Asha
Well-Known Member
in a bit of a quandary..
Im not one to change willy nilly, but ive had to change farriers over the past couple of years:
Farrier 1 - used him forever, we moved areas 15 years ago, and he had a fair bit of business in the new area. Over the years his business over here dropped off. It ended up with him only coming one day per week, which meant if you had an issue you had to wait a week. Plus he stopped coming, and would just send his apprentice. Which was fine but i just expected him to come every few months to at least check the apprentice work. the 2 issues made me move to a local chap. The work was always fab.
farrier 2 - local chap, after a few months of him starting one of the horses was a bit off . So trip to vets, and basically he had been using shoes too small. So had all feet xrayed,and told him to shoe to xrays. all good for another couple of years. Genuinly nice helpful chap, any issues he would be there same day or even next day. Turned up etc etc. His apprentice trimmed my old mare i didnt see at the time, but he had trimmed her that far back her hoof wall wasnt touching the ground. Box rest for her, two days later another mare had lost a shoe, he came back to refit. While there i showed him what his apprentice had done. Oh dear yes thats a bit short isnt it. He then duly charged me £20 for the refit. a couple of weeks later and the same horse was a bit off again ( the one with the small shoes) , another trip to vets and he had put shoes on that where too small again. X rays done etc etc .Another £350 bill ! So changed farriers. ( mare now has shoes on 2 sizes bigger )
farrier 3 - not so local, agreement was come every 6 weeks, no later as one has to stick to the routine. Work is good, hes polite gets on with the job . Turns up etc. he always books us in 6 weeks after every visit. last week, no sign of him. So i text asking when hes coming he says next Monday.. i say thats too late that will take us up to 8 weeks, ok will come the friday.. which takes us to 7 weeks + 4 days. So i phone another farrier who comes out and does them straight away
This new chap is actually the apprentice of farrier 1, who did the shoes forever and has now set himself up ( the past 4 years i think ). Has a fair bit of business in the area, so coming isnt an issue. Knows me and the horses well, did a fab job, and he has a card machine so i can pay there and then. ( which i love,as having issues with online banking at the minute )
So would you stick with farrier 3,as its the first time hes done that, or switch to farrier 4.
Im not one to change willy nilly, but ive had to change farriers over the past couple of years:
Farrier 1 - used him forever, we moved areas 15 years ago, and he had a fair bit of business in the new area. Over the years his business over here dropped off. It ended up with him only coming one day per week, which meant if you had an issue you had to wait a week. Plus he stopped coming, and would just send his apprentice. Which was fine but i just expected him to come every few months to at least check the apprentice work. the 2 issues made me move to a local chap. The work was always fab.
farrier 2 - local chap, after a few months of him starting one of the horses was a bit off . So trip to vets, and basically he had been using shoes too small. So had all feet xrayed,and told him to shoe to xrays. all good for another couple of years. Genuinly nice helpful chap, any issues he would be there same day or even next day. Turned up etc etc. His apprentice trimmed my old mare i didnt see at the time, but he had trimmed her that far back her hoof wall wasnt touching the ground. Box rest for her, two days later another mare had lost a shoe, he came back to refit. While there i showed him what his apprentice had done. Oh dear yes thats a bit short isnt it. He then duly charged me £20 for the refit. a couple of weeks later and the same horse was a bit off again ( the one with the small shoes) , another trip to vets and he had put shoes on that where too small again. X rays done etc etc .Another £350 bill ! So changed farriers. ( mare now has shoes on 2 sizes bigger )
farrier 3 - not so local, agreement was come every 6 weeks, no later as one has to stick to the routine. Work is good, hes polite gets on with the job . Turns up etc. he always books us in 6 weeks after every visit. last week, no sign of him. So i text asking when hes coming he says next Monday.. i say thats too late that will take us up to 8 weeks, ok will come the friday.. which takes us to 7 weeks + 4 days. So i phone another farrier who comes out and does them straight away
This new chap is actually the apprentice of farrier 1, who did the shoes forever and has now set himself up ( the past 4 years i think ). Has a fair bit of business in the area, so coming isnt an issue. Knows me and the horses well, did a fab job, and he has a card machine so i can pay there and then. ( which i love,as having issues with online banking at the minute )
So would you stick with farrier 3,as its the first time hes done that, or switch to farrier 4.
