farrier is coming - what do i need to do?

[notpoodle]

angel will be shod next week, for the first time since she's with me. seeing nobody knows what time the farrier will get there, ill probly pull a sickie at work because id like to be there and keep an eye on things (and if i didnt, shed have to be stabled the night before so farrier has access to her .... which i dont want cos she'll be miffed and bargy etc.).

now, what do i do when the farrier is here (i feel very stupid asking this, but ive never dealt with a farrier in this country!)? will he pick up her feet or do i do that (back home it was the owner who picked them up, but over here it *seems* to be the farrier who does his thing and holds the foot ...)?

do i hold her or tie her up (id rather hold her i think!)?

any questions i should be asking the guy? how do i know hes any good? he's the farrier the yard uses for their school horses and most of their liveries, so he cant be that bad i guess ...

what do i do if he (god forbid) does something i do not agree with (ie. punch my horse in the stomach etc.)?

angel *should* be fine with the farrier (or so i have been assured by her previous owner and cosidering she's very good about having her feet picked out ...).

julia
x

[jeek]

Did the farrier not tell you what time he would be arriving?
The farrier will pick up her feet, and you can tie or hold, whatever you feel better with.
If he does something you are not keen on, (which i doubt he will if he is used for quite a few horses) just tell him that you don't agree with the way he treats your horse and you want your shoes for free. Well...Its worth a try ;)

[notpoodle]

thing is, he comes every thursday and does the horses that need doing (you write your name in the shoeing book in the office if your horse needs shoeing/rasping/etc.). trouble is, in theory he could turn up between 7 in the morning and 7 at night (or so im told ...), depending on how busy he is that day :rolleyes: i'll try ringing him wednesday night though to hopefully get a rough time of his arrival!

julia
x

ps: im worried he'll be nasty to her .... ive seen him shoe other horses though and it seemed okay.

[JaniceH]

Does this mean that Angel is now officially yours? (large exploding fireworks in sky) you lucky lucky thing :D :D :D

You could either tie her as normal and stand by her head, or hold the lead rope and stand by her head, some horses stand quieter tied than held. If he is used by most of the other liveries and school horses then I should imagine that he is ok. On the other hand if you are unhappy with what he does, then vote with your purse and try another farrier, from what you wrote it sounds like not all the liveries use him, so if you are not happy then you could try one of the ones that the others use.

Take care
Janice
x

[MelanieD]

Just be around, watch another horse get done then see how the farrier likes to do things, if still not sure then ask him! I'd warn him that she's meant to be good but you haven't seen her shod before, so at least he's warned if she does play up a little. We usually tie them but have someone stand with them, I've found so long as there's someone there persuading the horse to behave most farriers are quite happy to just work on the feet and not do anything unpleasant. If he does do something nasty, I would ask him nicely to be gentle but at the same time make an effort to get her to behave (peed off mom voice, bribery, whatever!), get the shoes on then get a more pleasant person to do the job next time. Good luck!

[shandy84]

Some farriers insist on having them tied but have no problem with the owner being at the horses head.

Some farriers can't give a time they can be there all of mine have been like that, it's always been a case of do all the yard jobs while I wait.

You can't really tell a farrier is any good until he has done the job, you can see how he deals with her and what his manner is like.

No farrier will allow a horse to walk all over them so your best bet if she becomes bargy is ask him if there's any way you can hold her, be near her that will make life easier for him.

No farrier minds questions

If she rears - most farriers will react, the same is said for biting, you can always advise him that you are new to her and would appreciate it if he was a calm as possible with her.

[Showjumper]

My farrier has always encouraged me to hold Dolly rather than tie her up and he talks to her the whole time. He picks up the feet and does all the work.

I just hold her and make sure she doesn't get too inquisitive (she likes to see what's happening and has been elbowed in the head by accident before because she stuck her nose behind his elbow when he was rasping her foot :rolleyes: )

If he does anything you don't like, tell him! The owner should discipline the horse, not the farrier. However if Angel is really playing up, he has every right to refuse to shoe her for his own safety, and because he could mess up her foot if she won't hold it still.

Most importantly, don't worry! And most farriers can be bribed into wonderful behaviour with tea and biscuits :)

[Mehitabel]

our farriers prefer the horse tied up with a net, than owners holding. often, the horwe will be bothering the owner for treats or cuddles and shifting weight, some play up when the owner is around, etc.
do tell him she's new and that while you've been told she's good, obviously you don't know that for sure. then if it were me i'd disappear and watch from a distance - if you're a bit anxious then it might transmit to her even if she is normally good as gold.

if he tells her off - react with your head, not your heart - hard as it is. sometimes they do need telling off, you know she can be a bit cheeky, so try not to let the new mum protectiveness get the better of you. obviously abuse is not on, but do think it through before doing anything.

also make sure he's going to be able to shoe her as she's new - check he doesn't need to see her and measure up first. hot shoeing should be fine, but if he cold shoes then the shoes are made at his forge to a template of the individual horse's foot, in which case he'd need to make a template before being able to do her.

[katieB]

If you have seen him do other horses before then you should be fine. As others have said, explain that Angel is new to you so you dont know how she'll react.
Ellie is normally ok but she hates the smell of burning hoof (when he presses hot shoe on) so I have to hold her for that part while she gets her snorting and prancing out of the way. Or sometimes she gets a bit bored with standing there and tries to mess with him or the tools so I prefer to be there. I always get a rough time though, even if its just early am/late pm. I cant afford to pull a sicky or take a days holiday every time she's due new shoes, your farrier should be able to give you a rough idea of a time, he's obviously planned his route for the days jobs so he must have an idea. I wouldnt settle for just sometime through the day

[notpoodle]

obviously i wont take a day off work every time she needs shoeing! it's just i'd like to be there the first time round :)

most of the other liveries use that farrier, though there's a couple who do the Cytec (spelling?!) thing with a different (Cytec-) farrier and one guy uses an entirely different farrier altogether.

i hope i find out roughly when he'll get there cos i dont fancy hanging round in the rain from 7am till 7pm :rolleyes:

julia
x

ps: @janiceH: yep, all mine now :D still waiting for the paperwork though, *grr*

[G.Gracious]

My farrier is great with horses, he grew up with then (his dad breeds Fell ponies) and unlike some farriers he actually likes horses!! I've met some farriers who are scared of horses/rough/grumpy etc. and i'm just so happy to have found the afrrier that i have now :D He's really great with Gracie, you know the leather apron type things that they wear? Gracie has a MASSIVE problem with that being round his waist, she's fine with it on the floor, on her back, etc. just as long as it's not round his waist so he puts it over his shoulder whenever he shoes Grace. I usually hold Grace and both me and the farrier talk to her the entire time.

I'm sure Angel will be an angel (no pun intended!! :p ) let us know how it goes.

[nix]

Hi Julia

Congratulations to you and your new horse! :)

If you're not sure what your farrier wants you to do, don't be afraid to ask him. I'm sure he won't bite ;) . As the others have said, if he's been fine with the other horses on the yard I'm sure he'll be fine with Angel too.

Did you notice whether the other horses were tied up or held and what else the owners did? That should also help.

Good luck and hope that everything goes well for you and Angel.

Nix

[notpoodle]

right, farrier came today and she was as good as gold :) taken her back shoes off (he said she should be fine!), so we'll see how it goes :)

julia
x

ps: no need to hold her, she didnt move at all in the first place :)