I do wonder why people do this

T

TheFarrier

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 February 2009
Messages
1,027
jamesthefarrier.co.uk
There was a post on here asking for a farrier recommendation by a horse woner who could not get hold of her farrier, fair enough i hear you say. And although she had not booked in for a reason as she is moving away and the rest is explained i still wanted to ask this... Its something that happens to me a lot and i have actually been 'fired' over it a number of times

People who only ring me when the horse is desperate for a trim or to be shod or the shoes have all come off etc. And then expect to be able to fit then in at a moments notice because the horse is 'desperate' the fact that they dont book their horses in and its now gone six weeks plus (the plus has been anything up to six months or more
shocked.gif
) and when i cant fit them in they just find someone else... and i think moan about me to other horse owners (and of course ours is the profession built on word of mouth)

I dont get it
confused.gif
i really really dont. It is so much easier to book in and you have a confirmed date and time.

Dont get me started on people that cancel appointments the night before either.

this was the reply i gave to the poster originally
[ QUOTE ]
I dont have anyone to recommend but i will say and am prepared to get shot down in flames for this but maybe its a little unfair to drop your farrier because you didnt contact him sooner.

I have had clients drop me because they could not get hold of me (one or two days) or i could not fit them in at such short notice but they were ringing me only when 'desperate' and the horses 'needed doing urgently' and i wonder why they dont just book in or ring sooner before all the shoes fall off

[/ QUOTE ]

Can anyone shed any light on this because i dont get it
smile.gif
 
er...possibly they are selfish and think farriers have nothing better to do?
smirk.gif
tongue.gif


for the record i always book in, every 5 weeks and my farrier is a gem and will come out whenever i lose a shoe (which is often- TB with bad feet
grin.gif
) but i don't get arsey if he can't come and put the shoe on for a few days- he'll come on a sunday morning if i'm desperate before a show but i can wait if its not desperate
smile.gif
 
I don't get it either, as I like to know exactly when the farrier is coming and that my horse is shod at the correct time - maybe its a money saving exercise, which probably quite often backfires?

However, my farrier is the opposite to most. He won't let me book in regardless as to the fact that I always want my horse done in 5 weeks time. I then have to ring him the Friday before he's due to say he's due this coming week. He'll then moan and groan that he's busy but try and fit me in and then rings me the night before to say he's coming. Drives me up the wall, although he always come and usually on the same day of the week and same time. He's not singling me out either, this is the way he operates!
 
I have been with my farrier for about 8 years now, and I've always booked in my next appointment - he is fab, punctual, and NEVER lets me down at all.

I think in all those years he didn't turn up once (his wife had gone into labour), and cancelled once due to flu.

Oh, he made a bit of a prat of himself once as he forgot that I had moved yards and rang me asking where I was - he was at the old yard waiting for me!
grin.gif


I've never cancelled him either.

Not bad for all that time!
 
I had this conversation with my Farrier yesterday!!!

He was telling me about a woman who hadn't had her horses feet tended to for maybe twelve months because...she couldn't get a Farrier!!!
shocked.gif
shocked.gif
shocked.gif


Now, the conversation conclusion was a) she didn't want to spend the money or b) she was too ignorant of the consequences to know that her horses should be shod/trimmed regularly!

The outcome is that this person, will have to spend quite a lot of money to correct the horses feet, more than regular farriery would have costs, and besides all that it is extremely cruel!!

I always book my Farrier in for the next appointment, straight away. I think some people think "maybe the horse could go eight weeks this time, I won't book in until I see". This is such false economy.

Sorry, if this is so long, just that I don't understand why people do it either!!!
grin.gif
grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
er...possibly they are selfish and think farriers have nothing better to do?
smirk.gif
tongue.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

most probably
crazy.gif

I normally contact my farrier a couple of weeks before I need him. Plus he can often be bribed to come out earlier with home made cake
wink.gif
 
My farrier is great. No complaints atall. I book my horse in with him for the next appt each time he is shod. If i have any problems, then i call and he comes straight out for me. Last fri eve I got my horse in from the field as he had lost a shoe. I had a lesson booked with my trainer the following morning. I called my blacksmith and he came over and replaced the shoe within an hour !!!!!! from the other side of London. What a service, cant get much better than that.
grin.gif
 
I dont know maybe it is a money thing but the feet are generally a state when i get out to do them and its not good for the horses in any shape or form

I know several people who say they cant get a farrier and say its the farriers when actually its quite often the owners.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
er...possibly they are selfish and think farriers have nothing better to do?
smirk.gif
tongue.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

most probably
crazy.gif

I normally contact my farrier a couple of weeks before I need him. Plus he can often be bribed to come out earlier with home made cake
wink.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

See this wouldnt bother me because you give NOTICE
laugh.gif
 
My farrier won't make appointments and doesn't book you in in 6 weeks time.

Every 6 weeks I have to start the same bloody rigmarole or ringing him up. This week my horse is due to be shod. So I ring on Monday night and ask when he can come this week. He says ring me in the morning and i'll let you know. So I ring him on Tuesday morning, he says 'Friday'. I say 'what time on Friday?' He says 'ring me friday morning'.

Every 6 weeks this happens. I've had 2 times where I have waited until 10pm at night for him to come. It's a frigging nightmare. I have to use him as it's in my loan contract.

It's ok at the moment, when my work is flexible, but come september and i'm back into proper work it'll be a nightmare. Not impressed with him.
 
I totally agree - I know how often my horse is shod so its easier for my farrier and me to book in advance.

I was caught out once though as I'd always kept my horse on a big yard where the farrier came twice a week and you just wrote your name on the list any time up to the night before.
When I left the yard I had to find a new farrier and waited until I wanted to book an appointment to ring, only to find the farrier I wanted couldn't fit me in for nearly 3 weeks.
I learned my lesson from that and now book my next appointment whenever my horse is shod.
 
My farrier gives me a date for me next shoeing each time and he works round my shift pattern because of this if one looses a shoe he will normally fit me in the next day (all be it 7.30am).

However, i have known farriers that are booked in every 7 weeks and then either don’t turn up or call the night before to re-arrange. This isnt just a one off this is most shoeings.

So I think it works both ways i have a good farrier and i am a good customer but i think you can get farriers that are badly organised and you can get customers that are badly organised.
 
i had a problem with one farrier i use to use, twice when my horse had been booked in, (i use to book every 6 wks at the time of shoeing for the next shoe) he hadn't turned up both times he had gone on holiday, yes i know it ok for people to take a holiday but he never told me when i booked in both times i was ringing for about 2 weeks to find out where he was and when he could do the horse as he hadn't turned up. the last time he did this to me, with me trying to contact for over 2 weeks, i eventually changed farrier had the mare booked in for the following day and then got a phone call from the old farrier to say that he could shoe the mare the next week by this time 3 weeks over due. i pointed out that he obviously didn't need my money and had made other arrangements.
 
I don't understand it either. Our farrier is fab. We can ring on the Monday or Tuesday and he will come out on the Thursday. He is never late - often early. Down side is he won't let us book him 6 weeks in advance - he says that its because you cannot guarantee that they will go that long between visits and may need him to come sooner in which case booking is a bit useless
 
[ QUOTE ]
My farrier gives me a date for me next shoeing each time and he works round my shift pattern because of this if one looses a shoe he will normally fit me in the next day (all be it 7.30am).

However, i have known farriers that are booked in every 7 weeks and then either don’t turn up or call the night before to re-arrange. This isnt just a one off this is most shoeings.

So I think it works both ways i have a good farrier and i am a good customer but i think you can get farriers that are badly organised and you can get customers that are badly organised.

[/ QUOTE ]

I quite often have to reorganise and not because i am disorganised at all but because of last minute cancellations often ruin ing the days work as far as organisation goes especially if it was say a client who was on the edge of my round who i had tied in with another to make the journey time and gas worthwhile and one cancelles, the other only has one horse to shoe (for example) and i am forced to reshedule that person because its not time or cost effective.

Infact i contact most of my clients the same week up to the night before to confirm or let them know if there is a slight adjustment in time etc, they seem to find this is a service that is helpful not annoying.

I dont get farriers that wont allow clients to book work in, how do they organise themselves i find it hard enough with people chopping and changing all the time. I dont see how people can cancel their appointments the night before honestly as they have known about the exact date and time for six weeks or MORE
 
I'm another who books in advance on the day the horse is shod. I used my old farrier for about 4 or 5 years and it got to the point where I wasn't even there most of the time. We had a great system - I left him a cheque pinned to the board, he replaced it with a receipt with the next appointment written on it, I put that in the yard diary on the same day so they got the horse in, and he just removed horse from stable, shod him and put him back!

Had to change farriers recently due to moving yards and I did detect a note of surprise in new ones voice when he asked when I wanted the appointment for and I named a date 3 weeks away - I know how busy I am when clients want me to do things, usually there is a 2-3 week wait - so why should he be any different?! Booked in for 5 weeks hence at the end of the shoeing, then I know when it is going to be, I can make sure I don't book in any surveys/meetings that day and everyone's happy. If farrier can't make 5 weeks I go 4 rather than 6 too, it's such a false economy to drag out the time between appointments, you just end up with crap feet and a lame horse or a sprung shoe.
 
QR Other side of the coin. I'm changing farriers because I am unhappy with the current one (he's lovely, reliable, books in 6 wks in advance, turns up on time BUT is slapping on the shoes and has no interest in issues I raise with him).

New one is highly thought of, good reputation, and doesn't always take on new clients. He's agreed to take me on, but wants me to call up a week before I need him to come out. I'm hoping this is going to work, but I get the feeling it may cause problems.
 
[ QUOTE ]
My farrier won't make appointments and doesn't book you in in 6 weeks time.

Every 6 weeks I have to start the same bloody rigmarole or ringing him up. This week my horse is due to be shod.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why don't you ring on the filth week for the following week rather than risk them being overdue?

My farrier is great and I book in when he's there for the next time. He's also very good if anything has lost a shoe; only twice in the ten years I've been having him! He's also a horseman himself so is excellent with the babies, so much so that when Joey was ready for his first set of shoes last year, Joey never batted an eyelid not even at the steam, just took it in his stride.
 
[ QUOTE ]
he says that its because you cannot guarantee that they will go that long between visits and may need him to come sooner in which case booking is a bit useless

[/ QUOTE ]

That seems a bit of a weird argument, but if he is happy to come out that promptly i guess it doesn't really matter.

My farrier is brilliant. I started using him because he was the yard farrier at my old yard, and no others were allowed (which made me a bit
mad.gif
at first). But, he's a good farrier, he's very reliable, and my mare likes him, so he's worth keeping. I just book the next appointment every time he comes.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Im sorry i couldnt shoe for you!
frown.gif
did you get my pm i never had a reply... i have a good excuse though since i was relocating.
smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, and am sorry for not replying too, been manically busy recently, kept meaning to and never quite got round to it.

I think relocation is a decent enough excuse really! Luckily managed to find someone who seems v good and did not object to me asking questions about why he was doing things (because I am interested and because to me my horse's foot balance looked a bit 'off' when he came back from loan - not dreadful by any means, just not brilliant either, and I wanted to know if he agreed since he's the professional!). I was pretty impressed actually, he looked at how the horse wears his shoes and pre-wore them slightly to enable the horse to be more comfortable straight away - this is something I had long discussions with farriers in the USA about as they both felt that you keep a horse sounder by not trying to alter its natural foot wear pattern and accepting that it may not be text-book but if it is sound then trying to alter things too much can make it lame. That's not a terribly good explanation of what we were talking about out there, but you get the idea!

PS. I made the new farrier tea too
wink.gif
 
I do know what you are saying and have said this in a post in the past

[ QUOTE ]
Scribbles what you are saying as far as my training goes is correct, which is very similar to what horses in the wild do (and to remedial trimming) and that is that a horse will wear its own feet down to a shape that IT finds most comfortable. With remedial work on a young horse that is still developing you can correct many problems but with an older horse you trim to make them sound and comfortable (and i am NOT saying that you would not be making the young horse sound or comfortable either)

[/ QUOTE ] this was a barefoot discussion but the principles apply to shoeing as well

Im glad you found someone you are going to be happy with
smile.gif
 
I quite often have to reorganise and not because i am disorganised at all but because of last minute cancellations often ruin ing the days work as far as organisation goes especially if it was say a client who was on the edge of my round who i had tied in with another to make the journey time and gas worthwhile and one cancelles, the other only has one horse to shoe (for example) and i am forced to reshedule that person because its not time or cost effective.

I do appreciate that you are at the mercy of your clients and if one cancels on you the night before that moves everything around but then if I have been given a date for 7 weeks and i have worked things around that date and time i shouldn’t be penalised because others have let you down.

I know life is not that simple and things change which is why when my farrier changes my appointment last minute (which is very rare) i understand it is because he has no choice. I have been given 1 hours notice of a cancellation once because a horse had a vet out and had really bad laminitis which was obviously more urgent than my neddies which are fit and well.

It might not sound like it but i do agree with you, i don’t think anyone should let someone down last minute.
 
I know what youa er saying and you know what i am saying but if my cleints didnt do that too me i would never have to do it to others. of course i hate doing it but sometimes i have no coice.

it doesnt happen as often as it sounds like it does but it does seem to be the same clients over and over again. I will often leave large gaps in my day if i know there are other cleints booked in who cannot be flexible. And will ask those to move who would be able too.

I feel this is an example of things working both ways because if any of them who wernt taking the mick had to reshedule (as has happened) then of course i am accomodationg of that
 
Re last minute cancellations, my dentist, who is popular so you do have to book well in advance, sends a text at the end of the previous week to the appointment or start of the week to remind you of the day/time and one at 4.30 to 5pm-ish the night before. I find this most useful.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Re last minute cancellations, my dentist, who is popular so you do have to book well in advance, sends a text at the end of the previous week to the appointment or start of the week to remind you of the day/time and one at 4.30 to 5pm-ish the night before. I find this most useful.

[/ QUOTE ]

I do a weekly one if i have time but almost always do a night before one and the thing that infuriates me is i often get texts back saying oh no we cant do that any more. And i wonder how long they had known that for and that i would have turned up to find no one there because they didnt have enough common courtesy to let me know until i reminded them

*end rant*
smile.gif
 
I think we're lucky with our farrier, he does a cracking job & we book at the end of each time he's been and even tho' we're out of his normal area and the horses can't be done together (one gets shod every 5 weeks, the other every 7 or 8 weeks) he'll still come out to us. And if a shoe comes off, he's usually there the next day, 2 days later at most and does it for free. I think the biscuits/doughnuts/choccies my mum plys him with might help tho
wink.gif


I did use anotehr farrier previously but he was awful, consistently forgetting or turning up on the wrong day or at the wrong time. Needless to say, he lost our business.
So I suppose it works both ways really.
 
I have always use my current farrier for my horses feet as he is a nightmare to trim but although he does usually book in for 6 weeks return visits he doesnt do this for mine. Not sure if its because he dreds doing him or because he is not used very often but it suits me fine as i just text and say next time you here will you do him and answer always yes. I am never at a desperate stage as like i said he aint used every day like a lot and i dont compete with him. He is having 1st set of fronts on on tues next week so should be fun
 
My farrier is brilliant, always turns up when he says he is going to. He prefers you to ring about a week in advance of when you want him and give a couple of options as to when you are going to be around. He then gives you a date and calls the night before to arrange the actual time. He has never let me down and is brilliant and v knowledgeable.

Only thing that slightly irritates is that he has a minimum 'travel charge' of £10. I live about a 7 minute drive away from the forge..

Lovel bloke though so I forgive him and always have a cuppa waiting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top