How much do you trust your equine professionals?

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Ilovemywelshie

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Just interested to know how much trust people have in their proffesionals. I have my horses feet trimmed every seven weeks (barefoot)' teeth rasped regularly she has just had a brand new saddle which was fitted and checked. She passed a 5 stage vetting in April with flying colours and has just turned 5.
I had her back checked to be sure everything was spot on and left the yard feeling 'ripped off' maybe I expected too much for my money? There seemed to be an awful lot of talking and not a lot else. Everything had been fine untill end of consultation when the proffesional said my horse needed some physio massage. It lasted all of 10 mins and that was that.
Sometimes I wonder if people take advantage of how much people care for their horses. I don't begrudge spending any money on my horse if its for her well being but do wonder how genuine proffesionals are.
 
I trust my vet, farrier, dental technician, physio and saddler. I wouldn't let them near my boys if I didn't.
 
Physio's usually take a long time talking to you and assessing your horse (in motion and static). A human appointment would be probably in the region of 20mins hands off assessment followed by up to half an hour of treatment. Horsey physio's often take a lot longer to assess mine takes approx 1/2 an hour (as they can't ask neddy where it hurts). However if the physio only talked and did not see your horse trotted up/on the lunge etc then I would be worried. (also where they a registered physio, not a 'back' person)

That said I trust people who earn it through reputation or through my experiences with them.
 
Was this professional a properly qualified physio?? if so I am surprised that a) they only took 10 mins to assess b) did not get on and treat the horse if it required treatment, if they could not treat until gaining permission from your vet then that is fair enough, although they should have sorted that before assessing so they could treat immediately, if they were not qualified then you may have had a lucky escape from being taken for a ride.
The fact she passed a 5 stage vetting is not relevant, she may still have minor issues that did not show up but could be found by a physio don't rule it out.

I trust my farrier, have used him for 20 years, my physio who is ACAPT reg, my new vet I am just getting to know but after his visit today to see a horse who has been let down by several vets over the past 18 months, the relationship seems promising, he listens, actually found what was wrong and has so far been great with advice on where we go now, it takes time to build a relationship with any professional you use, sometimes you feel confident and want to stick with them, other times the confidence is lacking, it may then be time to look elsewhere.
 
I understand BSL ... Was reccomended this physio by someone i trust. However i have a strong gut instinct and a very suspicious partner, bieng my first consultation, i have decided it takes a while to build a relationship with any proffesional. I dont think I liked the way physio was with my girl so won't be having her again. Would be amazing to have all the years training and skill sets to look after my horse medically alone.
 
Was reccomended and qualified well known, maybe I expect to much. Mare was trotted up I don't think I've explained properly there just wasn't much hands on more looking and talking. I have come to realise that people who don't feel the need to say a lot often know what they are talking about a lot more than the ones that babble. Automatically clicked with dentist and farrier even liked the vet so maybe it's just a personal preference.
 
I trust my vet, farrier, dentist, osteopath, saddler, yard owner and yard manager. I have known the first five professionals for more than twenty years and they have never let my horse or me down or suggested something which I disagreed with.
Together we have taken care of three horses, two of which are no longer alive, and the current pony.
The yard owner and yard manager share my views on correct land and horse management. Having known them for while now, i trust them to continue their good consistent management of my current pony.
Trust, as far as I am concerned, is built up over time and dependent on the quality of the service being given. In terms of the yard personnel where the pony is currently stabled, they act as I would wish them to. They consistently achieve good land and horse husbandry.
 
I do not trust anyone 100% except one of the vets who I have known over 20 years. People can earn my respect in time but there's always a part of me that has to double check what they say and do.
 
Having read your reply, I wouldn't worry about not too much hands on, but there should be a sort of all over hands check at some point if that makes sense (all over being relevant to potential/spotted injury). But that said if you didn't click, you didn't click. I like my professionals to explain and give me confidence, they don't need to be chatty, just know their stuff
 
I trust the people I use for my horse, if I don't feel they are right then I don't have them back. I have had some good saddlers who I don't use now just because of geography, but had one that everyone recommended but I wasn't happy with him, same for a dentist. So I found someone else. I go by how happy my horse is with the person treating them too.
 
Gloi said:
I do not trust anyone 100% except one of the vets who I have known over 20 years. People can earn my respect in time but there's always a part of me that has to double check what they say and do.
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I think this is wise. I would instantly send away any professional who wasn't happy with me questioning what they were doing/saying. That's not to say that I would interrogate them, but they should be prepared to offer a reasonable explanation.

I think I'm more careful than I used to be after some bad experiences where my gut instinct told me something was off but I didn't listen and stand up for it. Unfortunately I was let down by a number of professionals that I had trusted up to that point.
 
I trust the people I use to be up to date with latest research and have the experience of dealing with many horses. I trust myself to make decisions regarding what is best for my horses having listened to their advice.
As an owner, you have to be informed, ask the right questions and discuss whether the treatment is appropriate for each individual horse and circumstances.
 
Vet - 100%
Farrier - 100%
Back lady/Saddler - so far 100%

We have had the same vet for the last 6 years and he is one of the nicest vets I have come across, he is always available on the phone and doesn't 'talk down' to my daughter, but explains everything. He is also the dentist.
Same farrier for 5 years, worked well with the vet when the horse had a problem, always reliable and a fount of knowledge, never tries to 'push' the more expensive option to the point of telling us that our horse would cope well without shoes and never tries to trim earlier than necessary.
Back Lady/Saddler - so far so good - only used for a year - not had any major issues so far so can't 100% comment
 
I trust my vet, dentist and farrier who are all wonderful. I have masses of respect for my dressage instructor but we disagree about certain areas of horse management (I like mine out as much as poss, his get 2-4 hours out, only when it's dry, though they are worked for at least an hour a day).
After my recent experiences with a saddle fitter and physio I no longer trust them and am looking for new ones :(.
 
My physio is a-mazing. My dentist is a-amazing. My farrier rocks. My vet is fantastic but a snr partner so I sometimes get a different one. I prefer 'my' vet. Never had a better one but he broke his back recently so we be had the other one. He's blooming good too though. I've spent a lot of years using different professionals and researching though so I should have a good set now!
 
Ilovemywelshie said:
Just interested to know how much trust people have in their proffesionals. I have my horses feet trimmed every seven weeks (barefoot)' teeth rasped regularly she has just had a brand new saddle which was fitted and checked. She passed a 5 stage vetting in April with flying colours and has just turned 5.
I had her back checked to be sure everything was spot on and left the yard feeling 'ripped off' maybe I expected too much for my money? There seemed to be an awful lot of talking and not a lot else. Everything had been fine untill end of consultation when the proffesional said my horse needed some physio massage. It lasted all of 10 mins and that was that.
Sometimes I wonder if people take advantage of how much people care for their horses. I don't begrudge spending any money on my horse if its for her well being but do wonder how genuine proffesionals are.
Click to expand...

I absolutely trust my dentist, saddler, osteo and farrier. My vet, I mostly trust - although for anything major I'd want a referral pretty quickly. However the options for vets in my area are pretty limited, and I'm not really impressed with any of them, so I have chosen what I believe to be the best one, and work with it.

One of my instructors I trust totally. The other, I respect and enjoy lessons with wrt my jumping, but not so much on the flat, and not really regarding management (she pushed me for the bit change that ended up with my horse becoming a horrid stopper).
 
Vet 0% to 95% depending on who they send out. EDT (current one)98% Previous EDTs now 25% after seing what they had missed. My saddler Tom from TDS saddlery.100% He doesn't Bull sh.. Other peoples saddlers I have watched ,mostly about 0%Liphook veterinary horsepital 100% Human hospital 0% . My Farriers 100% . Feed salesmen 20%Edited to add that physios ,folk with red lights and such , the verdict is open ,but they do often have an insight that is worth listening to.People with black boxes ,radionics , horse comunicators , (especialy by phone) Tack salesmen ,air jacket salesmen ,feed suplement salesmen ,I would generaly set the dogs loose on . OK I know I dont have a dog ,but I would hire them in just to deal with these people.
 
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I have been with my equine proffessionals for years, and if I didn't like them, they would have been sacked. My trimmer I have known for a very long time - he has been trimming my horses for nine years now. My vet I have been with for about 15 years, he is a one man band, so I always know who I will be gettting. Have been through several physios, but the one I am currently using is a good friend, who started off using one of my horses for a case study, and was so good she stuck.

Dentist - I use my vet as needed, and saddler, I use the Albion agent as needed.

Do I trust them, yes, but that is a two way highway.
 
Yes, it has taken many years to find the best but I have full trust in all my professionals. That does not mean I wouldn't question something if I wasn't sure or not happy. They are all human after all and can't be perfect all the time or read minds.
 
Old vet - 0%
New vet - 100%
Both physio & McTimoney - 100%.
Farrier - 90%
Saddlers - so far 0% (think this will change with the person I have coming next)
 
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