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The tack room

Discuss horse riding and ownership on our Horse forum.

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Original poster

Contacting your farrier

29 replies

Lulu44 · 19/08/2021 10:24

My farrier is very good at what he does, probably one of the best in the area, and is one of the only people other then me to win my horse round for picking up his feet after previous bad experience.

But him coming out to do the trims can be frustrating. He books us in the diary just before he leaves, but in the 3 years we've had him he's kept that appointment once! He now books us in early but will come out anywhere up to 2 weeks after the booked date. We've only been overdue a trim once using this system, when he misjudged and we went 9 weeks between trims instead of 7/8.
But contacting him is a nightmare. He rarely answers texts, and if he picks up the phone he's usually under a horse so can't book you back in there and then, so your waiting up to a week for a callback.
So my question is it common for farriers to be like this? Hes very sought after so i appreciate he's busy but it feels like I'm doing too much chasing?

OP posts:

kittykarate · 19/08/2021 11:03

Based on what my friends tell me, farriers are usually "Crazy/Unreliable/Incompetent/Alchoholic". If you're lucky you find one that's only 2/4.

lastqueenofscotland · 19/08/2021 11:25

We have two that visit our yard
One is excellent I really don’t like the other but a few of the middle aged mums love him… I have my suspicions as to why
But the latter will come out at the drop of a hat, the former sticks to appointments but you need to book about 9 years in advance

ANameChangeAgain · 19/08/2021 11:29

Yup.
Ours used to phone at midnight to let us know he was coming the next day. DH is always up at 5.30am for the farm, so was never best pleased at the midnight wakeup, but put up with it because good farriers are like gold dust.

NewYearNewTwatName · 19/08/2021 11:42

kind of.

had horses a very long time, and yup lots of farriers are like this.

had my current farrier 7 years, and he's pretty ok, he's often had to ask to cancel the day before and it's been rescheduled for the next week or couple of days. I can live with that.

He had some kind of family crisis a few years ago and AWOL for most of his clients, he finally responded to me just as I was in talks to another farrier, I know a few people he never did get back in touch with though.

NewYearNewTwatName · 19/08/2021 11:44

oh just to add I have had to ask him to come for emergency and he's managed to fit me in.

RatherBeRiding · 19/08/2021 11:47

Maybe I'm just lucky but my farrier is a bloody diamond!! Been with him ages, he's very sought after and absolutely brilliant at remedial farriery. He always gets back to me promptly and will also go out of his way to fit me in at very short notice for anything urgent even if it means tacking time onto the end of his working day/weekends. He has never missed or re-arranged an appointment. Worth his weight in gold!

countrygirl99 · 19/08/2021 11:51

Crikey, I shall stop moaning because mine books 8.15 and turns up at 8.30. He's dreadful to get hold of in between if you lose a shoe but ok if you persist, almost like the 3rd time you call he realises you definitely want him. Does a very good job on their feet.

user1471505494 · 19/08/2021 11:56

@kittykarate

Based on what my friends tell me, farriers are usually "Crazy/Unreliable/Incompetent/Alchoholic". If you're lucky you find one that's only 2/4.

I must be very lucky then as my Farrier of 20+ years is normal, reliable, very competent and certainly doesn’t drink to excess.

I book the next appointment before he leaves and occasionally the next few if we have special events or holidays coming up. I have my horses at home and he occasionally rings to see if he can come earlier or later. I am vey fortunate that he will come as soon as possible in an emergency

Didiplanthis · 19/08/2021 12:00

Mine is really reliable. Only have trims though and he's a bit arrogant but ok. Previous farrier for shod horse was absolutely brilliant but massively expensive although probably worked out ok as shoes tended to stay on my horse with rubbish feet with him so less call outs but was really difficult to get booked in if you did lose a shoe. People I know who use holistic type barefoot farriers/trimmers have had an utter nightmare with them never turning up never returning calls etc !

ImFree2doasiwant · 19/08/2021 12:02

Not usual in my experience of keeping horses for 25 years, also working with them for 10 years. I couldn't deal with it.

Whinginadeville · 19/08/2021 12:11

Both my dh and ds are farriers this is absolutely not the norm but they are both very very expensive. My dh says you get what you pay for its a physically hard, dirty, dangerous job that requires a lot of training and low start wages. You're then self employed so no sick or holiday pay and expected to answer umpteen calls a day and drop everything for every special client. And its very hard to work full time after fifty. We've had clients call on Christmas Day and are shocked when he won't go out. We've got 100s outstanding from clients who've divorced, skipped out on the yard or in the old days bounced cheques. I do all the accounts and Vat returns but most farriers either have to pay to have all that done or spend hours on it. Plus there's a lot of materials need ordering and stock checking and let's not forget all the ongoing training in new methods and treatments.

TheVolturi · 19/08/2021 12:14

Only ever had one reliable respectful one. The others, one was as you describe, as well as being a total perv, and the other was quite reliable but horrible to the horses and scary!

WhoppingBigBackside · 19/08/2021 13:58

Mine is too busy making hanging baskets to shoe horses.
He's good looking and his marriage is on the rocks and they have a young baby, but his mother does the childcare.

alloalloallo · 19/08/2021 17:19

I love our farrier - he’s absolutely brilliant, and we’re lucky to have him, but he’s a bloody nightmare to get hold of.

We always book him in for the next appointment before he leaves and he’s generally pretty reliable - he’s cancelled us once as he got called out to an emergency but booked us in for the next day.

But, try and get hold of him between appointments to replace a lost shoe or something - no chance.

Our retiree is the only one with shoes now and she only has fronts, DD’s ridden pony is barefoot so we don’t have too many lost shoe/farrier dramas now.

We have a huge shortage of farriers here and we’re super lucky with him so I do not, under any circumstances piss him off. I pay him in cash before he leaves, make him tea, ensure we have Jaffa Cakes, make sure the horses are in with clean legs and happily feign interest in fishing

Ariela · 19/08/2021 17:43

Mine is a a very well qualified farrier with an army of apprentices and assistants all who have been thoroughly well trained although he'll save the laminitic with heart bars or the mare with different front feet that sheds a shoe and do them himself generally, and he'll always fit you in even if you loose a shoe before loading for a show (pop round to his at 7.30am). He'll let you know the time he's coming and sometimes will let you know if he's coming to do most of the yard that he can fit x number the day before if he gets ahead of himself.

We love our farrier.

Ariela · 19/08/2021 17:44

And he answers the phone and all texts

RedLipsAndRosyCheeks · 19/08/2021 21:05

@WhoppingBigBackside
I think I know who you mean. Didn't he trap his hand in his van door a few months ago?

RapidRadish · 22/08/2021 20:18

Aren't they all like that? Mine certainly is. If he books me in for X o'clock I'll make sure I'm there at least an hour and a half earlier and be prepared to wait for a few hours after that slot. I recently moved yards and at the old yard I could leave the horse in and he'd do her without me needing to be there but at my new yard I'm expected to be there and she's out 24/7 so I need to get her in anyway. If she loses a shoe he'll show up but I've no idea when.

logincard · 05/09/2021 21:14

I’m super lucky I think. My farrier is awesome: reliable.. easy to get hold of and great with my horse …

Heyha · 05/09/2021 21:22

Had two absolute angels where we used to live, only swapped from the first as moved yards and he didn't really want to stop off at us just for one basic trim once we'd got settled in- he knew the guy that did the rest of the yard and was happy to recommend him to me and vice versa 😂. Both cancelled maybe once every two or three years so absolutely no issue and rebooked on same call. One of them tended to turn up a bit early but wasn't arsey if you weren't quite ready as a result!

Moved areas and got stuck with an unreliable one unfortunately. Luckily it's only two pony companion trims now and I can rasp to tide us over myself when he goes through a flakey period and we go over by a week or two. I wouldn't keep up with him if we were shod or had tricky feet to do. It's a shame as his apprentice is fab but is of course tied to his boss for a bit longer yet.

BertramLacey · 21/09/2021 19:33

Mine's great. We book each visit when he comes over and for five years he hasn't let me down. He can be a little bit difficult to get hold of in an emergency unfortunately but he is fantastic with the horses and punctual. On the odd occasion he's been running early or late he has texted.

He's also very good at assessing a horse's hoof health and how it relates to general health, without stepping into vet territory and he knows my vets and will liaise with them.

I find it best to text rather than call, unless I really need him to come over, as then it doesn't matter if he's in the middle of shoeing or driving.

Fluffypastelslippers · 21/09/2021 19:38

Mine once told me (3 days after not turning up) he didn't know where my horses were - he had been doing my sisters horses at the exact same place for 8 years

StephieSlade · 21/09/2021 22:43

Heather's farrier is really good, and always turns up on time, when he says he will. However, he's 65 and is retiring next May 😢😢!

plominoagain · 22/09/2021 06:03

Mine is superb . Turns up when he's supposed to , always answers every call and text . Pops round immediately if I need him . But then he's my next door neighbour 😄

Ughmaybenot · 22/09/2021 06:39

My old farrier was okay. Pervy and had terrible jokes to make, constantly, but easy enough to contact via text and never really cancelled… altho he did used to show up 30 mins - 1.5 hours early. Handy when you work til 5, have the farrier booked for 6, and you get a call at 4:45 asking where you are 🤦🏼‍♀️ he did used to get the boys in himself tho and get started.
Current farrier is a love. Easy to get hold of, shows up when he should and generally is a lovely chap.
I forgive a lot of farriers, it’s a highly skilled job under very difficult conditions, so if they’re good at their job, the rest doesn’t matter too much.

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