Switching farrier 😫

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poiuytrewq

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I like my farrier, we get on and he’s totally completely 100% reliable.
I’ve used him for years.

I feel like I may need to change :(
I’m as far as he comes in this direction, In fact he doesn’t come this far really but we moved here so he did.
When I moved my retired and Ziggy it was further away so he no longer does them. They are both very very easy to do.
My ponies are all very easy to trim, they are tiny, the biggest 11.2hh.
Alfie is having problems and shoeing is a big part of it.
I can pick his feet up/out but we have got to the stage that the farrier can’t and the horse starts panicking.
Farrier always appears calm and quiet, but Is getting that seething underneath look. He wouldn’t ever hit or anything (with me there anyway)
I do think he’s maybe a little passive aggressive when they annoy him though. Ie I feel like he occasionally gives a little yank when he thinks I’m not looking, or tried to hold a leg a bit too high, snippy bits like that.
I don’t know if he’s part of the problem, not saying it’s his fault by any means but I’m not sure the slight attitude is helping matters.
Last time we couldn’t even remove the last shoe so he’s wearing 3 new one old. The plan was I’d get him sedated and he’d return this week.

However, it’s going to be difficult to get someone as reliable and who wants a new client with a difficult horse. I worry I could be left struggling to find anyone.
I know the guy who is doing the other two fairly well so could ask him to have a try.
The farrier world is small though and word gets round. I’d feel bad if he found out someone else had been to give a second opinion almost.
 
I would probably hold fire, sedating for shoeing, until the workup has happened, as if it's something physical you may find the problem goes away after it's been treated.
Hopefully with sedation you'll see a calmer farrier- if not then in your shoes I'd probably be thinking of a change at that point. (I am still talking about sedating the horse btw, although perhaps the farrier might appreciate the offer of some sedatives too? 😆)
 
I had a decent farrier who I got on really well with. One of my donkeys that I had owned since he was 3 months old was always very, very difficult to trim. He was absolutely fine with me picking up all feet, picking out etc. but for this farrier he was a nightmare from day one, despite how much prep I put in before farrier's visit. The farrier never actually got visibly cross with him but as you say there was a vibe in the air that he was not a happy chappy and admitted he just didn't like this particular donkey. To get around it the donkey was sedated with sedalin for every trim, it was the only way forward but I hated doing it, although given by my vet I was very wary as sedating donkeys can be dangerous if you get it wrong, even with sedalin.

Fast forward 7 or 8 years and the farrier was off sick for ages so I started using the one that called to the yard where my son worked. After two visits he asked me to stop sedating him as he was sure it wasn't necessary. Well it went very well and this lovely, patient and quietly spoken young farrier really brought him around. He still is my farrier nearly 20 years on, and my old donkey is still as good to do as my other one.

I do think they pick up the irritated or angry vibes, no matter how a farrier, vet or whoever think they can hide it. A change of farrier might surprise you, I hope so.
 
I personally think you need to solve the horse issue, rather than looking for a new farrier.

My youngsters are good for me but can be annoying sometimes for new people, so I use my partner etc. to practice with.
Sometimes they get too used to just one person doing this sort of thing with them.

If horse is good for EVERYONE except the farrier, then I'd look to change to a new person.
 
poiuytrewq said:
I like my farrier, we get on and he’s totally completely 100% reliable.
I’ve used him for years.

I feel like I may need to change :(
I’m as far as he comes in this direction, In fact he doesn’t come this far really but we moved here so he did.
When I moved my retired and Ziggy it was further away so he no longer does them. They are both very very easy to do.
My ponies are all very easy to trim, they are tiny, the biggest 11.2hh.
Alfie is having problems and shoeing is a big part of it.
I can pick his feet up/out but we have got to the stage that the farrier can’t and the horse starts panicking.
Farrier always appears calm and quiet, but Is getting that seething underneath look. He wouldn’t ever hit or anything (with me there anyway)
I do think he’s maybe a little passive aggressive when they annoy him though. Ie I feel like he occasionally gives a little yank when he thinks I’m not looking, or tried to hold a leg a bit too high, snippy bits like that.
I don’t know if he’s part of the problem, not saying it’s his fault by any means but I’m not sure the slight attitude is helping matters.
Last time we couldn’t even remove the last shoe so he’s wearing 3 new one old. The plan was I’d get him sedated and he’d return this week.

However, it’s going to be difficult to get someone as reliable and who wants a new client with a difficult horse. I worry I could be left struggling to find anyone.
I know the guy who is doing the other two fairly well so could ask him to have a try.
The farrier world is small though and word gets round. I’d feel bad if he found out someone else had been to give a second opinion almost.
Click to expand...
If nothing physically shows up, don’t entirely rule out plain bolshy, it does sometimes happen!
Years ago we had a driving stallion (which needed shoeing up to work), develop a real awkward streak with the farrier - who couldn’t have been more considerate - yet horse retained his usual sweet temper, biddability etc with everyone else. No health / pain / soreness issues, just being an ar*e with this particular man - those are my feet and YOU are not having them, sort of thing. Embarrassing, because anyone else could handle them, anytime.
At thirteen hundredweight, there’s only so much attitude the farrier should be asked to deal with, we don’t like ACP with stallions, so finally I put a cord nose twitch on, tight - a great big sigh of resignation, and stood like a lamb.
Turned out I was not that good with twitches because it fell off shortly after, but the horse never bothered, he’d just accepted the inevitable.
Next time and thereafter, absolutely no issues whatsoever - so try explaining that?
 
Just a thought but as you are sending him for a workup do you think some of it could be pain related? One of mine has hock arthritis and was starting to make it clear his hinds were troubling him so I now give him Bute before and after his trims. I want him to be comfortable and for the farrier not to get irritable with him.
 
Is the horse at least as comfortable and sound after he's been shod as before? It rings alarm bells with me that he couldn't stand on a freshly shod hoof to have the 4th removed.
 
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