Whats you farrier like?

tinkandlily

tinkandlily

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I was watching a monty roberts demo this morning, that was about a pony who was a bit worried with when her feet was handled, because the farrier hit her leg with a file.
This got me thinking, when i was on a dealing yard, i was working with a sec a mare who was very good with her feet, so i tied her up and got on with other jobs, about 10 mins later i could hear the mare struggling, the farrier had her pinned against the wall because she tried putting her foot down, and he thought she was being naughty.
The mare was claustrphobic so she started fighting of her life when she was pinned against the wall, so the the farrier belted her on the ribs with his file, and pushed her head against the wall, and held her down with his elbow:eek: i asked why he was doing that, and he just said she needed to learn to stand still, i was shocked, i have never seen a farrier behave that way before.
I informed the YO who told me he does it all the time, and the horses eventually get the message,:eek:
Have you ever had a farrier, who's hit your horse?
 
Yes once and he was ordered off the yard and lost all the 20 horses on it!

My Farrier now is fantastic......for example I rung him and asked his advice about trimming Vardi's feet as he has grown a bit wonky on his left side. Without missing a beat he said "mmm let me think about how to do that as with his flat near fore I don't want to over trim his off fore to even him out".

Now consider this guy had not been to us for 6 weeks and shoes hundreds of horses I was somewhat impressed.

Love the guy he is a delight.
 
my farrier wouldn't lift a finger the wrong way to either of my horses. he is fantastic. i would never have a farrier who hit my horse.
 
I make sure I stay with mine whilst shoeing mine, but he has never shown any inclination of geting angry with her. I have seen some farriers at our yard shoeing other horses and they whack them, shout at them, really annoys me. I have had a go at one as couldnt stand there and see him hit him round head with rope.
 
Ours is a sarky g!t, who will swear at a horse if it's being a complete prat, but never hit one. He's dealt with our stressy neds and now they all stand well (some of them came to us with issues).

He's a brilliant farrier, so we put up with his charm lol
 
No never, my farrier is brilliant. I did have a dentist who did smack my girl with the lead rope when he did'nt think i was watching. That was the last time he did her :mad:
 
Yes, he hit my friend's mare who was being an utter cow and trying to kick/flatten him. Quite justified, I'd have done the same.

As a general rule, he's fantastic with the horses, I've only ever seen him get crabby with the ones who are genuinely bad mannered/ignorant, as opposed to frightened.
 
dibbin said:
Yes, he hit my friend's mare who was being an utter cow and trying to kick/flatten him. Quite justified, I'd have done the same.

As a general rule, he's fantastic with the horses, I've only ever seen him get crabby with the ones who are genuinely bad mannered/ignorant, as opposed to frightened.
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When mine was a bolshy colt, with my blessing, my farrier walloped him good and hard:eek: and they've been buddies ever since:D. My farrier is worth his weight in gold,
 
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tinkandlily said:
I was watching a monty roberts demo this morning, that was about a pony who was a bit worried with when her feet was handled, because the farrier hit her leg with a file.
This got me thinking, when i was on a dealing yard, i was working with a sec a mare who was very good with her feet, so i tied her up and got on with other jobs, about 10 mins later i could hear the mare struggling, the farrier had her pinned against the wall because she tried putting her foot down, and he thought she was being naughty.
The mare was claustrphobic so she started fighting of her life when she was pinned against the wall, so the the farrier belted her on the ribs with his file, and pushed her head against the wall, and held her down with his elbow:eek: i asked why he was doing that, and he just said she needed to learn to stand still, i was shocked, i have never seen a farrier behave that way before.
I informed the YO who told me he does it all the time, and the horses eventually get the message,:eek:
Have you ever had a farrier, who's hit your horse?
Click to expand...

Yes when I first got my horse,knowone could touch his back feet and I had 2 different farriers out,both hit him in the ribs and I was quite upset.Never had them again-bullies.
The farrier I have now if fantastic and is brilliant with my boy.My boy is good as gold with this farrier.
 
Mine is lovely, but my mare does push his patience last time she tried to pick him up by his balls, (poor man) he is trying to have kids lol!!! but he leaves it to me to bribe and disapline my horse!!!!
 
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tinkandlily said:
I was watching a monty roberts demo this morning, that was about a pony who was a bit worried with when her feet was handled, because the farrier hit her leg with a file.
This got me thinking, when i was on a dealing yard, i was working with a sec a mare who was very good with her feet, so i tied her up and got on with other jobs, about 10 mins later i could hear the mare struggling, the farrier had her pinned against the wall because she tried putting her foot down, and he thought she was being naughty.
The mare was claustrphobic so she started fighting of her life when she was pinned against the wall, so the the farrier belted her on the ribs with his file, and pushed her head against the wall, and held her down with his elbow:eek: i asked why he was doing that, and he just said she needed to learn to stand still, i was shocked, i have never seen a farrier behave that way before.
I informed the YO who told me he does it all the time, and the horses eventually get the message,:eek:
Have you ever had a farrier, who's hit your horse?
Click to expand...



Mine does not, have seen those who do, the only opinipn I habe is that I do not and have never 'hit' my horse so I would not allow othres to do so
 
I use a trimmer. She's very very patient, but firm. Saw her with a huuuuuuuge, unbalanced baby horse last week that kept trying to do silly things like stand on only his left legs (doesn't generally work very well! :p ), and was super impressed with her calm, considerate approach.
 
Mine is fantastic,he is brilliant with the horses, always on time, infact hes usually early, phones or texts if he is running late...which has been twice in the 6 years ive been using him! I cant fault him at all :) all bar one of my friends use him & say the same!
 
Yes my old farrier was a grumpy old git! He shoes all the riding school ponies so was handy but he is soooo scary, he cross ties the horses and the slightest move they make he starts F-ing and blinding, god you should hear him :S, Apparently he cracked one of the horses over the nose with his file!! ... But new farrier is great :) he just shoes mine in his stable with no headcollar or anything lol and always happy and funny, and no more listening to screaming when my horse wiggles a hoof :p
 
I did have one who was quite rough, my 2 are fine with getting feet done. He whacked my mare for pulling a foot away as she was off balance. I changed to the one i have now and he is brilliant. He is so good with them and does a great job. He had their feet looking the best they have ever been.
 
I used to have a farrier who was scared of horses, and my old mare just goes to slepp when getting her feet done, but because she lent on him he wacked her with the file in the ribs.
Yep he promptly got sent straight off the yard and i was left with a horse with 3 shoes on.
My farrier now is the best on the world, even though one of the horses gave him a darn good kick today the best he came out with was "you blasted mare"
 
My current farrier is fabulous! He has only been fully qualified a couple of years, and is ever so good with Jos. He also rides, so he knows how to handle horses. He only lives along the road a couple of miles, and fits me in quickly if I need him.

When I got my first horse I had another farrier out - he smacked my poor chap on the face with the file because he dared to move his head. Needless to say, marching orders were given, and after that the horse was horrendous to do anything footwise with - picking them out took an hour sometimes. Bloomin farrier!
 
Both my horses now have issues with the farrier - one came with his set of issues and the other has developed them since coming to me ( we are at a yard where is does 5/6 horses at a time and generally the girls bring them in to be done - not happening with mine any longer may I add) . I have since changed farriers and my new one is brilliant - calm,considerate and happy to walk away for a few minutes until horse has come down out the stratosphere. He has got further with the baby in two shoeings than the previous one and we are now at the stage where we can get two shoes on with minimal fuss and more importantly no sedation :) :) :D My other one seems genuinely scared (of what I don't know) and will shake violently when a man approaches him now (vet,back people etc ) but he makes an effort with him to come over and introduce himself every time before even thinking about his feet and gradually he is getting better. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anybody :)
 
My farrier and his lads are great with the horses, some of the youngsters can get a bit bargy when its new to them but never has he hit them.

His time keeping has been awful in the past but is getting better and he is worth the wait cos their feet are great.
 
My farrier is FAB! Adapts to the horses that he's got. My Connie got a slap for biting him - quite justifiedd he was just being cheeky but when my TB throws a mild hissy fit as he does occasionally for no apparent reason he just stands there, calms him down and then carrys on.

He's been my farrier for over 15 years and had shod the Connie for 8 years which is why he got the slap!! He knew him. Whenever I;ve had new horses he's been great.

I've seen farriers on other yards being a bit more agressive, but would be shocked to see them hitting a horse with a file - I'd be asking them to leave there and then.

I understand that they need to make sure they are safe - they are in a vunerable position while shoeing, but the owner or YO or whoever should be there to help hold the horse if needs be.
 
Mine is fantastic and we have just spoken to say that he is going to be about 10 minutes late :)

The only time he has ever risen a fist to my horses they deserved it (and the horses knew it!), he wasn't over the top just short sharp no and then get back to it.

He does have a hate hate relationship with one of my shetlands, don't know why as my farrier has been fantastic with him, gets on his knees to trim him so he is comfortable but my shetland hates him and will immediately misbehave as soon as he goes near. My farrier has never done anything to him to warrent such behaviour or been nasty they just hate each other so the aprentices do him and he stands as good as gold (throwing dirty looks in my farriers direction!). The old boy falls asleep on him and undoes his chaps to mess about and the other also has his little games he plays with him.

My farrier sorted out my big boys feet, he is considerate, honest, informative, likes to do a good job and if its not spot on gets angry with himself. he has been shoeing my horses for nigh on 20 years (he was doing them when he was an aprentice to another farrier) and I have no wish whatso ever to change.

We have had ups and downs but that is the nature of being human and as long as he is honest with me and continues to shoe my horses then I will not have any complaints!
 
I love my farrier - the first time he met my mare, he made a point of petting her and getting to know her before he started in working. Same with my daughter's gelding who has one foot he's a little funny about. He's never forgotten that, always takes extra care with it. Both horses adore him.

He did smack my mare once when she was being obnoxious - it was one quick swat and then back to work. He actually did apologize and I told him not to worry as she deserved it.

He does a great job on their feet, has a sly sense of humor and is very dependable. The couple of times my mare has thrown a shoe, he's been out the next day to take care of it.
 
My farrier's ok, when my horse seriously misbehaves (ie doesn't give one of his feet at all) he uses a twitch. He says it's not too bad for them. Although I was abit disappointed that he couldn't give me valid advice on whether to go shod or shoeless so we tried shoeless and the next day his hoofs were in pieces! literally like a mop! but thankfully this farrier took him up the same day and shod him and we are fine :) just never going shoeless that's for sure!
 
My farrier is great, he has patience when needed (for a youngster for example) but will let them know if there messing about once they know better.

It's a dangerous job and their dealing with large strong animals and I agree at times they are not wrong in giving a horse a smack, providing the horse learns from it and needed it in the first place, if the horse is has been taught manners and how to stand etc from the begining, farriers wouldn't need raise a hand to them in the first place, it's not a farriers job to teach a horse manners and ground work and they should not be getting injured, their there to shoe your horse....and this is coming from a quiet a soft fluffy person!

That said, I wouldn't ever use a farrier with a quick temper or made it clear that they hated the job or shoeing a particular horse, my farrier takes pride in what he's doing and will go out of his way to help your horse out and we always have a good chat and a banter when he comes to our yard too.
 
My farrier is fab, even with Fany who when we got her refused to pick her feet up, she is good now but it is through his patience. He is so good that he did not complain too much when Cappy ran his teeth down his new truck! Mind I'm told burgers were mentioned :) Seriously Cappy loves him and he is one of the 2 men who can handle him easily, I certainly would not change. He was even good when I forgot to pay him. :eek:

I have no problem with him giving them a smack if they misbehave, as Kenzo said they are big strong animals who need to learn, although I don't think I have ever seen him smack any horse, even the difficult mare on our yard.
 
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