Omg! £85 ........

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StableMum

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for a set of bog standard shoes. I had my daughter's horse shod yesterday and the price had gone up by nearly 13%. I know people have to make a living and the cost of diesel has gone through the roof but it came as a bit of a shock. Our farrier is well known for being the best in our area and we originally had him for our old tb who had tricky feet. My daughter's horse really is very uncomplicated in her feet and probably doesn't need such a top class farrier but I am reluctant to change because at least he turns us when he says he's going to and after 8 years you build a relationship that works. So I guess we'll just take it on the chin!!
 
Mine just went up to £40 for 2 front shoes. So I would expect a full set will now be £75. He says it is going up again in April after the idiot government decide what to do about fuel duty...
 
Mine's having his shoes done today - if it goes up, he'll go without. I'd rather spend some time roughing him out and getting him barefoot than pay through the nose for something he doesn't need! :D
 
My farrier isn't VAT registered, he purposely keeps his turnover under the limit as he knows he will loose business if he has to charge. I asked him the other week what he would do now fuel was so much higher and he explained that he is trying to work smarter rather than put up prices, so he is organising his work in areas to reduce his travel each day. Obviously in an emergency he breaks that rule and now charges more for that, which is fair enough but he is still £60 for a set and £55 for removes.
 
I took some extra money up when ted has his fronts done the other day, it hadnt gone up, but he said it will as diesel alone is costing him an extra £100 a week.

But farrier buy their shoes in so i thought they would pay VAT on those.
 
I think a full set for us is still £60. He's the best farrier around here, in mine and many others opinions :D. I guess he will have to pass on some of the rises in his costs :(

I've just taken my girl barefoot. Shes LoU, so we are limited in what she can do (certainly won't need stud holes!) and it seemed pointless having shoes if she doesn't need them. I'll probably get hoof boots if she shows a need.
 
I wish I could go barefoot, but my TB won't move without them......we are very stoney round our way and her down fall is thin soles.
We only pay £65 at the moment and he is a brilliant farrier.
 
I'm now running five unshod and one shod. Farrier was here the other day and although his prices are variable -I swear it's less the more cups of tea and cakes (or icecream in the summer) you bring him - the prices for the ones I own don't seem to have gone up. I'd always reckoned on £15 for a trim though and he charged the new horse on my yard £20 although to be fair it was the first time she's ever had her feet done and it did take him a bit longer. For a horse that had never had her feet picked up until 4 weeks a go she was remarkably good:D
 
Sammii819 said:
I wish I could go barefoot, but my TB won't move without them......we are very stoney round our way and her down fall is thin soles.
We only pay £65 at the moment and he is a brilliant farrier.
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That's a shame if you wanted to go bare, my TB copes really well considering our ground is all flints, but I did start off using hoofboots.
 
I tried my highland barefoot but it just wasn't happening. She has bad hooves anyway!!
A set here has gone up to £70 and a trim is £30. - Farrier did say last time that horse will be fine 7-8 weeks instead of every 6, although I think they'll change their minds when they're back as we're doing A LOT more road work!
 
Ours is £80 a set. We had them done every 5 weeks (owch!).

Tbh though no matter what (within reason!) he charged I wouldn't change farrier. He is excellent and really takes the time to make sure he does a very good job and is extremely careful with the balance. No way would I risk moving to a cheaper one. No foot, no horse!

If your current farrier keeps your daughters horses feet in very good condition, then don't reward him for his good judgement and work by going somewhere cheaper! Perhaps consider just fronts or if you can spend some time working the strength of her hooves up then consider barefoot.

We have had the shoes off both of ours, still with the same farrier though. We keeps them sound and working happily - more than worth his weight in gold!

A set of shoes well fitted still costs alot less than treating a lame horse!
 
Out of our 3 horses.....only one has shoes and thats just a front set. They are coming off next Friday and then da-da! I've gone totally 'without shoes' (sorry- I dislike the term barefoot:o)

Have to say- its wasn't done for financial reasons...OH's mare does very little-and farrier actually suggested taking them off..... the arab has never been shod and doesn't need them and really- the Highland doesnt need his front set if I'm being honest....but its a much cheaper option if your horses can do it:D
 
youve just made me think, ive got my £60 ready for 3 trims on monday but it might have one up :| it weas last year £65 for a full set from my farrier but ive gone barefoot now.
 
ThePony said:
Ours is £80 a set. We had them done every 5 weeks (owch!).

Tbh though no matter what (within reason!) he charged I wouldn't change farrier. He is excellent and really takes the time to make sure he does a very good job and is extremely careful with the balance. No way would I risk moving to a cheaper one. No foot, no horse!

If your current farrier keeps your daughters horses feet in very good condition, then don't reward him for his good judgement and work by going somewhere cheaper! Perhaps consider just fronts or if you can spend some time working the strength of her hooves up then consider barefoot.

We have had the shoes off both of ours, still with the same farrier though. We keeps them sound and working happily - more than worth his weight in gold!

A set of shoes well fitted still costs alot less than treating a lame horse!
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I wouldn't risk changing, after all the fact that her feet are no trouble is probably because she has such a good farrier! I might ask him about trying her without the back shoes tho'.
 
Suppose in relation to the hefty increase in my food and fuel bill, paying extra for a good farrier isn't so bad. My hay bill is triple what it was last year.
Its till a bit of a shock though, but they do pay VAT on a set of shoes, last time I asked, a few years ago, I think they cost around £7.50 + VAT.My saddler charges £50 per horse just to walk on the yard.
Had been hoping to keep the youngster without shoes, but its not possible, so I'll have fronts for her, full set for another, and my cob,just a trim, described by my farrier as 'the Ford Transit of the horse world', because he's cheap to keep and never off the road. Should come to £95, but I'll bring extra cash incase....
 
Yikes! Mine have just gone up to £65 a set (plus a £1 a stud hole...) and I have 3 with full sets shod every 5 weeks...I have had the same farrier for 15 years and can remember when they were £40 a set :) Next week I can wave by by to £203 - tesco value here I come!
 
I must be the luckiest person in the world. My Andalusian has been unshod for 2 years now. He has the hardest feet my farrier has ever seen and he's so well balanced he never needs trimming either. Farrier checks him regularly, looks at him, shakes his head says he cant believe it, swears at me then carries on shoeing the other horses on the yard. He doesnt need much hard feed either to keep round so all in all he's an economy horse.
 
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