Re: NEW: Farrier thread/question

["Craig W. Hadley" <cwhadley@giarctechnologies.com>]

Hi Heidi,
I had a similar problem with a farrier last year.  Please bear in mind that
I always call and make an appointment at LEAST two weeks ahead, I am always
there to hold the horse, I offer coffee, pop, water, whatever.  Plus, I have
a check ready!
 I had used him because one of my friends did.  I had him for two years.  I
was always losing a shoe or two on different horses and because I was new,
thought that this was normal.  Over the course of the two years, I started
getting very frustrated with 1-losing the shoes 2-when I called him it took
at least a week to have him return my calls 3-he charged me every time he
came back.
Finally the last straw was last summer after I had just started endurance
riding/conditioning.  My gelding lost a shoe and after a week of calling
every night and getting an answering machine, I called his wife at her work
to see if he was out of town or whatever??  She informed me that he was just
too busy to always be coming back to put shoes on for me and that he would
call whenever---
So, I started doing some research and found a wonderful shoer!!!  When I
told him about the missing shoe, and how I had an upcoming ride, he showed
up the next afternoon, put on the missing shoe, and didn't charge me
anything!! He always shows up for appointments, does a wonderful job
shoeing, never gripes and grumbles about his job, etc...  ALSO, I have never
lost a shoe since! (Knock on wood !)
The first guy showed up two weeks later, without an appointment or a phone
call, and when I informed him that the horse was already done, he let loose
with a torrent of swearing and cussing at me and stomped off.  Then he had
the nerve to call me that night and holler some more.  When I informed him
that I didn't appreciate his behavior and that I was sorry but  that he
wouldn't be shoeing for me again, he hung up on me and hasn't spoken to me
since.
Hopefully your farrier has better manners than this!  I really like my new
farrier and hope he never quits!!
Good luck,
Carrie

-----Original Message-----
From: Heidi Sowards <ribbitttreefrog@yahoo.com>
To: * * <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Thursday, March 11, 1999 2:47 PM
Subject: RC: NEW: Farrier thread/question


>
>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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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=