Re: RC: Re: Horseshoes???

[diane knapper <knaptyme@uswest.net>]

Maggie;

I have a feeling that Brandon is a lot like Nelson.  More
than willing to answer questions.  My fear comes from a
farrier that I felt was good...but when my horse started to
wing...told me he always did it.  He apparently did not like
being told that he may have done something wrong.  OK, face
reality, we are all human and make mistakes.  He was what I
considered a competent farrier out in Las Vegas, but the
minute I called him and told him what was going on....he
refused to come out and correct the problem.  Said my horse
had always done that and it was my imagination.  Did I get
the guy out of the yellow pages????  Absolutely not, he was
referred by several good friends.  One of them told me, that
he was going thru a very bad divorce, and maybe he just had
an off day..then also said, by the way, don't tell him he
did anything wrong...he doesn't like that.  First mistake, I
told him he did something wrong, because my horse had never
winged in his life.  Thank god, it was common to ride the
desert in bell boots and sport boots, otherwise, I wouldn't
have had an ankle left on either front foot based on what
the bell boots looked like after a casual ride.  Needless to
say, I got a new farrier after that and was very happy with
him.  But it sure set a poor taste in my mouth about
questionning my farrier.  I had one when I moved to MN that
I thought was great.  Guess what, I threw 4 shoes in 4 weeks
and couldn't get him to call me back.  Well, I have to admit
after the first 3 phones calls, my messages got nasty.  Did
he deserve it -- you bet.  I paid a price for service well
done with a guarantee.  All of a sudden that guarantee means
nothing and the money I spent was gone.  I had to pay
someone else to first pull one back shoe and then the other
front shoe before I found a new farrier.   Are all farriers
like this...god, I hope not.  Brandon has done Phoenix for 2
years and I couldn't be happier.  Last fall, he was talking
about cutting down his territory...I asked him what happened
if I moved out of the specific area.  His reply was that he
would always do Phoenix no matter where I lived...he enjoyed
spending time with both of us.  I truly hope I can believe
his statement.  Because I tell you what, I don't want to go
thru finding another good farrier.  Like Branddon, who when
my horse started clipping himself 4 weeks into a shoe job
and I decided to wait the extra 1.5 weeks to tell him about
it...I got chewed out.  His exact words where if that
happens again, call me immediately.  Brandon has been very
good and he is very concerned about the horse.  I guess I
could say that he is "MN Nice"...but you know, I'm trying to
stay away from becoming too Minnesotan<vbg>
Diane