How much is your farrier?

tallyho! said:
Anyone can learn to do a simple trim. Why pay the farrier?
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I think this is quite an irresponsible post to make on a forum like this?

Farriers are trained, qualified and have years of experience. Of course some people could learn with the right training and experience, however I certainly don't think it should be suggested that everyone ditch their farrier and go DIY!
 
£20 for a trim, I have two ponies and give him £50
He is always bang on time and always very good and patient
 
No wonder my farrier can afford fancy mountain bikes! £85 a set, no idea about trimming! Saying that half in jest as he is awesome and easy on the eye as well :D
 
My farrier is fab. He charges £20 per trim, not sure about shoes as all 3 of mine are barefoot.
 
£25 a trim, don't know how much for shoes as mine all barefoot. £10 trim for my minis. Brilliant farrier wouldn't be without him.
 
£42.50 for fronts and backs trimmed. I think that's fab, cheap, probably, given how reliable the farrier is. Great bloke! He's now doing most of my yard since I moved and introduced him. :)
 
I use two farriers one is £ 90 with one stud whole in each hind shoes the other charges £75 no stud holes .
Lost shoes is £20 from the first farrier and £25 from the second .
 
Mine's £15 a trim (less if there's not much to take off) £40 for fronts and I think £60 for a set. He's so reliable too, he actually came out last bank holiday Monday to put fronts on my mare. He's also done a fantastic job at helping my other horse's dodgy leg, when I told him about her condition he rang the vets then went away and researched. Can't fault him :)
 
Mine charges me £90 for a full set and two trims. Not sure what the breakdown is on that but Im happy with it. He's very reliable and i trust him to come an do them if i cant be there (i leave them in).
*touch wood* my horse hasnt lost a shoe in the time ive known him (previous owner used the same farrier) so about 5/6 years.
Daughters pony used to loose a few here and there but they were always replaced within a day or two for free.
 
tallyho! said:
Actually, before anyone misunderstands me... I think good farriery/trimming is priceless. It's just that I believe that you can, as an owner, a person who is closest to the horse can carry out a trim on the feet as you would trim a tail or mane that is too long. If you can trust yourself to feed, worm and do all those basic things.... why not trimming?
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I have to say I must disagree, I had an apprentice trim my horses feet once and he made her lame, bearing in mind he was 1 year off his exams so had been training for four (ish) years! Makes me wonder what damage I could do......I'd rather empty my pockets to someone (obviously with a proven record) to do my horses feet than risk some lovely vet bills or having to creep back to the farrier asking him for help because I've ruined his good work because I wanted to save some pennies. :)
 
I'm in the same area as you Daytona, and would love to know who your farrier is so I can avoid!!! I'm £85 for a full set on my horrific shiverer (so farrier really works for his money!), and I'm a fiver for a lost shoe if I have the shoe, £20 for a replacement.

My boy gets shod every four weeks so £85 a pop is eye watering enough... putting off stud holes until we really need them!!!
 
Cheshire -

£70 for a set, don't think he charges more for stud holes, although I've not needed them, don't know about road nails.

£35 fronts and trim behind.

£15 trim (possibly 20, but fairly sure it's £15)

He replaces lost shoes for free, including replacements, had to silicone my old boys hoof last year and didn't charge for that either. He'll always try and squeeze you in at short notice. Is a good guy. He does the whole yard too :)
 
It makes you wonder what you actually pay for as I'm £80 a full set but only work on a surface, rarely on roads so my shoes never wear out. I've had the same set put on and back on for a year and even though its the same shoes a refit and trim is still £70. Which suggests that the shoes themselves are only a tenner for 4 ...
 
EKW said:
It makes you wonder what you actually pay for as I'm £80 a full set but only work on a surface, rarely on roads so my shoes never wear out. I've had the same set put on and back on for a year and even though its the same shoes a refit and trim is still £70. Which suggests that the shoes themselves are only a tenner for 4 ...
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You pay for years of training, experience, insurance, van running costs, tools etc as well as the farrier being able to get a wage.

Some charge more some charge less. You could say what do you actually pay a physio for as they don't actually fit anything to the horse etc however your paying for their skills and experience.
 
Yes I know your paying for the job and tools and training et al but a 100% price hike in 7 years is a bit ott do you not think? It's no wonder that many people are ditching shoes in favour of barefoot. To be honest I only have 1 shod for showing in summer purely because of his dodgy tendon. He doesn't get shod in winter due to no work so no point.
 
EKW said:
Yes I know your paying for the job and tools and training et al but a 100% price hike in 7 years is a bit ott do you not think? It's no wonder that many people are ditching shoes in favour of barefoot. To be honest I only have 1 shod for showing in summer purely because of his dodgy tendon. He doesn't get shod in winter due to no work so no point.
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I think probably not, if you think about the hike in price of fuel, the cost of living has gone up considerably, their insurance has probably increased etc etc. Also I don't envy them their job, its relatively high risk, there aren't many other jobs where you can run the risk of getting booted by half a ton of animal. Also a good farrier is worth their weight in gold, my farrier is cheap compared to some of these on here, and he's fab. I have almost choked at some of the prices though...
 
Grinchmass said:
I think probably not, if you think about the hike in price of fuel, the cost of living has gone up considerably, their insurance has probably increased etc etc. Also I don't envy them their job, its relatively high risk, there aren't many other jobs where you can run the risk of getting booted by half a ton of animal. Also a good farrier is worth their weight in gold, my farrier is cheap compared to some of these on here, and he's fab. I have almost choked at some of the prices though...
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I think area affects it big time though. Up here in near Aberdeen, we have a huge farrier shortage - farriers can pick and choose their clients, and if your horse is bad to shoe god help you (thankfully my farrier had been shoeing my horses for years before this current one so took my lad on, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get him shod due to his shivering!). They are fussy about traveling too far, none of them work past 5pm or weekends, and lots of events struggle to get a farrier on site. This also makes them expensive - I don't know anyone who pays less than £75 for a set of shoes, even from newly qualified farriers/poorer farriers than mine.

I spoke to farriers down near Edinburgh though, and there's so many of them that they struggle to get work. So prices are much lower.
 
Sussex - £20 trim, £45 half set, £65 full set, £5 for road nails or stud holes. He is always on time, replaces lost shoes for free, even though my pony has lost several and i have never found them, and comes out within a couple of days to replace. He has made such a difference to my ponies feet-they look fantastic since he has worked on them.
 
And then they are 2 hours late and don't answer their phone! Gave up waiting for them an hour ago! So no showing for me this weekend! This is why I dislike farriers prices!
 
GBL said:
£20 a trim, £50 for a full set :)

A good, reliable farrier are worth a lot - I always here stories of unreliable farriers and don't know how people cope!
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Good god I wish you were local to me, cheshire? I pay £74 a set about to go up to £76!! Stud holes is extra! Very reliable and have been with him many many years but tbh it's starting to get a bit expensive now especially when we have other reliable farriers coming to the yard who charge much less! He does do a good job but then so do they, and I know I stay with him out of loyalty. I have 4 though, 2 only have fronts on but still, it's a whopping chunk to pay every 6weeks. Don't know how much a trim is?
 
khalswitz said:
I think area affects it big time though. Up here in near Aberdeen, we have a huge farrier shortage - farriers can pick and choose their clients, and if your horse is bad to shoe god help you (thankfully my farrier had been shoeing my horses for years before this current one so took my lad on, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get him shod due to his shivering!). They are fussy about traveling too far, none of them work past 5pm or weekends, and lots of events struggle to get a farrier on site. This also makes them expensive - I don't know anyone who pays less than £75 for a set of shoes, even from newly qualified farriers/poorer farriers than mine.

I spoke to farriers down near Edinburgh though, and there's so many of them that they struggle to get work. So prices are much lower.
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Yep, I get that's it's all about supply and demand, I'm fairly lucky that in my area we have a fair few, so they have some competition to keep their prices down. And also lucky that my farrier will work weekends occasionally, although I always have him out midweek.

Still £38 for a lost shoe definitely made me croak. Especially as mine replaces them for free. I know I'm lucky with this. My mare is good with shoes and she's only lost one since I've had her, but my old boy was an absolute pain in the bum!
 
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