I pay my farrier $100 for the friday evening (not much to do
usually, but then I'm not tying up his income-generating time either)
and saturday from 5 a.m. til about noon (not much happens after that, that
they can't solve with an easy boot). The main "activity" time is early
in the morning when horses may have pulled a shoe during the night, or those
people who arrive at the last minute (and tend to do everything else at the last
minute, and arn't current with their shoeing, probably got told by the vet to
either tack a shoe on or replace one).
The next need for farrier service might be in the first 8 - 10 miles when horses
are fresh and have the tendency to overreach/kick etc.
I pay my farrier a retainer because I know he has to do the following
to be at the ride:
1. Reschedule regular clients
2. Take time off shoeing (making his normal living)to be at the ride
3. Stand around alot until something happens.
My farrier gets up at 4 a.m. anyway and shoes on sunday
too, so its not that big of a deal to wake him up and get him out to the park
on time.
I expect riders to be prepared to pay between $10-20 for a reset - new shoe
(my farrier shoes hot so making a new shoe and pulling clips is not a big deal).
Make sure your farrier has experience replacing Slypner shoes, putting on Sneakers,
maybe making a bar shoe,and has a stash of good quality pads such as the
Shock Tamer brand available. Smart endurance riders always carry their last
pair of (usable) horseshoes with them on a ride (for obvious reasons ;^) ) If
you dont have commercial booths at the ride, suggest that your farrier have a
few easy boots available for sale (even better, have them already cut down).
For multiday rides, it is even more important to have a farrier available
since odds are greater someone will lose a shoe.
best of luck with your ride,
Dom
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Dominique Freeman | "Life is short, science is long" |
fadjurs@sadandy.hpl.hp.com | |
Hewlett Packard Laboratories, | |
Palo Alto, CA USA | |
Phone: (415) 857-8596 | |
FAX: (415) 852-8576 | |
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