Is being a farrier a good job? How much do you get paid?

Hopefully a farrier (or farriers wife?), will be able to reply with firsthand experience, however from what my farrier tells me, it's physically very hard on your body (back/ knees), can pay well, but depends on client base, location and how hard you want to work.

Why not ask a local farrier if you can spend a day with them, and see how you feel then.
 
You're not poor, you work long hours in all weathers and I can guarantee that you will have a very short working life in comparison to the normal 9-5 workers. Also bear in mind that you are very much higher risk of injury and if you were injured for whatever reason you will have x amounts of weeks off with no pay.
 
Don't do it! There is no money in it!
If you are desperate and can ride then maybe a groom position but there is nowhere to progress. Best advice I can give is either go your Alevels and go to uni or go to college and do an apprenticeship in a trade/ office job/ anything. Horses are always best kept as a hobby in my experience. The novelty soon wears off :)
 
wattamus said:
Don't do it! There is no money in it!
If you are desperate and can ride then maybe a groom position but there is nowhere to progress. Best advice I can give is either go , Alevels and go to uni or go to college and do an apprenticeship in a trade/ office job/ anything. Horses are always best kept as a hobby in my experience. The novelty soon wears off :)
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This, I have a farrier as a customer, he gets out of his van unable to stand straight, my farrier works long hours, has a bad back and knees and now a bruised foot after my mare stood on him, yes he's well paid but doesn't have the energy to enjoy it, there are easier jobs to choose
 
flirtygerty said:
This, I have a farrier as a customer, he gets out of his van unable to stand straight, my farrier works long hours, has a bad back and knees and now a bruised foot after my mare stood on him, yes he's well paid but doesn't have the energy to enjoy it, there are easier jobs to choose
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To be fair - I'm in much the same state, and I'm not a farrier!
 
Auslander said:
To be fair - I'm in much the same state, and I'm not a farrier!
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'Snort', me too! My farrier's in fine fettle, so is his dad still working. Another farrier friend is semi retired at 75.

There are much worse jobs, yes, you work in all weathers, so, many of us do. Yes, there's risk of injury but you take out insurance. Major advantage, you'll be your own boss.

You could do a lot worse than become an apprentice farrier.
 
I thought it was fairly well paid, hard physical work though. My farrier takes on a new apprentice every year and they take part in competitions in the UK and abroad and they seeem to have a merry time. Any business is what you make of it.
 
You're young with time on your side - ask around for work experience (or apprenticeship if you wish to head straight in) and if you don't like it you still have time to return to education if you wish or to try another trade. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
 
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My farrier charges sixty five pounds a set.. His overheads per full set are around £25 for the shoes, gas, diesel, insurance, accountant and a proportion of wear and tear on equipment and van. That means that if he does five horses a day, and works five days a week, he netts forty five thousand or so a year before tax if he takes seven weeks off a year (holiday and sickness combined), including bank holidays. With careful management, paying himself via a low salary and topping up with dividends, He is able to reduce his tax bill so that his forty five thousand is worth a fair bit more than if he was working in an office.

It's an unwise career choice for a tall person because of the strain on the back, but my wiry, short farrier is still going strong at sixty.
 
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Don't bother unless you like a bad back, and no work.
Far too many are still being trained, and not enough clients/horses to go round.
Very few, if any, farriers round the Home Counties do 5 sets a day, there are far too many farriers struggling for business and most seem to work part time, and have had to take up a second form of employment to make ends meet.
 
Spottyappy said:
Don't bother unless you like a bad back, and no work.
Far too many are still being trained, and not enough clients/horses to go round.
Very few, if any, farriers round the Home Counties do 5 sets a day, there are far too many farriers struggling for business and most seem to work part time, and have had to take up a second form of employment to make ends meet.
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There's plenty of business waiting for them in large parts of Scotland and the north east, according to people who have posted on other threads.
 
But, they can't necessarily up sticks and move whole family up there. Or, may not even want to do so, for various reasons.
I also believe the travelling would be a lot in those sort of areas and prices charged much lower making it less attractive. They are better to maybe do a couple of sets in a dearer area, and not have the travelling and associated over heads.
The whole industry,IMHO, needs a total over haul, and the FRC to realise this fact.
Here, if your farrier can't get put to you for, say, a lost shoe, a quick call to a random farrier will result in one being able to get to you likely the same day.
This would have been unheard of a few years back, and shows the fact that they are mostly not busy.
None of this is related to quality of work, but more supply and demand.
 
I think you need to be dedicated to shoeing, not do it as a substitute for something else ........... You need to be good with metalwork, this is innate ability and if you are useless at it then stop straight away.
As with everything you need to be good with both horses and people. There will be no money/time for your own competition horses till you are too old to start.
At your age, if light enough, you can go and work in racing ......... free training and a job guaranteed IF you get through the course.
There is a career structure in racing but not in farriery.
 
joycec said:
My farrier charges sixty five pounds a set.. His overheads per full set are around £25 for the shoes, gas, diesel, insurance, accountant and a proportion of wear and tear on equipment and van. That means that if he does five horses a day, and works five days a week, he netts forty five thousand or so a year before tax if he takes seven weeks off a year (holiday and sickness combined), including bank holidays. With careful management, paying himself via a low salary and topping up with dividends, He is able to reduce his tax bill so that his forty five thousand is worth a fair bit more than if he was working in an office.

It's an unwise career choice for a tall person because of the strain on the back, but my wiry, short farrier is still going strong at sixty.
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This is correct, you can only expect to do 2/3 per day when you start on your own.
As you are self employed you won't get a mortgage to buy a house till you can prove solid income.
Some lads work with larger firms where they did their apprenticeship, they get a wage but they become very good farriers.
 
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