Re: Farriers

[Lucy C Trumbull <elsie@calweb.com>]

Whilst I agree with most of the things that are being said
regarding farriers, I have a couple of comments. 

My two horses are being kept in two different locations at
the moment, so I've been having to use two separate farriers.

Farrier #1 has to shoe my gelding who has a history
of problems with people handling his back feet. 

The farrier is fairly new to the industry, but has been 
very successful in building up a good clientele. He thinks
this is because he comes from a service-oriented background
in his earlier career, so understands the importance of 
working with people, keeping appointments, etc.

He took the time with us to explain what he was doing, 
we discussed ways of retraining my gelding out of his
"knee jerk reaction" to having his feet picked up, he
did a good job, took the time it took, rescheduled us
for 8 weeks time, explained he would phone a couple of
days ahead of the next appointment to remind me, and 
was extremely pleasant and easy to talk to.

As a result, I will bend over backwards to keep this 
farrier and work diligently with my gelding until
he is able to deal with his back feet problem.

Farrier #2 was brought in to shoe my mare for the first
time ever. My mare will stand loose quietly to let her feet
be handled, she has been trimmed while eating her supper,
and, so long as she has her balance properly, is not
difficult to work with. But I wasn't necessarily expecting
her to be perfect for her first shoeing.

Ruth writes:
> Things that are important to farriers are: train your horse to stand for
> the work to be done (it is NOT the farrier's job to train your horse!);

I agree with this - but it is also impossible to train
your horse to stand quietly while having her feet shod,
without actually doing it. You can't mimic it.

In the event, my mare got figety and uncomfortable. The 
farrier didn't "take the time it takes" (particularly with 
a "maiden" horse) and, to cap it all, instead of taking
the time to regroup, the farrier ended up throwing a temper 
tantrum (rather like a 6 year old) and at one point appeared
to be prepared to abandon us with three unfinished shoes
on the horse (until he realised he wasn't going to get
paid for not finishing the job - at which point he
grudgingly finished her front feet and removed the single
back shoe). 

> PS - the things that are important to farriers are also important to
> vets. You get a good one - treat them good!!! Make them feel
> appreciated!

I agree - but likewise, I expect the farrier to act like
an adult and understand that horses, like small children,
cannot be expected to always behave perfectly no matter
how they have been trained. I also expect the farrier
to at least maintain a semblance of decorum and not be 
rude and abusive to his clients. 

Needless to say, this farrier will not be shoeing either 
my horse, or the two horses where I'm boarding her.

This whole episode left a sour taste in my mouth.  I 
think I was mostly astonished at just how unprofessional 
farrier #2 was, and wondered how on earth he could ever
maintain a service-oriented business with that sort of
behaviour.

Sorry to rant, but that little episode has been my worst
"horsey" experience so far, and I'm still mad as hell
about it.

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Lucy Chaplin Trumbull - elsie@calweb.com
Repotted english person in Sacramento, CA

http://www.calweb.com/~trouble
http://www.calweb.com/~elsie
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