Freedom of choice re Farriers?

sally2008

sally2008

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I am always surprised when I see posts stating that people can only use the yard farrier as the YO / YM won't allow other farriers on the place.

Sorry what?!? Personally, I would never put up with this. It's my money, my horse and my choice as far as I'm concerned. Surely people can't be happily accepting this as a condition of their livery? Would YO's go so far as to dictate what vet or dentist you can have out to your horse? I don't think so!

Do many yards have this kind of restriction and how / why do people put up with it? Thoughts?
 
You would be surprised, some places dont allow other trainers on the yard also. Beats me as to why people put up with it especially if they think the "yard" whatever is not as good as their own.
 
Almost all the horses on my yard are on full livery which means I'm the one at the end of the lead rope when feet are being done. I chose the farrier I use. If anyone at my yard wanted a different farrier then they can do so however in that situation they will be one at the end of the lead rope not me. The same goes for vets, use my vet and I'll hold for you, use another vet and you can be in attendance.
 
Thats fair enough if liverys want you to supervise vet or farrier visits but some yards won't let another vet or farrier on the yard and even have one large bill then bill you your portion (after adding a bit). Many yards won't allow another trainer as it means their own , often the Y/M , is loosing out. One yard I was on wouldn't even let me choose my own saddle fitter , I had to hire a school up the road. Needless to say I now have mine at home.
 
where i am we all use the same farrier because he charges less if he has alot to do in one visit. So we all try to go on the same shoeing schedule instead of calling him out separately. but if someone wants a different farrier its their choice really. I've used a different one on occasion, if i cant get hold of my regular and neddys pulled a shoe and i have a show for example. I dont see the point in restricting liveries to one particular farrier/vet, but i spose it makes things easier in the event of an emergency as you don't have to look up which livery is with which vet. We have a list pinned to the white board which has each liverys emergency number, choice of vet and farrier so if there was an issue the YM can act quickly. I think the smaller the yard, the more sense it makes for everyone to have the same person.

I'd be upset if i was limited to one farrier/vet etc if i wasnt happy with the service, but thankfully i'm very happy with both my farrier and vet so no problems!
 
God! I'd NEVER put up with that! after all, how can one proffessional be good with all equines? I have a casing point in my filly and my gelding. My last farrier LOVED my filly and she was always well behaved for him. My Gelding and him however just did not click. I Changed farriers.
 
as for the trainer issue, if having lessons with a trainer other than our YM we have to pay extra to 'hire' the school. If we have lessons with the YM, or with trainers she has organised, there is no school hire fee. Fair enough really, like someone else said it means that my YM will be missing out, so adding the school hire charge means she benefits from it, and also makes us more likely to book with her than hire someone else and pay extra for the school use. Again, i dont have a problem with this as i appreciate her teaching style; if i didnt get on with her teaching manner and wanted another trainer then i'd probably be a bit miffed at the extra charge lol.
 
alj7 said:
as for the trainer issue, if having lessons with a trainer other than our YM we have to pay extra to 'hire' the school. If we have lessons with the YM, or with trainers she has organised, there is no school hire fee. Fair enough really, like someone else said it means that my YM will be missing out, so adding the school hire charge means she benefits from it, and also makes us more likely to book with her than hire someone else and pay extra for the school use. Again, i dont have a problem with this as i appreciate her teaching style; if i didnt get on with her teaching manner and wanted another trainer then i'd probably be a bit miffed at the extra charge lol.
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Does your livery fee not include use of facilities, are you able to school in there without an instructor present?
 
Spring Feather said:
Almost all the horses on my yard are on full livery which means I'm the one at the end of the lead rope when feet are being done. I chose the farrier I use. If anyone at my yard wanted a different farrier then they can do so however in that situation they will be one at the end of the lead rope not me. The same goes for vets, use my vet and I'll hold for you, use another vet and you can be in attendance.
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Why would you not be happy to hold a horse for a different farrier or vet?
 
when i moved to the yard i am presently at i was told i have to use the same hay supplier and 1 girl on the yard ordered the hay and i was to pay her the money in advance, i very politely and firmly said no she has one horse and orders a round bale once a month, i have 20 horses and have a delivery at least once a week and i am not changing my haylage supplier, also was not changing to hay from haylage.
Yes i did get my own way sorry my horses i choose whos services i use, it is something i would never be dictated to about
 
i use whichever farrier or anything i want to and as long as its in yard hours (8 till 8 week days and 8 till 6 weekends) i dont have to even tell the staff. even if im not going to be there. they will hold the horse if its need holding. surely thats what your paying for. i do tell the staff but not the yard owner if i have something booked in but there are not strick rules that i have to.
 
I know yards that have this rule. As long as you know about it before you agree to go to the yard - and you should if you have asked the right questions when you go to view the yard and the YM has been straight with you - then there can't be a problem with it.

With regards to having to pay to use the school if having any outside instructor come in to teach you, quite a few YMs make up their low salary with teaching and this is often a 'perk' of the job for them. Again as long as you know this before you go to the yard there are really no grounds for complaint.
 
Allover said:
Does your livery fee not include use of facilities, are you able to school in there without an instructor present?
Click to expand...

livery fee includes use of school, with or without our YM instructing. the only time we have to pay extra is if you want to
1) book the arena exclusively for your sole use, for example if you want to build a jumping course and not have to worry about dodging others
2) have a lesson with someone other than our YM (who is a BHSI) that she has not given permission to be on the premesis.

As we are all a pretty relaxed bunch, we dont mind riding together or waiting for 20 mins for the others to finish up in the school, so scenario 1 very, very rarely happens. if we're jumping we tend to pair up anyway to make altering fences easier. Otherwise we all school together, and all use a bit of common sense and not overcrowd the arena. most of the time we all have different schedules anyway, so theres never more than 2/3 trying to use the school at one time anyway.

As for scenario 2, our YM regularly organises for 2 other trainers (one dressage and one jumping) at least once every 6 weeks to come for those of us who want lessons. She is always open to suggestions with regard to new trainers, but as we're in the middle of nowhere not many people will come out to us anyway. So again, paying for use of the school in this situation isnt an issue because we're all happy with what we've got. There is one instructor that i know she doesnt want on the premises (fallout a long time ago), which is why i spose she adds the school hire charge to put us off having her, but if we were that desperate to have this other woman we all have transport so could easily box 20 mins down the road to her school instead, and it would cost about the same (because she charges less if she's at her site, add diesel = about the same cost)

few bit long but there u go!
 
We can use whatever vet/farrier/physio we want, our livery you come up and hold your horse for these whatever so that isn't an issue. We can also use any instructor we want and book the school for sole use whenever with no extra charges.
 
As a YO i allow liveries to have any vet/farrier/dentist etc as if a YO had tried to tell me who to use back when i was the customer - i would have told them where to go!

I did actually have someone look around last year who was at a yard where they have to use 'their' farrier - but apparently its the YO partner..... i imagine that could lead to some sticky situations if you are not happy with the shoeing/trimming!
 
as a farrier i would expect an owner to use the man of their own choice wherever their horse is kept . there is a lot more to hoofcare service than the shoeing itself , such as personality ,timekeeping ,etc,etc
chris
 
And just to add that as a farrier's OH, he has lost clients who have gone to "yard farrier only yards" and who have phoned up in tears to say they have to now use the yard farrier. Often the YO will get a good deal on their own horses if the yard farrier is guaranteed the whole yard, hence the situation.
 
My thoughts exactly Ferrador.

I've been looking for a new yard recently as I've just moved and need somewhere closer to home. I found a lovely looking one which I initially thought would suit my needs well until the YO said "Our farrier is X, you can't have anyone else in". I thanked her politely and told her it wasn't for me. Her reaction was "What?!? You are going to turn this down because you can't have your own farrier? What difference does it make, they all shoe don't they?".

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I just didn't have the energy to explain it to her. Happily I am now sorted with somewhere a little more enlightened! :D
 
I definately wouldnt stand for that! The livery where i keep my boy is attatched to a small riding school, one of the liveries uses the farrier that does the school horses, but i refuse to let him anywhere near my horse. He's got absolutely no patience (my boy needs someone who will work at his pace as he has shivers and sometimes it can take a while to pick up his back leg that he has spasms in), he has ruined several of the riding schools ponies feet, and he's just down right rude. My horse is barefoot, as are all the liveries, bar one, so i use the trimmer who does the rest of them. We all use the same vet practice as the riding school. The YO is happy for us to use who we want. I'd be gone if thiswere to change!
 
On a DIY yard I would definitely expect to be able to choose my own farrier.

If my horse was kept at full livery then I would expect the YO / YM to organise visits in the normal course of things, and could understand them preferring to only deal with one person. I'd still expect to be able to choose my own farrier, but would understand if I was asked to organise visits myself and give warning that (s)he was coming.

With regard to trainers I would definitely want to choose my own! Even if the YO was a fabulous teacher no one has all the answers, and I know that particular styles suit me best. Beyond saying that all instructors should have insurance I don't think that should be up to the YO.
 
Last Y/O dictated vet and farrier. She got very upset when I insisted on using my own farrier and made life very difficult but dictating what time I could have him, ie early moring before 8 am or late in the dark but with no lights to shoe by! Ended up taking her more often than not to my house to be shod then back to yard afterwards. Same for vet but she had to agree when I started working for another vet.

New yard you can have who you like when you like, although we are all the same vet anyway and happens to be the ones I work for!
 
Control freak YO syndrome, its more common than you might think.

OP, you're absolutely right but as long as there are owners who are prepared to support yards with rules like this YOs can get away with it.
 
I don't know of any yards round my way that stipulate which farrier or vet you should use.

If they did, I certainly wouldn't livery there. If I'm handing over my hard earned to somebody attending my horse, I will choose who that somebody is, not some Hitlerite of a YO.
 
I DO have a yard farrier, he's here every 6 weeks and liveries are welcome to use him, they can have their own farrier if they wish. I will assist with other farriers, providing they are at least half good at time keeping - I run a yard and a busy livestock farm and have no intention of hanging around all day waiting.
 
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