Lost front shoe, how would your farrier respond??

piebaldsparkle

piebaldsparkle

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Actually I probably should explain......

I was up the yard this morning (after a 12hrs night shift). Whilst turning Sparks out, I noticed my friends horse appeared to be short and unlevel in front as she rode across the car park (wasn't 100% sure as to the degree as was from a distance and in half light as 7ish and I was half asleep anyway).

Anyway whilst I was mucking out she came back from her plod round the fields and then went on to say he had lost a front shoe yesterday. Oh I said that explains why I tought he looked short, when's your farrier coming?? It was then she said he wasn't, as he was due next week, and he had told her that as it was a front one and her horse as quite good feet, it would be fine left till next week.

She then look in horror at me and asked waht I would do.............

I said if it was Sparks, then I wouldn't ride with one front shoe (even if she was sound - which hers hadn't been when I saw him). I did add if it was a hind I would ride on a surface if the farrier couldn't get there for a a day or two and she really needed the exercise.

So am I being over protective?? I'm sure my farrier would be out the next day for a front shoe, a hind I would be happy to wait till he was passing.
 
yes.. allittle. but its personal preference.

A week with no shoe is better then having the shoe put on today and then taken off and renailed up next week, less trauma on the foot.

As for riding, that would depend on the horse. I wouldnt ride Ted.. but thats cause hes a tb with pants feet.

lou x
 
Surely it would be better for him to come and reshoe the horse all round??? Than leave it foot sore for 5 days??

Her horse is TBx with O.K. feet considering the TB part!!
 
that really depends on how busy he is...

If that was possible.. then yes, in the ideal world, he would be shod all round as soon as..

Hoever, in the unideal world, a week without a shoe is really not gonna make that much difference if i am honest.

Lou x
 
Perhaps I've just been spoilt by my farrier!!!
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lmao. Prehaps so.

You see, if it was be and he was unlevel i woulda been tempted to take the other shoe off then work him..
But then some people think im weird =o)

Lou x
 
My farrier would arrange to come as soon as he could, but its give and take. If he was due in a few days and I didn't have any plans I wouldn't worry if he couldn't come, but probably wouldn't ride in the meantime (as my horse can be a sensitive soul!).
My farrier is busy and has a young family so I don't think its realistic for him to suddenly find time to come and shoe my horse if he loses a shoe a week before I've booked him. I know that if I really need him he will do his best to help and if it isn't urgent then I will give him a bit of leaway.
 
Farrier would come as soon as he could, but may not be the next day.
However, being unlevel may be due to a sore foot, not the small amount of difference a shoe would make. A foot that has lost a shoe may have torn nail holes or splits too.

So would not ride on any firm surface at all. Possibly on a school surface if a hind shoe lost.
 
I was always told that missing shoes was farrier out when possible, until then they'll be fine on roads, sand tracks, mud and in a school just avoid stones. But if there being a big girl over it put vet wrap around it to protect the sole for just a quick hack (but it does wear through)
 
Depends on horse tbh. My last horse acted as though he was an amputee if he lost a shoe and i would have to stable him 24/7 till the farrier came (TB!!!) thankfully farrier was very obliging. However horse prior to that NEVER went unsound with a lost shoe (had him 7 years) and whilst i would never ride an unlevel horse on the road, i would quite happily school my tough cob with a missing shoe. Your horse will tell you.
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I sacked my last farrier after he refused to come back to replace a lost shoe (shod 3 weeks earlier) on a horse who went lame on grass without a shoe. Got the name of a farrier who'd newly set up - rang him and explained the problem. He came the same day!! At the time I only had 4 horses - now I've got 50 odd - and he's still my farrier and he has ALWAYS come within 24 hours to a lost shoe if I call him.

I DO have a regular Wed morning booking - and if a horse lost a shoe at the week-end, I would probably wait until regular visit UNLESS it was a horse that had bad feet.
 
I would never ride Fly with one front shoe. He simply could not cope with it. He lost a shoe on a fun ride and i got off and led him back and that was bad enough, if I had had a signal on my mobile I would of asked my husband to come and get us with the lorry! To be honest I would have him completely re-shod all round for the sake of a week.
 
See that is my thinking too. I get the impression her farrier just doesn't want to come out early. I suspect it's because he normally does 4 x horses at the yard at the same time, so coming out to him will mean he has to do two journeys to the yard rather than his normal 1. The trouble is my friend is a complete novice where horse care is concerned (she couldn't even feel her horse was lame, just thought he was being nappy about going out for a hack
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), so has been quite easy to fob off. When I left yesterday she was going to call her farrier back.

I guess I was most stunned that he told her as it was a front shoe it would be fine (like it was better for the horse to have lost a front rather than a hind).
 
Its so hard to get a farrier up in NE Scotland (although the ones there are are good when they do finally come) that I have to put up with longer intervals than is good for my boys hooves (8 weeks instead of the 6 he needs) and if he loses a shoe he will try to come out after about a week but it could be 2. I wouldnt ride in the meantime.

Thankfully despite 8 weeks horsie hasnt yet lost one but neighbours horse has and thats what happens apparently.

Thats partly why my mare is barefoot, if gelding is laid up losing shoe, I can still ride :-))

Not that I can ride today as its snowing at me :-O)
 
I have a good farrier who will try and come out if needed, but i think we all have to be fair and only demand another visit if its really important. Having a shoe replaced so you can go for a hack or two is different to one on a horse with a competition in two days, or one with poor feet who would be crippled if left. I know we all pay the same money, but farriers can only do so much and i'm happy to leave one of mine in the field with a shoe off for a few days if its not vitally important that I ride. I'd also hope that he would do his best to get to me if I had something important ahead.
I agree though that i'd ride with a hind shoe off but not with a front. Don't take what you're told as gospel, sometimes things are interpreted differently, maybe farrier presumed it was a hind as novice owner didn't make it clear? And knowing how a farrier has to arrange his visits and dash from one to the other i'm not suprised he'd rather do them together if the owner with a lost shoe wasn't overly worried about it. And as she didn't know it wasn't a good idea herself, and that her horse was lame, she obviously wasn't worried!
 
My farrier would come out as soon as he possibly could.

I rang him 2 weeks ago as one of my horses shoes' nails had all come up and I was hunting the next day. He was going to come out at 5pm the same day to make sure I didnt lose a shoe out hunting!!! I felt so guilty, I said not to worry and if she lost a shoe I would call him (she didnt!), but I was really chuffed he *would* have come.

Really good service, but probably over the call of duty, and I wouldnt be annoyed if the farrier couldnt make it for a day or two......but dont tell my farrier!!!!!!
 
It's called customer service, if the horse loses a shoe then the farrier should come out within a reasonable time to refit the show. My farrier will always come out within 48 hours to sort out the problem. Some farriers are lazy or greedy& will only come out when there are 3-4 horses to be shod & really treat their clients rather shodily.
 
I don't think you've been spoilt by your farrier, mine will always come out and stick a shoe back on within a couple of days.

My farrier has done both suggestions - when he has lost a shoe the week before he was due to be shod he came out and shod him early and he has also put a shoe on and then come back and reshod him completely a week later (my horse is a bugger for losing shoes!)

Personally if my horse loses a front shoe I would keep him in until he is shod as he is prome to abscesses and can get very footsore
 
No brainer really...........

My farrier would be there pdq to refit a front prob same day and has even been there within hour!

and i certainly would never exercise without
 
If it was my farrier he would be out today and put either 2 fronts on or a whole set. I have even had him come in on a Sunday morning and put a shoe back on when we have been competeing. If I'm really stuck and I take a horse up to his place he will do it on the spot.

We have used him for over 30 years though
 
My farrier would come out within a couple of days and I wouldn't ride at all but would turn out allthough thats personal choice.
 
The one time my horse lost one of his fronts my farrier came out that day and replaced it.

I love my farrier
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I wouldn't ride my horse if he was missing a shoe, but I'm a little over-protective as well
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[ QUOTE ]
I have a good farrier who will try and come out if needed, but i think we all have to be fair and only demand another visit if its really important. Having a shoe replaced so you can go for a hack or two is different to one on a horse with a competition in two days, or one with poor feet who would be crippled if left. I know we all pay the same money, but farriers can only do so much and i'm happy to leave one of mine in the field with a shoe off for a few days if its not vitally important that I ride. I'd also hope that he would do his best to get to me if I had something important ahead.


[/ QUOTE ]

I totally agree with this. Farriers are entitled to a life too.
Mine will make a real effort to come out when its important because he knows I'll be flexible when it isn't.
 
very sore subject for me!! My boy lost his front shoe on Monday, I called farrier but as usual got his answer phone. Left message to say that we had lost front shoe, horse lame and we had a competition this weekend so is there any chance he would come and sort the shoe out. Friday - still nothing.

Now this farrier is brilliant but I cannot cope with the very rare occasion that my boy loses a shoe. Also if he was on holiday at least leave that on your answer phone??!

So no I would not ride without a front shoe and would definitely try and get farrier out. Farrier due next Friday but I think I will now change to the yard farrier who I think is coming out beginning of next week!!
 
I wouldn't ride Henry with just one front shoe on - a hind yes, but not the front. My farrier would normally pop over when he was passing and stick a shoe back on whether Henry was due the following week or not. If he couldn't get to me for a week, I wouldn't ride. Am I soft too then?!
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QR My farrier would come as soon as possible, and until then I would ride with a boot on (but not fast work). He's never taken more than 3 days to come for a lost shoe.
 
I agree with both of you, if the horse is due for shoeing next week, not lame in the field and no pressing reason for it to be reshod, then no need for urgent action. If everyone wants the farrier to come out to them urgently, then the real urgent cases can't ge dealt with, as time is not infinite (well not in this case
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).
 
My daughter's pony lost a shoe yesterday in the field. Called the farrier to see if he was around my area today, which he's not, as she has pony club tomorrow.

He said Oliver would be fine on a surface as it's four weeks since he was shod anyway, so he'll have some growth.

Patches is due to be shod next Wednesday, so Oliver's foot will be re-shod then. Actually, the farrier did say he would probably re-shoe both fronts next Wednesday to equal them up owing to wear on the lost shoe foot and the wear on the other shoe. He would normally come out in a day or two but his partner is in the Caribbean so he's rather pushed doing both sets of clients for a fortnight. Typically though, he had been in my area that morning and would've re-shod him had he lost it the day before!

She won't hack him out any distance before then as I don't want the foot to wear down. She did however hack him 7 minutes down the lane this morning for her lesson with her instructor, again on a surface. He moved absolutely as normal in the school and wasn't footy on the road. His shoe has come off cleanly, taking no chunks of hoof with it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If everyone wants the farrier to come out to them urgently, then the real urgent cases can't ge dealt with, as time is not infinite (well not in this case
smile.gif
).

[/ QUOTE ] That is so true - a lot of people don't realise that they are not the only ones that might have a lost shoe/suspected abscess or other emergency farriery request! This time of year is particularly difficult as daylight hours are very short and some customers don't have much in the way of lighting where they keep their horses.

We do try and prioritise emergencies as much as possible, but preference will always be given to the customer who has their horse shod regularly rather than the one who leaves it til the shoes are dropping off before they ring to book in!
 
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