Uncommunicative farriers...

[RachelFerd]

My farrier does a good job when shoeing my horses, and I've got no complaints about the quality of his work. When he's booked to turn up, he nearly always turns up at the time he said he would, and he's happy to do my horses without any assistance or holding, which is great.

He is however absolutely impossible to get hold of - I've currently got a horse who has recovered from an abscess and needs a shoe back on, and I can't get hold of him by calling or texting. I flagged on Saturday that the shoe would need replacing this week, texted on Monday to no response, and have called and texted today to no response. It isn't that I need this dealt with same-day, but I do need to be able to plan the work the horse is doing, and he's a horse prepping to go intermediate eventing in the spring, so this is critical fitness work time.

Unfortunately this is a fairly common experience with this farrier. I've known him be uncommunicative to people who don't pay on time, or whose horses aren't good to shoe - but I always pay by bank transfer on the same day, and my horses are very good.

Are my expectations too much? I really think same-day acknowledgement of a request would be courteous. I don't want to change farriers, but feel like I'm overly exposed to try and run reasonable level competition horses without being able to get hold of a farrier in a fairly predictable way.

 

[AppyLover1996]

Is finding someone else to pop the shoe back on an option?

If so, I would get the shoe popped back on and continue your fitness work, and still try and get a hold of your farrier for maybe another few times as you seem to respect him and his work, despite the fact he's not the best at communicating.

Ultimately if it were me in this position I'd get someone else to put the shoe back on and look for a new farrier, I understand that farriers are extremely busy but what if a hoof related emergency arose and you desperately needed him but couldn't get a hold of him?

 

[Abacus]

It's not good, but sadly it's often true of self-employed skilled professions that they are good at the job but not at the business admin, especially comms. I can sympathise to an extent with farriers who are often called upon to pop on a shoe or attend an abscess which isn't in the round they had planned, but it is in their job description and one would hope that they communicate with regular customers a bit better than this. Is he friendly enough for you to have a word with him, say how happy you are with his work but also mention your concerns and see how he responds? If it is really limiting your progression you may have to find an alternative if he won't step up a bit, or if he responds badly. Personally I wouldn't text mine on a weekend though.

(Can I be horribly smug and add a comment of gushing praise for my farrier, who I recently texted to ask if he could pop on a lost shoe - no major urgency. I got a reply 15 minutes later - 'already done!'. He was literally passing the yard, stopped, got the horse in himself, and lobbed a shoe on. It was luck and coincidence but also a lovely, lovely farrier who always does his best.)

 

[Tiddlypom]

IME farriers are either reliable OR competent, not both .

Which is why I’ve been trimming my own horses for the last 18 months.

 

[RachelFerd]

It's not good, but sadly it's often true of self-employed skilled professions that they are good at the job but not at the business admin, especially comms. I can sympathise to an extent with farriers who are often called upon to pop on a shoe or attend an abscess which isn't in the round they had planned, but it is in their job description and one would hope that they communicate with regular customers a bit better than this. Is he friendly enough for you to have a word with him, say how happy you are with his work but also mention your concerns and see how he responds? If it is really limiting your progression you may have to find an alternative if he won't step up a bit, or if he responds badly. Personally I wouldn't text mine on a weekend though.

(Can I be horribly smug and add a comment of gushing praise for my farrier, who I recently texted to ask if he could pop on a lost shoe - no major urgency. I got a reply 15 minutes later - 'already done!'. He was literally passing the yard, stopped, got the horse in himself, and lobbed a shoe on. It was luck and coincidence but also a lovely, lovely farrier who always does his best.)

Yeah, I mean I toyed with not sending the text on Saturday - but seems to be a choice between

a/ ask for the shoe to go on, on Monday, ASAP
b/ give him a heads up so that he can plan it into whatever's happening this week with more notice

My previous farrier (only stopped using as we moved to the other side of the country) would even let me stop off at his house on the way home from a competition if my sensitive one had lost a shoe and needed it sticking back on urgently!

Current one is friendly enough - have been using for 6 years now, hence why I'm loathe to change things just because I'm annoyed this week - but he has historically been slow at replying, and seems to be getting slower. I know it is abscess madness at the moment with wet ground, but I'm at a big yard where probably ~10 people use him - so he should be here often enough?! I've also been very fortunate in that my older horse has also historically been very good at keeping shoes on his feet, so I haven't had lots of instances of desperately needing a shoe back on.

 

[Peglo]

Sorry slightly off topic but @Abacus does your farrier work Monday to Friday? I’ve always had farriers come at the weekend to mine so I wouldn’t think twice about messaging at the weekend.

RF even an acknowledgment to your message would be nice even if he couldn’t give you a time straight away. I would find that really annoying too.

 

[SDMabel]

I have one that's brilliant , quick to respond but might appear an hour , a few hours , a whole morning earlier or later than discussed .

Could you fire another text through saying appreciate your busy , but can you confirm you have received my messages ?

 

[lynz88]

Uncommunucative farriers seems to be quite the norm. I actually stopped using a farrier because he stopped communicating and disappeared off the face of the earth....twice. the second time I had had enough and moved on to a different one. I don't have time to play these games - I chase enough people in my day job.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I had to get rid of my farrier last year due to no communication. I expected a reply in 48 hours or so but he never replied to most of my texts. He must of read them as he would come out a put a shoe on etc . His work was fantastic, but I couldn't stand the no reply. The last time he did my horse he also encouraged a small kid to run round and play whilst he was shoeing my horse. That was the final straw.

 

[Abacus]

Sorry slightly off topic but @Abacus does your farrier work Monday to Friday? I’ve always had farriers come at the weekend to mine so I wouldn’t think twice about messaging at the weekend.

RF even an acknowledgment to your message would be nice even if he couldn’t give you a time straight away. I would find that really annoying too.

Mine does work on a Saturday, either a half or full day, although we don't see him then - he saves those slots for the people that are out at work and can't be there in the week. (I do work but at home so it's easier). For me I just think it's courteous to respect his weekend.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I know a fair amount of farriers that work like that. I usually don't expect my farrier to answer me on a weekend, unless I know he works weekends and is ok with non emergency weekend communication.

Some of them are so busy that it's difficult to juggle the "admin" or scheduling aspect at times because they work from sun up to sun down. So if it's a good farrier, I give them some leeway. Plus, I know that customer service is not really a thing in the horse world a lot of the time, sadly.

I've sort of quit applying logic to farriers. I did "fire" one that was just too scattered and slow with communication (he was also just irritating in general though). It depends what your personal threshold is and what the horse needs, because the farrier is not going to change their ways. So if you can't deal with that, then I'd be strongly considering looking for a different one.

If I didn't receive a response by mid week, I'd be annoyed.

 

[irishdraft]

I wouldn't necessarily expect a same day reply on a weekend unless you know it's a normal working day for your farrier but you should of had a response by now presumably your farrier knows what your plans are for your horse so should be aware of need to get the shoe on. I must admit my farrier is extremely good at getting back to me about this sort of thing especially if he knows I've got things planned for my horse.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

I feel your pain! My old farrier did incredible work but in the end the lack of communication and long delays at times, did my head in so I found a new one. Work is less good but it’s good enough…. I’d worry if Lottie or Amber needed anything remedial doing though.

For Mylo it was time critical as all corrections needed to be done by 6-8 months and I needed to coordinate times with a vet too. I didn’t even bother going back to the old one. Nor did I trust the quality of the new one so I’ve got someone coming up from the Midlands at around £100 a throw - just for trimming. In the end chucking money at the issue seemed the only way to resolve it without my stress levels going through the roof. I am using someone who mostly trims youngstock on pro yards. I think you can get skill plus professionalism/reliability if you pay enough. But often it seems to be one or the other.

 

[dorsetladette]

Mine isn't great at replying to messages, but that's OK as his wife organises his diary and except on the very rare occasion always responds. She's not offended if I chase her up on a Monday if I've messaged over the weekend either.

 

[webble]

I honestly dont know how some people cope with their farriers. I know a few that let the owner know the week before that they are coming that week and then the night before what time it will be! My farrier is ace, we book in advance a day and time each visit

 

[LEC]

It can be tricky. I have actually known my farrier since he was 12 years old so that’s helpful. Plus gets very good bottles of wine when been great.
I had to stop using one years ago as just never turned up.

 

[Flame_]

Probably still a case of better the devil you know, unless you're aware of other particularly good options.

You could try to raise the issue with him, gently.

 

[lynz88]

My current farrier is very good - a few times he has messaged me about doing my horse before I got the chance to message. If and when I do message, he responds within 24 hours (I don't tend to book in advance...less chance of me forgetting that way too!)

 

[Merry neddy man]

Try ringing on another phone so he doesn't recognise your number