Random rant about farriers

[Krissie I]

Ok so farrier number one, who normally does mine didn't show up 2 days in a row - after I took time off work to be there - and never rang me to say he wasn't coming. Is it really so hard to have the most basic of courtesy for your clients?

Farrier number 2 has said he'll 'call me back' 4 times in the past 10 days, and hasn't. Meantime my horse is idling in a field with a shoe off and a hoof disintegrating before my very eyes. :mad::mad:

I think I should retrain as a farrier, as they clearly don't need the work!

Ok I feel better now. :cool:

How long does it take to be a farrier anyhow. I was thinking of a horsey related career change!

[Clava]

My farrier usually responds quickly but he is still going to be sacked. Belle has lost 4 shoes (she only has fronts on) in 6 weeks or so. Twice she has lost a shoe within a week of it going on new!:mad:, trouble is I like him, but I can't keep him on as even though Belle's hooves are coping well they cant cope with this number of nail holes! I've asked him to take the last one off - I'm going back to boots!

[xRobyn]

I'm about ready to sack my farrier as he really can't be bothered. He has not turned up on two occasions. He was due on wednesday at 12.30, called me at 12.15 to say he was there (I was at uni) so called the girl who was sorting them who said she was 5 mins away. I called him back at about 12.20 and said she would be there in a minute, and when she got down at 12.25 he had buggered off!

He wasn't even meant to be there until 12.30, so i'm really annoyed that he left early, especially as i had called him to say she will be there in 5 mins :@

[Harlequin32]

Now have great farrier ( as long as you book next slot in while he's with you)
BUT... last farrier OMG i would wait hours for him to appear, he would then turn up 5/6 hours late or even one time 2 days later and be shi*** because i wasn't there and my horse was out:eek:

I used to dread farrier time and wasted many hours!

I think they are so in demand they can afford to mess people round.

[frostie652]

my farriers also been sacked since he threatened to hit my horse, didnt come out when it drizzled, and didnt tell you what time he was gonna be there until the night before. :mad:

[Krissie I]

I think they are so in demand they can afford to mess people round.

Hence my plan for a new job! I'll be friendly and nice and RELIABLE. Can't lose!
Just the small matter of knowing naff-all about it! (still, just a minor detail eh :D)

[katie11]

i seriously considered this as a career (still not ruling it out :p )

*most* farriers are a pain in the bum#


im yet to meet one which arrives on time lol...

[Lisa&Lady]

My farrier did that, so I got rid of him.

If they cant even do the simple task of phoning back a paying customer, then why should you carry on lining there pockets.

Look for another farrier I say.

[Yann]

I'm using a farrier who regularly turns up early and has 'prompt and reliable service' painted on the side of his van. I think he's got it made with an attitude like that :)

It's understandable that unforseen delays can creep into someone's schedule and it isn't always possible to get straight back to people, but too many farriers appear to be at best careless on the customer care front and at worst downright contemptuous.

[abisheridee]

My old cob had to hold his shoes for 16 weeks !! :eek: Till he lost a back one so I took them all off myself and got a friend to trim them. Round here you can't get any that would rather shoe a horse than go to the pub :rolleyes:

[xRobyn]

Look for another farrier I say.

I did. i called another one, left him a message and he never got back to me :mad:

Is your current farrier good? I'm going to look for a new farrier but unfortunatley I need one that would be ok with coming to trim just one horse because not everyone gets theres done as often as Phil :rolleyes:

[haylekins]

Our farrier is great :D He's only been late once in the year we've had him and it was only within 2 hours, he always calls the night before to remind us we're lucky and compared to the last farrier is most definetly a saint :D:D

[Lisa&Lady]

I did. i called another one, left him a message and he never got back to me :mad:

Is your current farrier good? I'm going to look for a new farrier but unfortunatley I need one that would be ok with coming to trim just one horse because not everyone gets theres done as often as Phil :rolleyes:

My farrier is brilliant but he's specialises in remedial shoeing so is on the expensive side

[xRobyn]

Ah, at least you managed to bag a decent one! lol

[conkers]

My farrier is excellent. He is polite, courteous, turns up on time and does a good job. If he can't make it, he rings up.

He's great!

[I*HM]

am newbie btw....

my own rants...
had farrier out at my local E.C recently, a new farrier who has never done any of the horses here before, first off, while shoeing a cob he was saying how restless the cob was getting despite him being half asleep, very amuzing with farrier saying 'woah boy, easy sunshine' while cob just stood like a rock!
then he did my friends pony, 1) he stated roaring every time the pony even thaught of moving, 2) he kicked the pony right in the stomach 3) the next day pony was lame, after getting another farrier out it was discovered pony had two different sized shoes on his front hooves, one too small, the other with heels to long and 2 nails missing:eek:

shall we just say that farrier won't be coming out in a hurry again...

[Gruntfuttock]

I'm absolutely amazed at this ! I've used three farriers, and they have all been friendly, polite, and prompt. Maybe the fact that there are quite a lot of farriers in this area keeps them on their toes.

Ella was due to be shod today, but my farrier's wife is pregnant and due any day now - i got a text yesterday saying he wouldn't be able to make it today and would call me back to re-book...I'm hoping its good news!

[lilythepink]

My farrier is great too, last time he was actually a little bit early. Always rings if he is gonna be late (inevitable sometimes due to the nature of their job and horses being unpredictable) very polite, has a laugh and a joke but not lude and always friendly to my horses and explains what he is doing.

But as gruntfuttock says, we do have a fair few round here so maybe they try harder :rolleyes:

My farrier bless him didn't even complain when my old horse knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, he still came back to me, I did buy him a packet of biscuits though cos I felt so bad :o

Hope you get sorted with horses feet :)

[SO1]

My farrier is normally on time sometimes earlier (he says the key to getting him to be on time is to book first appointment of the day as he never knows what a horse's feet are going to be like until he turns up and sometimes he is delay because some numpty has left their horse for 3 months between shoeings and the horse hooves have become terrible and it take longer to sort out than he expected hence making him late for his next appointment).

Former farrier was sacked for not turning up or returning calls after I waited 4 hours for him - I don't mind lateness as long as they call to say they are running late.

I think they sometimes don't appreciate that most horse owners work and have to take time off work for the farrier to come so it is a real pain if they don't turn up.

After the experience with the former farrier I now have my appointments on a 5 week rotation then if anything does go wrong then at least there is a bit of time to play with and I am not completey desperate.

[Xandoz]

I have the best farrier I've ever heard of. He's wonderful with Daisy (bring her carrots), is great to talk to, makes sure I know exactly what's happening with Daze's feet (he won't leave til I understand it all), he contacts me every 8 weeks to let me know Daze is due and if I need to call him out for something, he doesn't charge unless he actually has to work on her. If I get stuck with anything regarding her care, I can phone him for advice too. I love my farrier :)

[Krissie I]

I totally understand that horses are unpredictable, and that a farrier can't be specific about when he'll get there, and may often run late.

But what bugs me about the useless lot round here is the lack of communication and reliability. To not show up once is bad. Twice is ridiculous! And not to ring either. Grrrrr

And when I talk to the other liveries they all just go 'oh yeah, he's hopeless...' but we all have to put up with it as there's no-one else. The quality of work is fine. It's just the casual attitude to the day (let alone the time!)

Still no joy in sorting anything out yet.....

WANTED: RELIABLE FARRIER IN DERBYSHIRE!!!!! Any offers?

[diamonddogs]

I'm doing my nut trying to sort a farrier out.

The first one came highly recommended by a friend who had a horse with navicular. He inspected Kel's feet and recommended that she stay barefoot. He also suggested we let her feet grow for a few weeks to enable him to do a proper trim in keeping with her problem. Excellent, I thought.

Anyway, I left it for the suggested amount of time, called him and booked him for a certain time and date, and he texted me two hours before my appointment to say he was sick and he'd give me a call to rearrange. He didn't and I called him over and over again, and finally got him, and he came within a hour and gave her a lovely trim. He'd put his prices up and forgot to tell me, and I didn't have enough cash to pay him, having rushed from work to meet him, so he said I could give him the difference next time.

So, four weeks ago I needed him again. I phoned him about ten times and got no reply, texted him with the same result, and gave up. OK, so he'll never get rich on a barefoot trim every few weeks, but it WAS his suggestion to keep Kelly barefoot, and I owe him money!

So we move on to the other farrier in the area. I can be at the yard any evening, but the other livery works strange hours, so she agreed to make the appointment for us both, but she can't get hold of him! I've been trying too, to no avail.

I'm very worried about the state of her feet now - she's lost a chunk of horn off the side of one of her fronts. It doesn't other her, and she isn't lame, but her feet are a mess and I'm at my wits end! :mad:

[BecknSkye]

It's not too hard to find farrier where I am, chances are you will have a bit of wait, usually not more than an hour from the appmt time to the time they'll show up. The actual getting of an appointment is the hard part, but thats how you know he's good, people don't get bad farriers back twice, and there's a limited client base here.
Big problem is technique, some have very different ways to shoe, to say the least. Dealing with my horse's triangular forefeet, slight pigeon toe and mild forging issue can bring out some interesting methods.
Farriers that slag off other farriers don't rate for me, one guy looked at my boys feet and asked 'what sort of ****ing farrier have you been putting up with?' then he poked nails into all sorts of places, I had to have the shoes removed two days later:mad::rolleyes:

[evie]

I have a great farrier :D ( had to go through 2 rubbish ones before i found him though!) He is always on time (was less than 5 mins late once, but rung to let me know :eek:), polite and chatty, great with the horses and doesnt charge the earth. Last time he came he had just taken off my friends mares shoes when he got a panicked call from his wife to say she was in labour... he understandable downed tools and sped off. But, was back very early the next morning (sunday) to put the mares shoes on, his son was only hours old!!!

[*IcyRider*]

V O/T but i read that as "Random rant about Fairys" :D

[solomansbandit]

our farrier didnt show and we foned the farrier registration to complain,apparently they hav to show up in a certain amount of time or they can be done for it but they always get off with it because obviously we get another farrier in especially if our horses feet r suffering and if you get someone else in it lets them off the hook:mad: cant remember how long we'v 2wait but think it says on there web site.x

[suzyqet]

My farrier is normally on time sometimes earlier (he says the key to getting him to be on time is to book first appointment of the day as he never knows what a horse's feet are going to be like until he turns up and sometimes he is delay because some numpty has left their horse for 3 months between shoeings and the horse hooves have become terrible and it take longer to sort out than he expected hence making him late for his next appointment).

Former farrier was sacked for not turning up or returning calls after I waited 4 hours for him - I don't mind lateness as long as they call to say they are running late.

I think they sometimes don't appreciate that most horse owners work and have to take time off work for the farrier to come so it is a real pain if they don't turn up.

After the experience with the former farrier I now have my appointments on a 5 week rotation then if anything does go wrong then at least there is a bit of time to play with and I am not completey desperate.

mmmm - sounds like you might have the same farrier as me!!! Not father and son team by any chance?

[suzyqet]

I totally understand that horses are unpredictable, and that a farrier can't be specific about when he'll get there, and may often run late.

But what bugs me about the useless lot round here is the lack of communication and reliability. To not show up once is bad. Twice is ridiculous! And not to ring either. Grrrrr

And when I talk to the other liveries they all just go 'oh yeah, he's hopeless...' but we all have to put up with it as there's no-one else. The quality of work is fine. It's just the casual attitude to the day (let alone the time!)

Still no joy in sorting anything out yet.....

WANTED: RELIABLE FARRIER IN DERBYSHIRE!!!!! Any offers?

I know how you feel. I had a farrier once who I waited for 4 hours for. Couldnt get hold of him on the phone. When I did finally manage to talk to him, he said, oh yeah, the yard I went to before had 7 extra horses to shoe so I decided to do them instead. I re-booked him under protest and he turned up half hour early and left before I got there. He left because I wasnt there!!! I phoned him and he said it was my problem, not his. Never spoken to him or seen him since but he does have a really bad reputation!!!

[Aimie]

I have the best farrier :D he will come to the yard for just 5 mins to trim the 2 year olds feet if needed and will usually come the same day. He has never been late or has to cancel, and has never once raised a hand to the youngster even when she is practucally jumping on him :rolleyes:

[amandal]

My farriers in Kent were great. In Somerset my first farrier went from being great, fitting me in on Saturday mornings, turning up with hot chocolate and muffins regularly to not turning up to appointments and then telling me he had rung and left messages, then getting angry when I told him I hadn't got any. Since then he's disappeared off the face of the earth, I've rung, texted, emailed but have had no respose. A friend has never paid him as she was never there and he, despite repeated requests, never sent her an invoice and he's not responding to her either. I'm caught between feeling worried and annoyed.

Second farrier was ok but then I moved yards, current farrier is great, is always about half an hour early but has really got Ziz's feet back in shape and trimmed Pebbles' wonderfully, and treated her well too.

[huskyfinn]

i had one farrier who was very up himself, he refused to go to a yard if there was just one horse and he would refuse to go to somewhere that didn't have hard standing and a dry stable. his excuse was he didn't see the point in getting dirty for no reason, leave them ones for others to do.
Finn lost a shoe a week after he put new ones on but he claimed he was too busy to come out then said he had an accident in his van so couldn't get there to replace the shoe. he gave me a number for another farrier.

i phoned this farrier up and told him the problem and he came out the next day, i've stuck with this farrier since. he's a pain sometimes but he's good with the horses, easy to talk to and if he's early then he will catch the horses himself and make a start while waiting for me. once i didn't have any money on me so i just paid him the next time. he's great.

where i keep finn now there are 4 different farriers that go there (including mine) and also a barefoot trimmer so there's always someone to choose from. :D

[huskyfinn]

amandel..............what farrier did you use to use and who do you use now? you can pm me if you want! :)

[Yann]

WANTED: RELIABLE FARRIER IN DERBYSHIRE!!!!! Any offers?

Yes, assuming you're within reasonable distance of Bolsover, that's where my excellent person is based :D

[cinammontoast]

I confess I got rid of a farrier because Beau was awful with him (OK, the farrier got rid of me!) and he refused to shoe such an ill-behaved horse again! It was the yard farrier that everyone used and I just thought that was easier-not so!

The original farrier (sent by the dealer for free!) was promptly re-instated and since I moved yards, almost everyone uses him now. As long as you make him endless sugary tea, it's all good plus he's brilliant for hilarious chats. He turns up when advertised or lets you know if he has an emergency.

There is one other that's used there but I don't know why: if the horse thinks of moving, it's 'woah, steady', he takes AGES to do one horse. He never responds to messages/texts, often doesn't come when he said he would and my mate's horse keeps losing his shoes! I think, to be fair, he's very good at his job and extremely busy but I'd prefer communication and reliability.

[Melting Moments]

You get bad ones you get good ones, at the moment have a goodish one.

[suzyqet]

Have just been doing some research for those who are talking about becoming a farrier (whether serious or not).

I now know why they charge so much!!!

It currently costs £11,000 :eek: to become a registered farrier

You must first attend 3 years at farrier school for which you normally have to reside on campus at a cost of £90 per week :eek: (unless your lucky enough to live nearby)

you then have to become an apprentice for a minimum of 4 years 2 months

And you have to have a minimum of 4 GCSE grade C or above and must include English & Maths!!

Is it any wonder why they are far and few between and can choose their clientelle!!!

[Ollie Bears mum]

OMG, I am so lucky, my farrier is great, if he gets there early then he just pulls them out and starts, he is just fab and anyone in my area ever asks about a farrier I instantly give them his number.

[Pony1]

Our farrier called once to say he couldnt make it because he had a cold!:eek:
I wouldnt dare call in sick with a cold- not acceptable in my book! - clearly doesnt need the work

[popularfurball]

I had to beg and borrow to get silver sorted when she cast a shoe a few weeks back - but farrier turned up 20mins early to make sure he could fit her in, despite never having shod her before, was polite, friendly, good with Silver and best of all.... really hot! :p:o

[HashRouge]

Well my mare is now having remedial shoeing, which shows you exactly how happy I am with my old farrier ;)
I've seen the x rays of her feet, and it aint pretty.

[diamonddogs]

Woohoo!

I managed to contact the other local farrier - I rang him and got no reply, then he rang me back ten minutes later from the "missed call". He hadn't got his diary with him but promised to call me back next day, which he did.

He came this afternoon, told me her feet weren't nearly as bad as I'd thought, gave her a lovely trim and gave me lots of good advice on managing her condition.

He's such a nice man, punctual and was very kind and gentle with her.

I'm so relieved!

[joshes mum]

My farriers wonderful he popped up our yard today with some carrots for the horses.:D

[ForestGump]

What farrier do you use joshes mum?
Just curious seeing as you are in Hampshire ;)

[joshes mum]

What farrier do you use joshes mum? Just curious seeing as you are in Hampshire ;)
I use paul docker based in basingtoke :)