Farrier Dilema - What would you do ?

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OK my current farrier has some apprentices working for him and one of them has now qualified and is setting up on his own, albeit 40 mins away. He has asked if we'd like him to do our horses.

Our current farrier is very busy and we're concerned he won't get round to us all as he's too busy or he'll send apprentices with minimal supervision. He is very unreliable with dates / times anyway and with the experienced trainee now leaving we're worried it'll get worse. The apprentices have not always done a good job in the past. The farrier himself is very good but seems to spend his time on the big yards where the money is ( can't blame him for that ).

Con's - we are 40 mins away from new farrier and he will have other clients here but am concerned that if his business grows so much over new area he'll decide not to come anymore in which case we'll be stuck as farriers with space on the books are like hens teeth here.

Not to bothered either way myself but rest of yard have decided to go with new guy and would be easier if we all used the same farrier.

Any thoughts.
 
He is very unreliable with dates / times anyway and with the experienced trainee now leaving we're worried it'll get worse.
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That would be enough of a reason for me to look for a new farrier - and if this new one is good then I'd use him.
 
id maby give the new guy a go, sounds like the farrier you have might struggle when he leaves any way and if the rest of your yard are going to go with the new guy then he should be alot more reliable (you could tie in with other liverys so he can come and do a few rather than just one).
whatever your desision good luck :)
 
I agree with Amymay. Farriers have a right to expect clients to be ready for them and in return I think farriers should keep to times. OK, emergencies happen but in this day of mobile phones a phone call is not asking too much so you are kept informed.
 
If your current Farrier does a good job then keep him but have a chat with him about his punctuality! but if you feel he is too unreliable to carry on with-then try the new one, 40 mins away is not far really for the new one to have to travel.
 
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I though that when a farrier was newly qualified, his master farrier supplied him with a small number of his existing clients to set up his buisiness with. That's how it seems to work where I am anyway.
It sounds to me that is what has been suggested by the farrier who is the trainer, so if you don't go with the newly qualified apprentice, would you be likely to loose the services of original farrier anyway?
I'd accept the new one and worry about what happens in the future should it then happen- it may never be an issue!
 
I think the problem is it feels a little unethical to customer poach but then I often think things are more dog eat dog in the equestrian world.

Its a difficult one.
 
Spottyappy said:
I though that when a farrier was newly qualified, his master farrier supplied him with a small number of his existing clients to set up his buisiness with. That's how it seems to work where I am anyway.
It sounds to me that is what has been suggested by the farrier who is the trainer, so if you don't go with the newly qualified apprentice, would you be likely to loose the services of original farrier anyway?
I'd accept the new one and worry about what happens in the future should it then happen- it may never be an issue!
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Thats deffo not the case here as we've been asked to keep it quiet.
 
i'd go with the new farrier, they should at least let you know if they are running late.

my old farrier was always late and if he said he'd be there at 10am i knew he would be there about 11.30. i didn't mind too much because we had a good understanding. on the very few occassions he was going to be early he would phone and ask me if i was sitting down as he's going to be early, if i couldn't get there to meet him then he would make a start on the horses in my absence.
 
I would keep the old farrier and have a chat with him to confirm it will be him doing the feet not apprentices.

Give him a few shoeings to see if he improves time keeping etc and if not, you can change to the new farrier.

IMo much easier to change to the new farrier in a few months as he very likely still won't have a full book by then.
 
Actually the newly qualified apprentice is not supposed to encroach on the business of the ATF and the ATF is not obliged to supply him with clients. Several ATFs round our way have stopped training apprentices because they caused so much damage to their business after qualifying, by trying to poach clients and undercutting price etc. Its every man for himself unfortunately and you will just need to decide who is going to do the better job.
 
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