NEW: Farrier thread/question

[Heidi Sowards <ribbitttreefrog@yahoo.com>]

Our farrier was out on Feb. 27. After a couple of occasional rides and
after being gone out of town on 3/2 thru 3/5 I went out the morning of
the 6th to brush my boy, saddle up and go for a ride. Notice a front
shoe missing when I go to pick his hooves. (14 days after his shoeing)
immediately called the farrier, left a message on his machine. (BTW
rode with an easyboot) My farrier has yet to return my call, 5 days
later. He will come out and invariably charge me (can't find the shoe
BTW) and blame it on the mud. As a sidenote, you should know, this
horse has hooves of iron, after an 8 week cycle, usually the farrier
has to use brute force to get his shoes off and always comments on
what tough feet he has. 

Is it justifiable to be a little ticked off that after a $75 set of
shoes I will probably end up forking over $20 more? (This has happened
a couple times last year also, and to Rick's horse so I am pretty sure
he will charge me.) 

Is there a rule of thumb for how long shoes are supposed to stay put
before you have to pay again. I think 4 weeks is very fair and
wouldn't mind paying after that time. I obviously need a backbone, as
he has gotten away with this too many times. (Or am I making a
mountain out of a manure pile?)

Heidi

PS, he also convinced me that my horse was down in the heels and
needed wedge pads. (They did look a little down and we had gone 16
weeks without shoes. Both horses are on a strict 8 week schedule,
either shoes or trims.)

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