Where are farriers needed?

Wonderwall said:
do you really like aberdeenshire that much? perhaps i shouldnt say what i think of it on this thread as supposed to encouraging farrier to come this way :D but well i can't stand it..
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Well thats honest at least!! Do you live here now?

Try living close to London and commuting in every day and paying £1000+ a month livery for your nags and working in Canary Wharf in a tower which the traders nicknamed 'bowling alley for Al Quaeda...' and having to tie everything down so it doesnt get nicked...... and Aberdeenshire then has a lot to recommend it!
 
Come to Maidstone in Kent. One farrier has just broken his back, another is on holiday for a few months (and seems to do this a lot!) and another has just gone to prison! Most of the farriers aren't taking on new clients and I am struggling to find a good one to trim my rescue pony (who has farrier phobia)

Saying that, if you are a good looking farrier you are required everywhere!
 
It prob is the farrier you helped move down, begins with J.......! He is brilliant! I would go as far as to say he is the best. Cornwall needs more farriers thats for sure.
 
tommy30 said:
Wow.....Aberdeenshire sure does seem desperate for farriers!! I just checked with the FRC though and there are 20 farriers based in the AB postcode area. Excuse my ignorance, but how large an area does that cover? And how remote is it up there?

To put it into perspective, there are 146 farriers based in the OX, RG and SN postcodes, which is basically the areas I cover now!

I must admit, I hadnt really wanted to move that far away, its over 500 miles! But I guess if there is that much work up there I'd be stupid not to consider it....
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The county covers 2,437 sq miles......so 20 is not very many! And as others have said, some of those on the list are not really active, or are not taking on new clients.

I thought I would feel cold up here but I really havent, the key is the outdoor lifestyle! And a well insulated house is a must, but the nice thing is that properties generally have room for your log store etc so there are lots with lovely wood burners etc.

My horses hooves are a lot better up here as well as we have enough grazing for them and the soil is sandy and well draining.

Just to tempt you more, here is my very happy Big Chap in his field, just to prove grass does grow, even on our exposed hillside...
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Lachlanandmarcus hey yes i live here now i'v lived here all my life 24yrs :D i am a postie in the ellon area, i dont really know why i dislike it so much i guess its not so much the area as things that have happened that i associate with here and now would just love to get as far away from here as possible :( but i guess you are right there are many advantages to living here the main one that it is generally very safe.
 
We are short in Dumfries and Galloway (DG postcodes)
One on list is semi retired
One has just broken his leg--badly (not a horse!!) his list will be frantic for help going into autumn XC season and start of hunting.
One does not work full time on farriery
The Stranraer end of the area is probably in most permanent need as bringing farriers down from Ayrshire
 
almrc said:
It prob is the farrier you helped move down, begins with J.......! He is brilliant! I would go as far as to say he is the best. Cornwall needs more farriers thats for sure.
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Yep, he is fantastic:D
 
Bosworth said:
Am down in devon, loads of farriers around here - however not many good ones. I have a fantastic farrier, answers his phone, arrives on time and shoes brilliantly. he is in the minority, however you have to also think about the people around, my brilliant farrier has been working here for 3 years now, he is fighting an uphill battle to get a full book because there are loads of bad farriers out there charging only £40 a set and people would rather pay only £40 and stick with their bad farrier. Mine charges £60 a set and believe you me he is worth it - and that is less than I was paying in Glos 4 years ago. I have had new liveries who arrive with the most appalling shaped feet, completely the wrong size shoes and they really rate their farrier - so you are fighting ignorance and price as well.
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Its similar here....lots and lots of newely qualified guys charging 45-50, whilst long established guys are barely getting 60, some even lowering prices to stop customers finding someone cheaper. No such thing as farrier loyalty round here.

Whats the equestrian scene like in Aberdeenshire? My GF would only ever consider moving all that way if there were plenty of shows to go to. Every weekend she is doing a county show, and she wouldnt give that up for the world....or me :p
 
Mrsmozart has just done about her thinking of moving to aberdeenshire. There is a lot of info on there but there is loads of horse things around here
 
I beg your pardon?!?!?

I have had my farrier out 23 times since the end of May. I had to find him after my previous farrier of 13 years retired...

This is how loyal I am.... and we all know how I feel about my farrier :D

But I've never been charged less that £60 round here... where are you looking? The going rate at the moment is £65 - £75 a set!
 
Another one ref Aberdeenshire.
I`m also one of the lucky few that has a good farrier. Turns up, granted, usually 2 hours late but he is very good and arrives on the right day!

Its my neighbours uncle who is a farrier that comes up from Glasgow every few weeks. He has loads of clients!
 
west sussex is in need of decent farriers, i have to bribe mine over the border from hampshire. we have about 5 decent farriers in our area and all of them are fully booked. (*disclaimer* that is a rough estimate not an actual count)
 
So why aren't the Scottich Farriers encouraging the young folk to have a go. We had a shortish of good farriers in Bedfordshire for many years, but in the past 13 years we have some really excellant ones come through the training.:):)
 
Another vote for Aberdeeenshire! You'd be fighting off customers up here! You can see why there are so many barefoot trimmers starting up in the area as it is so difficult to get a farrier.
 
Now, is Aberdeenshire in more of a need for farriers than us in cornwall, or is there just more of you on this forum...hehe :D
 
Somerset please - current farrier has just let me know that he won't come to my new yard - it's actually closer to his home than my old yard but he's so busy he only goes to yards he already visits. I've rung almost every farrier on the list for 2 weeks and have only just found a farrier who has a) answered his phone, b) rung back c) will come out to the new yard. There are 5 horses involved in the move (3 of us moved en masse) so it's not like I was trying to get a farrier out for just 1. New farrier can't come out for 3 weeks as he's on holiday for a week and then fully booked. It's been like banging my head against a brick wall.

Prices around here seem to be £50 - £70 for a full set and £15 - £25 for a trim.
 
Merseyside, we have a desperate lack of farriers. My current farrier comes from North Wales to shoe mine but only because I have a few to do but my youngster is going to be in need of some remedial work for a tall foot so will need lots of visits and I dont think he will come out for just one :(
 
Sorry but another one for Aberdeenshire definately. Please PM me if you DO come up here as my farrier keeps going walk about - he's already over-due by 2 weeks after not turning up and I still cant get hold of him... He's one of the ALLERGIC-TO-PHONES breed. Its annoying as I personally think Im a pretty good farrier-host, provide plenty of tea and biscuits :(

I pay £50 or £55 I think for a full set of new shoes.
 
Well I must admit the thought of having full books in a matter of weeks is *very* tempting! I cant understand why the farriers up there are so unreliable though?? I was taught to look after my customers by my old boss, and wouldn't dream of just not turning up!! Presumably many owners have organised time off work to be there, so not turning up is bang out of order.

Is it just that they are inundated with customers that they are really selective as to who they show up for, or do they just not care?

I might put an ad in the local paper (tips on which one would be nice) stating that I'm considering setting up in the area in the new future, and if anyone would be interested to get in touch. And can anyone recommend a farrier for me to ride along with, just so I can get a feel for the area (PM me please :))

Thanks
 
Wow...glad I'm not in Aberdeenshire!!!

I am in Somerset and although there seem to be plenty of farriers...there are very few good ones about! It seems a lot of the farriers around here will not take on new clients too as they are already very busy and can pick and choose what clients they want to go to as they have plenty of choice!
 
I would say Somerset has farriers, just not that many that are actually good.

I think we have a pretty large horse population which means that even the not very good ones (some of whom purport to be very good :rolleyes:) get plenty of work.

def a bit different to aberdeenshire though!
 
Yet another vote for Aberdeenshire. When we first moved here a few years ago we were desperate as we just could not get a farrier who was taking new clients on. We had neighbours either side (within half a mile) both with horses and their farrier would not even consider coming to us as he said he was just too busy. He wouldn't even call in in passing to meet us and see our horses.
We eventually managed to find a chap who was just setting up and he was awful. He was unbelievably slow (took an hour and a half to shoe my very well behaved IDX mare) and would smoke in my barn while he was working! I didn't dare complain as I knew he was the only option! He was reasonably reliable for a few months but once he'd been around a while he started to not turn up and not answer his phone. I heard the same from other people too.
We then moved to a different part of Aberdeenshire and now have a farrier who is very reliable and has a nice way with the horses, but doesn't do that great a job and won't shoe my mare even though my vet recommends she's shod.
If you do opt for Aberdeenshire PLEASE pm me as I'll definitely have you to mine. I do tea/coffee and home baking every visit, pay cash and my horses are always in and ready, are well behaved and you can work under cover.
Lots of nice properties up here too and definitely no shortage of horses!
 
Cumbria please. We have farriers, but I have just found, moving yards and moving my horses to the south of the county that none of them reply to messages left on their ansaphones or respond to texts, so I can only assume that they are too full to take on clients.......please move here asap and PM me when you do!
 
Another vote here for Aberdeenshire. There was only ONE farrier who was even remotely interested in doing my horses (I'm about 25 miles north of the city, not exactly out in the sticks) and he was so unreliable my horses feet were a mess. My mare was constantly abscessing because he did such a terrible job (up to one a month all in different feet.) I spent 2 years trying to change to a different farrier but nobody was interested.

Eventually I got so fed up I ended up speaking to a barefoot trimmer. That was almost 2 years ago now and in that time you know how many missed appointments, abscesses, not answering calls I've had to deal with? None. Best decision I ever made. I'm not the only one either all my neighbours have started using her (we're talking at least 20 horses) because they'd rather have barefoot reliable trimmer than the useless unreliable farrier who'd just turn up when he fancied it.
 
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i am a qualified registered uk and euro farrier with 30 years experience shoeing all types and protocols . i am thinking about relocating back in the uk in the near future and am open to all suggestions , i only need 3/4 horses a day and after a long career would sooner do riding school backyard types . i have had enough of the so called high end market .
i am open to all suggestions and areas please let me know what you think
chris
 
theres farriers here - but not RELIABLE ones....... (cheshire).....


they either dont phone..... dont answer the phone or someone "died" and they cant come shoe my horse (no joke they didnt die just a s!it excuse)...
 
ljmar1 said:
I have personally known 4 or 5 horses in the last couple of years who have been permanently damaged by bad shoeing - including 2 who had to be retired at a young age.
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i agree with aberdeen!!! I know of a horse which is now cow hocked and down at the heel, completely due to the blooming farrier!!! i'm trying desperately to change mine, but everybody is fully booked!!!

shoddy doesn't describe it!!!
 
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