Still struggling!! Help please!!

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scattynuttymare

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Hey guys! I'm still struggling big time to find a farrier! My mare is awkward to shoe but she can be done...my newest farrier took the shoes off and thats as far as we got. So she's unshod for now. I've got a few numbers of ones with "spaces" but all the good farriers seem to be booked right up!!

Here's the few I'm going to try Glen Hartigan, Paul Brackley, David Ticquet, John Lubin and Fred Lambert...can I have you views if any of you know these guys. Or any suggestions of others in the Essex area!

My mare is nervous and frightened not nasty, she is a rescue horse and just needs a kind and patient farrier...
PM me if its easier!!
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Thanks guys
 
i would explain the problem to the farrier on the phone, and offer to pay for his time - if it takes 3 hours to shoe her (as it might the first time or two, but it will pay off massively) then pay for 3 hours of his time - i.e. he could normally shoe three horses in that time.
he may not want to take extra money, but he'll appreciate the offer. he knows his patience will pay off, but if he suspects that you're only going to use him once or twice and then switch to someone else, he may not be too keen!
asking him to do the fronts one day, and then the hinds another day, might help too... not so tiring/annoying for the mare, or for you and the farrier.
is it hot shoeing she hates? the smoke and noise? if so, ask for aluminium shoes to be put on cold. i always have my youngsters shod like this the first time or so, it's all less drama in one go. once they're happy to hold their legs up for that long, and have the shoes hammered on, the clenches tightened, and the outsides rasped, that's enough lessons for one day i think.
my friend had a horse like yours... it used to have to be sedated to have a pair done, every time. then sedated again the next week for the next pair. it cost a fortune and the horse learnt nothing.
it took me about 3 hours to remove its shoes (which were literally hanging off, so had to come off) but the next farrier who came happily spent the time, and within a couple of visits the horse could be shod normally.
 
Thanks Kerilli!
I'm more than happy to pay for extra time. She is slightly better being cold shod but to be honest its more the noise and the tools, she was badly beaten before I had her. Unfortunatly a change in farrier due to us moving areas has made her take a hundred steps backwards....
Thanks
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if she had a bad time before you had her, spending a lot of time holding her feet up, praising her, tapping them gently with a hammer, praising again, etc, is a good idea.
also, if you're a woman, try to get a man to spend time with her whenever possible, even if it's just 2 mins holding a foot up and then giving her a carrot.
so many of our horses are used to being handled by girls all the time, and men only come near to do teeth, shoes, vet stuff etc... all the nasty stuff!
 
when mine had her first ever shoes my farrier told me to tap her feet with my hoof pick when i was picking her feet out so that might be easier so that you are not faffing around with hammers as well as holding her feet just a suggestion
 
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