrier had an opening so I just hauled over there. Horse had special shoes and pads, plus I figured a farrier working out of a clinic would be decent. So that's an option to if there is anything like that nearby.

Otherwise you've just got to make some calls and search the web. FB groups can be helpful for this.

Can the horse go unshod?
 
I’ve an excellent farrier, who majority of time can come at Arranged time. I don’t pre book as I look at the feet and decide; sometimes he can go longer between visits or needs sooner, depending on growth.

My farrier does a lot of corrective work, especially on foals and youngstock so around this time of year he may not be as reliable as during the winter - understandably these can take more time than allocated or things go wrong, it’s all part of the work. I’d rather my farrier goes home to rest rather than rush and exhaust himself to squeeze mine in late at night (unless urgent/lost shoe Scenario) as he is a human too.

Its the same with vets - emergencies happen, they can’t always get out to do routine work and can cancel at last minute. Sometimes frustrating but if your horse was the emergency your opinion changes.

I left too long between shoeing this last rotation, they were far too long. Completely fault and feel terrible - combination of working away, working every hours under the sun (thanks NHS) and unexpected growth with the new grass! Contacted farrier, arranged appointment and in the meantime took the hinds off myself and treated nail holes with some farriers liquid to protect as best I could.

If you are really struggling can you take the shoes off?
Why is she lame with long feet - are you sure there isn’t something else going on?
Unless they are super duper long or arthritic/coffin joint etc. it would be unusual as that being the only cause.

You could always contact the vet as they may have a number for another farrier that they use in emergencies?
 
I'm confused how you've been let down a number of times but have a regular farrier...

But if you're desperate you should be able to get them done through your vets, you'll pay for it but they will have usually have access to someone for emergencies.
 
This makes me feel very lucky with my farrier... i asked him to take some shoes off
My horse last week cos there was no one to ride him, next day someone id asked in the past if she wanted him gave me a ring and because of a chamge in circumstances wanted to take him on... phoned farrier to see if he could fit him in to put shoes back on — he was there the next day ...
 
Can the vet that diagnosed her as lame caused by overgrown feet recommend a farrier or get you in with one at their clinic?
 
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