Level of Service - Barefoot Trimmers V Farriers

[dieseldog]

Prompted by the TheFarrier post below and some of the responses below on the justification of using an EP which is more expensive.

Would you pay extra for your Farrier to take photo's of your horses feet and write a report for you?

This is a genuine question as my Brother in Law is a Farrier and if this was a service people wanted, and a reason that people will use an EP over a farrier for trims, maybe it is something that he should be offering.

 

[Nailed]

No. I would prefer for my farrier to talk to me about the horse balence. Pictures are very deceptive and whats the point of paying for a written report when you can jsut communicate through speach.

Lou x

 

[Bowen4Horses]

[ QUOTE ]


Would you pay extra for your Farrier to take photo's of your horses feet and write a report for you?



[/ QUOTE ]

ha ha ha ha ha

i think that is ridiculous. i pay my farrier to shoe my horse. he could take a million photos, and write a million reports... all i care about is that my horse is shod correctly and his four legs/feet work ok.

i'd much rather spend the extra time having a chat with my farrier and drinking tea. because having a good relationship with him is far more imprtant that photos of horse's feet. what do you do with them? frame them? develop a horse foot fetish?

 

[JM07]

[ QUOTE ]


Would you pay extra for your Farrier to take photo's of your horses feet and write a report for you?

.

[/ QUOTE ]

no, sorry i wouldn't

 

[Eira]

Yes , if he charged more to right out a 'report' about her feet I would pay it ... he doesn't but as its a thing I like to keep a record of (for me and the vets) I would pay extra

I can take photo's of her feet so ..no. I wouldn't pay for that

 

[dieseldog]

But it seems to be a major selling point for using an EP.......

 

[Hippona]

Agree with Nailed.

Would rather have the feet seen to properly and chat about whats what than have a picture taken.

I get a written report from my EDT but TBH she tells me whats going on so I only really glance at it and use it to remind me when they need doing again. I dont need a written report from my farrier, if I need to speak to him I can give him a call.

 

[Bowen4Horses]

are the EP dudes really more expensive? whilst i was slagging off unqualified people earlier... now i'm considering a career change?

anyone in the cambridge/ely area want me to come trim their horse's feet? i can take good photos on me camera phone. innit...

 

[dieseldog]

[ QUOTE ]
are the EP dudes really more expensive? whilst i was slagging off unqualified people earlier... now i'm considering a career change?

anyone in the cambridge/ely area want me to come trim their horse's feet? i can take good photos on me camera phone. innit...

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are

Probably double, but that's OK as they write you a report

 

[Eira]

The local EP charges £50 a trim he only trained in America for 6 weeks

 

[Nailed]

a farrier charges 20 quid for a trim.. EP's charge 40...

They are unqualified, they come and they show off, pretending to care. the reason they do this is because they try and belittle the profession of shoeing horses.

I could set up as an EP.. I have experience... and the ability. But i wont.. Because I dont want to take pictures of horses feet.. or I would be a photographer, I want to shoe them/trim them under a qualified and regulated system! So instead Im a porter..

Lou x

 

[Ezme]

When I have my own I will be taking regular pictures/videos of feet, condition, paces etc so I have something to compare if there ever is a problem. Bless the digital age. I don't need anyone else to do it, esp if they're going to charge

 

[Theresa_F]

Not something I need. My farrier gives me a brief report when he is finished, ie nothing wrong or he has noticed a bit of wear that is different to last time. He sees their feet every 8 weeks so has a good knowledge of how they normally look.

If I were that concerned, I would write down his comments myself and take photos.

He does on occasion see Farra trot up as he is working on balancing her feet so she does not wear the her hinds so much one side - very close behind Clydesdale (show ring bred).

 

[JM07]

[ QUOTE ]
The local EP charges £50 a trim he only trained in America for 6 weeks

[/ QUOTE ]

Good Grief......

and people actually trust him to do their horses??

 

[AmyMay]

Yes I would. I know bugger all about feet - and couldn't really say whether a foot was well shod or well balanced.

I'm in dire need of educating on these points - and would most certainly pay for an annual or six monthly report.

 

[TheFarrier]

Thread thief

Send them all back my way

then i can get bashed some more for being an arrogant sh*t although i really am not sure why i got called that, if someone could tell me where i was one i would appreciate it.

I am interested in all the replies you get DD as this is sort of what i was aiming at, why people choose EP over a qualified farrier and if there was something more we should be doing

 

[Nailed]

who called you that hun?! Im gonna whip there asses!!!

Lou x

 

[Jericho]

I personally think charging £50 for a trim when someone has only 6 weeks training is outrageous. A highly trained farrier does exactly the same and more for half of that!

 

[TheFarrier]

A barefoot trimmer user did.

its in my thread which you may find interesting and of course any comments are appreciated

 

[dieseldog]

[ QUOTE ]
Thread thief

Send them all back my way

then i can get bashed some more for being an arrogant sh*t although i really am not sure why i got called that, if someone could tell me where i was one i would appreciate it.

I am interested in all the replies you get DD as this is sort of what i was aiming at, why people choose EP over a qualified farrier and if there was something more we should be doing

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry

although I did credit you in the opening line

I think it is interesting why people go for EPs over Farriers, I always thought it was cost, until I found out how much it was. But it is cheaper than a set of shoes.

Would a farrier continue to trim a horse if it was crippled?

 

[spaniel]

Im surprised you are not out retraining as we speak Farrier....local BF trimmer told me that 'you lot' would all be out of a job in a few years time!!!

 

[TheFarrier]

No he would not. If a horse was crippled because it was unable to go barefoot i would recommend putting the shoes back on, i guess if the owner said no i would have to recommend they find another farrier as i dont believe that horses should have to go through a year or two year conditioning period just to be barefoot, they either can or they cant but making them suffer is not right imho

it is cheaper than shoes but its cheaper still to have your trained farrier do the work.

 

[Eira]

QR .. I just googled EP and an interesting thread came up on another forum one of the replies was this

[ QUOTE ]
Yes the course does give you enough to go home and do your own feet, a lot of people on my course are doing just fine trimming thier own horses now (I'm being a wimp and doing the back feet and the front feet with my EP!).

To qualify as an EP you have to do three five day courses and a LOT of homework plus a practical and written exam. You can do it in whatever time it takes as long as you have completed all the hours for the course and completed all the assingments. There is also a reading list to.

[/ QUOTE ]


So really you can be qualified pretty damn quick

 

[clairel]

If a horse is barefoot from a foal, and never has shoes on, do it's feet become stronger? For example a regular TBx.

Also if a horse wears it's feet unevenly, in order to balance them does a BFT use filler or such like?

I can not understand how this works in the average horse!

 

[TheFarrier]

[ QUOTE ]
Im surprised you are not out retraining as we speak Farrier....local BF trimmer told me that 'you lot' would all be out of a job in a few years time!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Us lot have been around for many many hundreds of years

and as long as horses are not treated naturally (ie carry weight, not free to roam etc etc) then horses will need shoes especially those breed with bad feet who if they were wild would have been eaten but are sound with shoes.

Besides how can i retrain when i alreayd know how to correctly trim a hoof?

 

[shadowboy]

my EP os £40 per trim, my farrier was £25 but the EP took 40 min to trim - and the farrier 15 so I guess it was relative to time spent. She is very quiet and calm, my farrier although fantastic was very brash and at the time would have been too much for howie, i've now stuck with the EP becuase of her excellent work, and I now have the beginings of a protfolio of his feet, she uses a frame to make sure she takes pics from the same angles etc for a good comparison and I can see how his feet have changed- and will have this for the rest of his life- every six weeks I get the previous trim picture to add to the report- its actually very interesting. I wouldn't pay extra so to speak but I do appreciate the effort and time= plus ashe talks through the report with me anyway.

 

[JM07]

[ QUOTE ]
If a horse is barefoot from a foal, and never has shoes on, do it's feet become stronger? For example a regular TBx.

Also if a horse wears it's feet unevenly, in order to balance them does a BFT use filler or such like?

I can not understand how this works in the average horse!

[/ QUOTE ]

i asked this in thefarriers thread....

 

[dressagecrazy]

I totally agree with Nailed.

IME most people who have gone down the Barefoot route do so because there Farrier hasnt been doing a good job & they tend to feel there's no other option for them.
I have also found some farriers to be unapproachable & problems do happen.

Barefoot trimmers ime tend to be more mouth than anything & boy have i heard some rubbish. I think it's important for everyone to learn a bit about horses hooves, but i do feel the barefoot trimmer trend is almost cultish & not always benifiting the horse all i tend to hear about is boots,pads & footsore horses

.

I have an excellent farrier who trims & shoe's my horses to perfection there foot balance has never been better. I also have never had a footsore barefoot horse or used boot's or pads this is due i feel to good farrier skills & my farrier giving me good sound advice from a lot of experience

.

 

[spaniel]

Shadowmonkey, forgive me if Ive missed a post explaining why but is there some REASON that Howies feet need 'changing' as you put it??

 

[TheFarrier]

I cant comment since in sich cases i would have to suggest shoes/fillers etc etc and cannot speak for a barefoot trimmer.

Not every horse can go barefoot and thats the thruth

As for the foal question, yes and no. hardness of feet is not what dictates the need for shoes. It is the speed of growth versus the wear done during work. as long as you have an equlibrium you can go shoeless.

if your horse is footsore then there is no extra growth left and you either need to cut back on the work being done or use shoes