Letting a farrier go, guilt

thommackintosh

thommackintosh

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Looking for "you did the right thing," vibes. Or a different opinion I can learn from.

The big chap cast a shoe 3 weeks ago (3weeks after being last shod). These things happen, so I wasn't too fussed and asked my farrier if he was passing by to pop in, or wait a week and do all four, just a little bit early. That was fine.
One week later (after casting another shoe) I sent a message saying we were now two shoes down and it was now more of a pressing issue. Since then I've had radio silence and I've decided enough is enough. I've switched farriers to one who comes highly recommended by friends and is at our yard regularly for other liveries. Figuring 3 week's without shoes and ample requests is too long.

Have I been too hasty? I don't think so when his feet are in question. But interested in other folk's thoughts.
 
I swapped farriers when I came back from getting a horse in to find super reliable little coblet pulling back to break free and a spanner fly across the yard. I felt bad even after that!
 
If it was a complete one off and he (or she??) was otherwise very good I would be concerned that they might be injured or had had some other disaster (it does happen!) but it wouldn't prevent me getting someone else in in the meantime. If there turned out to be a good reason for lack of communication then I'd consider at that time which farrier I was most happy to continue with and act accordingly. If this is just the final straw of unreliability then I certainly wouldn't feel guilty. If he bothered to communicate to ask why I would give the honest reason.
 
At the end of the day the welfare of your horse needs to come first. Generally I think we are all a little bit in awe of our farriers and tend to forget that we are paying customers that should expect a certain level of service and to be treated with courtesy and respect. If he/she is not giving that level of service and you have other good farriers locally you shouldn’t feel bad about changing. They are running a very profitable business, not doing you a favour by shoeing your horse, so should run their business accordingly.
 
love my farrier. my boy rarely has a problem with shoes. he had a loose nail a few weeks ago, just a few days before he was booked in to be reshod. the shoe was a bit loose . I messaged my farrier on Saturday afternoon when after I had removed the nail to say the shoe was loose and if he was passing could he come and sort it as I didn't want the shoe to come off. he never works weekends - he absolutely deserves to enjoy his weekends with his wife and children. he messaged me Monday morning to say he would pop in and sort it. by lunch time Monday he had been and reshod my boy all round. as he said it saved him making two trips. I am very lucky to have such an amazing farrier. thank you Anthony charley
 
I had this same situation. I really liked my farrier; very nice man; kept my barefoot TB sound, pleasant manner and was very helpful and supportive whenever he saw my horse. It was getting him out to see us I had problems with! His wife acted as his ‘secretary’ so all appointments were arranged through her over the phone which would be fine if she ever answered, or replied to messages I’d leave! So I’ve changed to a farrier who comes to the yard regularly and makes his own appointments!
 
It's the "radio silence" bit that I find unacceptable. Not returning repeated messages is simply not OK when you run a business and particularly not OK when a horse's welfare is at stake. Farriers earn a fair whack. How diificult is it to send a text? Maybe their training should include a module on customer service and organisation. I went barefoot because of exactly this issue.
 
Its the lack of communication that annoys me. I let mine go when I kept saying 'give me a couple of dates and times and I will work with them' … the response … 'let me know when you are free for me to come' ...DOH!!! NO NO NO … YOU give ME your free dates and times, you have the diary! In the end I just said things aren't working, blame me if you want (he was being precious about his reputation .. that's fine, I don't mind being the 'awkward' party in this break up!)

New farrier fab .. give me a couple of dates/ times …. no problem, date and time organised, horses feet have never looked better :)
 
wouldn't put up with a farrier like that. a friend uses someone who regularly doesn't turn up, is late by more than an hour and just doesn't communicate.

my farrier however, is an absolute godsend
 
My farrier is worth his weight in gold IMO. He is fantastic with my very nervous mare. She loves him and he always has an apple for her! I was made redundant a year ago and he still shod as normal and insisted i paid when i had my financial situation sorted. He had a week off last week which would have been the week my girl was due. He came in and did her despite me insisting she was fine to wait until he was back. He loves my old girl and knows she benefits from regular shoeing and didn't want her to fall to the bottom of the list as he was due to be mega busy when he returned to work.

Don't feel guilty for finding someone that will provide you with a better service as a paying customer.
 
I really don't understand why more farriers don't use booking software - there's at least one specifically designed for the trade. My farrier uses it - he books the next appointment on his tablet after he's finished and the system sends an automatic reminder email the day before my appointment - so simple and efficient. Maybe that's one of the many reasons that his books are always full and he's not taking on new clients.
 
my farrier is quite often late but we are normally the last call of the day, on his way home and out of normal hours so i'm normaly quite forgiving. He will normaly call me if he is going to be more than 30 mins late though.
 
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