Is your farrier good or bad?

The mad TB

The mad TB

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I have recently noticed a lot of displeasure towards farriers around my yard and in fact, equestrian life in general! But I have never had a problem with mine?

Conn is a complete nightmare to shoe with his rearing and Mooney and he both pulled shoes off EVERYTIME I tried to ride them, and after mum fell out with the old farrier (who kinda came with the horse) we needed a new one. We found Jonny who's only 23 (and not too bad looking ;) ) and he is a superstar! I took mooney hunting and all and her shoesdidn't even come loose once. But my main praise for him is how he handled Conn, last time he shod him Conn tried to kill him twice but Jonny came back a month later and hot shod him in his box with no rearing and no sedation!

So what are your views, are your farriers good? Are they friendly or do they do the job as quickly as possible and don't think about the horse?!

(sorry for the length, i'm procrastinating from chemistry revision for a GCSE... Tomorrow...)
 
I am quite a harsh critic of people in general (as some may have noticed!! ;), but I can 1000% say my farrier is absolutely fantastic. He answers his phone immediately - and if not gets back to you very promptly, works all hours god sends - will come out at any time if you are working or if you are only off late on a Sunday night etc, never says he cannot attend, and is absolutely amazing with my horse - I have no issues leaving her unattended with him!
 
My old one is great at shoeing very experienced and patient with youngsters, however he frequently dosent turn up because of van trouble, will tell you he'll be there at 1pm then turns up at 6.30pm after you've taken the afternoon off work to be there. He also has a chat with all and sundry and needs regular tab breaks during shoeing to it usually takes 2.5 hrs for one horse, and thats if you can get him to answer the phone. It's not just with me, he does this with everyone, but I have tried deviating and I'll put up with this instead of one that likes to use his hammer on the horse for sneezing, attemps to put shoes on that are fit for a shetland, turns up drunk with a chauffer, or has managed to get banned for letting his unqualified brother shoe, or one that can shoe all four feet before you've managed to tie the horse up, oh and in case I forget the one that got half way through a shoe, the horse tried to rebalance herself my moving, he pulled the shoe off got in his van muttering about being kicked and drove off, leaving all four of us in stunned silence:eek:
 
I have used my farrier for 20 years, he is reliable, good with the horses and there have been some really tricky ones over the years. He is also a very good farrier, happy to trim those that work without shoes as well as shoeing others.

When one pony was suffering from an abscess and pedal bone rotation, the vet could not see it resolving and recommended pts, my farrier refused to give up, he came out every time required sometimes several times a week to just open it a little at a time, at one point I think he felt we may need to give up but we got there and 18 months from when it started the pony is just coming back to ridden work.

He gets a nice bottle at Christmas every year and he is very much appreciated:)
 
I wouldn't possibly know what you're on about Moomin... ;)

OrionStar- gosh! I agree with you on the timetaking one there! Conn said he could show that farrier what it's really liked to be kicked if you fancy :p
 
Mine is excellent, he's a remedial farrier for our two flat footed tb's with crappy feet, came out on a bank hol for one of ours who had a bruised sole, can leave my horses unattended, always willing to try new things to improve their feet.. And a lovely bloke too who cares about the horses
 
The mad TB said:
I wouldn't possibly know what you're on about Moomin... ;)

OrionStar- gosh! I agree with you on the timetaking one there! Conn said he could show that farrier what it's really liked to be kicked if you fancy :p
Click to expand...

I might take you up on that one. I forgot to mention the new one, who I persuaded to shoe girly sedated as old farrier was having an op and forgot to tell anyone. He's being remedially shoeing her since December every six weeks. Last time I couldnt get away from work so my sister went to the yard. Vet arrived and sedated the horse, half way through the process, he slipped and fell over, visibly embarassed carried on with the job. He then tells me the horse had him over and his elbow hasnt been the same since so he wont shoe it again. My sister says that the horse was out for the count and he didnt even have her foot up at the time, so how the hell he could blame her I have no idea??? (she wont let a man near her back feet after her hock op, hence the sedation) Old farrier is quite happy to shoe her as he knows what she was like to shoe before her ordeal, but he's going to have to speed up a bit this time!
 
Ours is excellent, brilliant with every one of ours, the ponies, who have always been little sods, now stand like angels for him because they like him. I genuinely think the difference is those who actually like horses and those that don't. The ones that like them tend to be more aware of how they are with them, the ones who don't tend to just ignore them and not be aware of whether or not they are balanced before they pick a foot up.

I think the little things like saying hello and giving them a rub, not picking little legs up too high or pulling too far forward, putting the foot down rather than just dropping it, all make so mch difference to the horse. Reliability is another great importance, and ours is!
 
I have a great farrier, turns up on time, or calls if he runs late ( seldom).
Is great with the horses and does an excellent job, will come out asap if youre going competing and lose a shoe, or within a day or two if no real rush.
Hes worth his weight in jelly beans :-)
 
My farrier is great, always on time but 9 times out of 10, will always ring if a time needs to be changed, a very happy chappy and ever so friendly with me and the horses.
I don't think he is the best farrier in the whole world, but he does do a really good job.
He is a star for trying to fit me in at short notice, as I never know what hours I am working so I am unable to book in advance I have to let him know the week I need him.

I wouldn't swap him plus he is a step up from my old (literally) farrier.... he is far more enjoyable to look at :p
 
I usually book mine the week before and he is always on time pronto! He has given me advice when old boy was lame and I would call him out over my vet if its foot or even leg related etc and he has come along. He came out for another horse straight away when the shoes needed to come off after a bought of laminitis.

He has been around for years so is very experienced and I am always worried he is going to retire....His advice has always been right with tips etc or answering my questions. Great faith in him.
 
Surely that's a silly question because if someone really thinks their farrier is bad what the hell are they using him for!
I suspect those that find a farrier bad are not his/her customers .
 
Love my farrier! Always on time, really patient & before he starts always makes a fuss of her & asks how she is. Sometimes he'll come out & decide she could easily go another week or so and will rebook rather than just shoeing anyway. She's also never lost a shoe in the 7 years he's been shoeing her!!
 
my last farrier has retired after shoeing my horses for 20 years , he was always on time , never rough with the horses and became a good friend , so i was suitably nervous about having a new farrier as you hear such horror stories , anyways we now have megan , shes 23 , always on time, nice to talk to and does an excellent job with thier feet , she is more expensive but i think before i was getting mates rates!!!
 
My farrier is brill, mad, (but I think most farriers are) When my mare had lameness issues last year and the vets were being hopeless he would come and spend over an hour looking at her and suggesting things. Most often than not it would be free or I'd just give him a tenner for petrol, but I did make sure biccies and tea were on hand at all times!
One time I left a message on his mobile saying rosie was due a new set, the next day I rang back and he said how funny I'm actually doing her shoes now! (I'd known him for years and would quite happily bring her in/out to shoe and she was kept at home so no problem there!)
Also he came out on xmas day once as mare had thrown a shoe just so that I could do the boxing day hunt, and charged me the same amount, although I gave him extra as it was Xmas day!!
I think it really helps to have a good relationship with them, always make sure tea and biccies or a cold drink in hot weather is available!
 
My farrier is fab in regards to his work and the way he handles the ponies, but has become famous for his poor time keeping (however is improving each time!) If he says 10 ISH then that could be between 10 and 11:rolleyes:bu he's happy to go grab them from the stable or field if he is running late and I have had to go to work. He's considerate that cob can't hold up his legs for long with his arthritis and lets him have a break and deals with brat pony fidgeting calmly:D. He helped my friend's youngster out by spending 15 mins touching and picking her legs up for the first time and can always have a good chat with him.

The best thing is he always compliments on how good ponies are looking, how decent their feet are and how much he loves my dopey, kind cob:D:o
 
My farrier is worth his weight in gold :)

Hes such a good soul and is willing to give anything a try to help the horse :) Not like some who only want money for jobs he does it for the horse and owner, people like that are like hensteeth and I for one will be haning on to him by hook or crook!!

He will also travel ANYWHERE so even were I to move yards he would still come out to me :D
 
my farrier is fantastic - She is on time, great with the horses and does a brilliant job, horse hardly ever loses a shoe (once in 2 or 3 years) and she is reasonably priced. Bless her if horse does pull a shoes she is straight out - even offered to come to me within the hour when numpty pony pulled shoe off on ramp whilst piddling about - we were on our way hunting and she didnt want us to miss out.

She is also looking for just a couple more clients in the North Somerset - if anyone wants her details let me know !
 
Good....!

I have used the same farrier for 8 yrs now and he is like a family friend. He always turns up on the date booked and is rarely late. His shoes stay on but if I ever have a problem he will be back out to fix it within 24hrs. His costs have gone up recently due to fuel costs, but can still get a new set with fixed road studs for £70.

Will be a sad day when he retires.
 
Our farrier is just fabulous.

Sister and I have 4 horses of our own and a girl at the yard who we helped find a loan for to do.

He does the last stop of the day to us. Always on time, sometimes early - and when he is since he knows we work and won't be there much before appointment time goes and gets the horses from the field! We have a mix of full shod, fronts only and completely unshod and he does the lot and does what's best for the horse in front of him. Dealt with injury prone pulling shoes off horse, box feet from the continent navicular horse, Saxon's horrifically long feet (he came out in the evening in the snow at the weekend for that one within a hour of us calling him!) and nightmare to shoe horse. As well as the normal ones we have. :)

Shoes no longer fall off, box feet are almost fine and horse is sound as a pound, Saxon's feet are looking much better and the nightmare to shoe horse improved significantly!

Would be lost without him!
 
My carrier is very good always on time, usually early. Will come as soon as he can to refit shoes and does a great job.
Everybody comments on how well horses feet are and always asks who shoes him
 
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