please help, not good at confrontation and..

weesophz

weesophz

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think ive been had by my farrier. as i cant get up when he comes weekdays the arrangement has always been that i left his money in an envelope and he collects if after hes done.

well fox was done today (i think) but when i checked his feet when i got up tonight it looks as if farrier has just put old shoes back on, which is fine except he still took the £75 which i pay for a full set of NEW shoes. now im no expert on feet, but i can tell the difference between old shoes and new ones, and these are worn down shoes, and if it wasnt for rasp marks on his feet i wouldnt have thought he'd been done at all.

farrier never text or anything to say he'd just put old shoes back on, which makes me think that he takes me for a bit of a mug. im pretty angry the more i think about it, £75 is a lot of money for him to just put the old shoes back on!

so how do i go about this? how do i say to the farrier in a way that i dont cause offense or anything? im really not good at confrontation but at the same time when im angry i tend to just run my mouth. please help!

ETA, you definitely do pay less for old shoes just being put back on dont you :o ?
 
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Simply text him and ask when he is coming back to put on the new shoes as you can see he has only put on old ones. Ask if there was a problem? if you are politely assumptive you will get away with it, i.e assumptive that he has put on old shoes and will of course be back to put on the new ones! honestly it works!
 
Just text him and say, I've seen you have been today, was there a problem as I can see you have put his old shoes back on. Polite, but to the point.
 
Horse shoes cost about £1 - £3 for regular shoes so the cost for 4 is £4 - £12. If he makes them himself then the cost will be significantly less. Is it really worth getting angry for that amount of money? The shoes you have on your horse are as good as new ones so I can't see the problem myself. Actually I've never really been able to see why owners get so worked up about this as it's his time and skills you're really paying for.
 
We pay the same for both but that price is a little less than it would be for a new set, so works out. I'd just say that you see he refitted the old shoes - does the farrier charge the same for that as he does a new set?

After all - you don't know the answer (he may charge the same!), you need to know, and it's the straight-up truth. Nothing wrong with that, and you get the answers you need.
 
thanks guys, have text him simply asking if if fox behaved and if there was a reason old shoes were put back in instead of new ones, hope i dont sound mean!

if thats the case though i dont see why he couldnt just say to me that he was just putting the old ones back on, just seems suspect to me is all! and to me the shoes, particularly the front ones, look worn down as fox gets done every 8 weeks in winter time (due to them mostly being in etc) i would have thought the new shoes would have been neccessary, but again i say i am no expert!
 
i really wouldnt worry tbh the farrier sounds fine ,unless you especially want new shoes every time most farriers will re-use the old set if they arnt too worn,but usually only once. if you are otherwise happy with your farrier just leave £5 less next time .:)
 
Weesophz can you give us a ground-level side view picture of the remove that he put on one of the front feet and we'll tell you if we think it was a good enough shoe to refit for 8 weeks or not?

I had the same problem as you once, with my farrier fitting removes when I wanted new ones. My complaint was justified, because the shoes he put back on did not last the full six weeks which was normal for that horse in winter, so he caused me extra expense and extra nuisance of an earlier shoeing, meaning that my other horse had to be done early too.
 
archiepoo said:
i really wouldnt worry tbh the farrier sounds fine ,unless you especially want new shoes every time most farriers will re-use the old set if they arnt too worn,but usually only once. if you are otherwise happy with your farrier just leave £5 less next time .:)
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ah but thats the thing, he always puts new shoes on as by the time the 8 weeks rolls round the shoes are pretty much done, and like i said the front shoes look particularly worn. but have text him though just to see if there was a reason shoes were put back on :)
 
cptrayes said:
Weesoph can you give us a ground-level side view picture of the remove that he put on one of the front feet and we'll tell you if we think it was a good enough shoe to refit or not?

I had the same problem as you once, with my farrier fitting removes when I wanted new ones. My complaint was justified, because the shoes he put back on did not last the full six weeks which was normal for that horse in winter, so he caused me extra expense and extra nuisance of an earlier shoeing, meaning that my other horse had to be done early too.
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will do this at the weekend as im at home now and not back up til saturday! yes thats my issue, these shoes are worn now so i dont see them lasting another 8 weeks!
 
farries got back to me saying shoes werent worn so they were put back on.. i know he knows better than i do but i seriously dont think these shoes are fit to last the next 8 weeks!

eta asked him if shoes will last, he says he will let me know when he works out the date.. is it just me that doesnt make sense to?
 
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Maybe he's having a hard time at the mo...:rolleyes:

At the end of the day he knows what he's doing, but if you are not happy, you are his customer and have a right to say something. You paid £75 for a full set of new shoes, so a full set of new shoes you should get IMO.
 
I pay the same for refits or new, however farrier would only put refits back on if they still had long life in them, also he said to me a worn comfy pair of slippers is easier to settle into than a new pair of high heels which takes a few days.
 
Do not get horse reshod again so soon, deduct the difference from the next shoeing. 8 weeks is a long time to go between shoeings esp if your horse is worked, feet also grow about 1/4 - 1/2 inch a month so 8 weeks is nearly 2 months at growth of 1/2 - 1 inch between shoeings much too long imo, toe grows forward with shoe on and heels become long and can collapse, just my opinion.
 
putasocinit said:
Do not get horse reshod again so soon, deduct the difference from the next shoeing. 8 weeks is a long time to go between shoeings esp if your horse is worked, feet also grow about 1/4 - 1/2 inch a month so 8 weeks is nearly 2 months at growth of 1/2 - 1 inch between shoeings much too long imo, toe grows forward with shoe on and heels become long and can collapse, just my opinion.
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do u mean get him shod more often? sorry dont know if im just misunderstanding what youre saying! to me what youre saying is conflicting haha?
 
Hmmm, farrier wouldn't save himself much by refitting old shoes not fit for purpose. Odd behaviour, I'd be inclined to change my farrier if the shoes are obviously worn.
 
Yes, every 5-6 weeks max, a short foot makes a tighter laminae which is healthier for the horse and hoof, and holds shoes on better etc etc. if there has been 1 inch hoof growth unless all of that 1 inch is rasped away before putting a new shoe on, then the nails would be put lower down in the hoof because of the flare so they would be weaker than higher up in a shorter trimmed hoof. i also agree possibly change farrier as well but only after the next shoeing as he might do a bad job if you call him back out.
 
putasocinit said:
Yes, every 5-6 weeks max, a short foot makes a tighter laminae which is healthier for the horse and hoof, and holds shoes on better etc etc. if there has been 1 inch hoof growth unless all of that 1 inch is rasped away before putting a new shoe on, then the nails would be put lower down in the hoof because of the flare so they would be weaker than higher up in a shorter trimmed hoof. i also agree possibly change farrier as well but only after the next shoeing as he might do a bad job if you call him back out.
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u mention about working but the reason he gets shod every 8 weeks is only due to it being winter, hes in most of the time and gets ridden mostly at walk and trot a few times a week, its taken to 6 weeks in the summer time when he lives out and does more work. does that mean that the feet grow more if he's doing more work?
 
Feet grow more in summer than winter, stimulation e.g. Work will make feet grow more quickly, okay so if it is only in winter then 8 weeks will do, but personally i prefer to keep them short and tight, but thats just me.
 
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