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Farrier Issues at new barn; Yesterday's shoeing put me over the edge
Topic Started: May 30 2012, 10:46 AM (500 Views)
Won for Me
Is the meadow on fire?
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New farrier in Missouri is loved by all at the barn...except me. It was not his fault that Connor got an abscess. I was the one who asked to pull the hind shoes.

We started out okay. He came out almost right away to see if he could locate the abscess and called me 20 mins prior to being there so I could meet him. He said I didn't owe him anything for the visit, but I did write him a check and said I appreciate the service. Our relationship has gone way down hill since then.

The guy uses clips on his shoes! I thought that went out in the 80's. Connor has lost 3 shoes in one shoeing period at $50 a pop to put back on. Yes, he was coming for other horses, too. He put one back shoe on saying the abscress in the other foot wasn't healed (Connor was jogging sound). For THREE weeks he would not put the other one on! I called. Barn Owner called. Please come put the shoe on. Obviously, I didn't want to ride with one back shoe on.

So, yesteday, I go out knowing they had been done. Connor was fine except for clips all around. :brickwall: And, yes, the last shoe that fell off Connor was stepping on the clip. But, I notice that poor, RETIRED Cody has wedge pads and bar shoes. What? Cody has been retired for 7 years. He wears your basic, keep him sound in the pasture, shoes. I was available ALL DAY yesterday. Could you call me?

If Cody is sound in the basic shoes (pasture sound), why would you ever start changing angles???? I briefly spoke to the barn owner and she said he didn't say anything to her while doing it. I saw one other farrier out there one day, but he comes from Illinois and I am not sure that is a good idea. This guy is expensive and does his own thing apparently without asking. Yes, there is always a check from me waiting for him. He fills in the amount. So, I already paid for Cody's Manalo's this month. :argh: :argh: :argh:
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goodhors
We're on a bridge, Chaaaaaaaaarlie!
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So go farrier hunting. He isn't making you happy, time for a new farrier.
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Won for Me
Is the meadow on fire?
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He is the barn farrier. So, not quite as easy at that seems. I would have to be out there to hold them if another farrier came on a different schedule. That isn't possible with work. I really just wish he has asked.
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SidesaddleRider
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We have clips on all of our shoes. As do most people that show in Zone 3, so that certainly doesn't bother me at all. It is actually harder for farriers to find shoes w/o clips than shoes w/clips nowadays.

Not communicating with a client, though, REALLY bothers me. We fired a farrier the other year because of it, after his assistant came out by himself to do one of the horses, and really messed him up, and then he wouldn't return my (rather irate) calls to schedule a time for him to come out and fix the assistant's errors -- and this is a guy we had used for 3 years, with immediate payment, and no previous issues (I will say that I have heard that said farrier has very few clients now, as a result of some prima donna attitude over the past couple of years -- and this is a really good farrier, so have no clue what bug got up his butt...).

I would have a serious discussion with this guy re Cody's shoes -- not to mention you may want to contact your bank and put a stop payment on that check, as you did NOT authorize him to shoe him in anything other than the standard shoes, so his unilateral decicion to do the Manolo's is his problem.

And he charges to come out and replace shoes? I never heard of such a thing, especially if he was already at the barn to shoe other horses.
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Trialbyfire
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My mare has clips, too, and if by some odd chance that my farrier doesn't have shoes with clips in his truck he'll make clips onto a regular shoe. ;) But he doesn't charge for a lost shoe.

What worries me more about the Manolo's is not so much the cost (of course that's an issue too) but that he really changed his angles without telling you why, or discussing it with you. Maybe he feels that he's been trimmed/shod "incorrectly" in the past, but it's still your decision. Not to mention, I'm no expert but my farrier warns us all the time about any drastic changes of angles always being bad and possibly dangerous to the tendons. Retired or not, it's not like he's in a wheelchair! And to do something like that and charge you MORE....that would bother me a lot. (E.g. if he was trying something different to save you money on the retiree I might be more forgiving, although I would still want to talk about it first.)

If another farrier isn't available for you to use, I'd make a real effort to be there and hold your horses for the next trim/shoeing, and have a frank discussion with him about his work.
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Won for Me
Is the meadow on fire?
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TBF, that is a good idea about being there next time to just be present and let him know what I expect. In my opinion, if a horse is retired and sound in the pasture, don't do anything different. Even if the "old" shoeing was incorrect in your book. If I had the best farrier in the country do Cody every month, I still couldn't ride him and for Tom's sake, he is 23! He owes me nothing, but the best retirement.

SSR, I wish I had to options that you do in VA. I would not even know where to start looking for someone new here.

I stand corrected on the clips. I had no idea they were still used since they seem to break the wall down. Glad to know, he is up to date on these things!

So above and beyond the normal 6 week payment, I have spent $210 in "extra" visits.

Edited by Won for Me, May 30 2012, 12:35 PM.
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Trialbyfire
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Won for Me
May 30 2012, 12:33 PM
So above and beyond the normal 6 week payment, I have spent $210 in "extra" visits.

:o :o

Holy crap!!

That would not make me happy!! :no:
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Barn Girl
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I feel for ya, WFM... I hate farrier drama. FWIW, mine uses clips too. Most everyone that hot shoes here in VA uses clips, either toe or quarter (mine does quarter clips). He doesn't charge for lost shoes, though, and he'd never make a drastic change without speaking to me. I'd definitely try to be there next time he comes and if things don't get better, switch farriers and take time off of work to hold for the new guy or ask BM/BO if you can pay her to hold. I greatly prefer being present for my guys even though it's a pain in the ass to take time off for.
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TarynJ
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Add me to the "Farrier uses clips". I actually don't know any good farriers around here that don't, but it may be reflective of our climate.

The communication thing would make me mental tho. I fired my previous farrier, and a chiro, because they were my then-trainer's practitioners and didn't see why they should communicate with the person paying the bills. Some in the barn were ok with this, I was not...
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Fish Cheeks
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Ditto on my farrier using clips.

That sucks about what your farrier did. Either Mr. Fishy or I are always here to hold the horses for the farrier. It is a PITA, but that way we make sure there's no miscommunication and that he doesn't change anything without consulting us. Actually, he wouldn't do that - he is very much a "cover your ass" type of guy when it comes to stuff like that. I can't believe you've had to pay so much in "extra" fees - yuck!

Do you have any other options like trailering out to meet someone else at another barn?
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Kikki
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Well if my farrier didn't notify me about increases in charges, depending on the month and my show schedule, he might end up with a bounced check! Absolutely unacceptable he didn't talk to you about it. And he should tack the shoes back on at no charge if he is at the farm. That is not cool. I would be nice enough so that he WANTS to do a good job for you but I'd make it clear that if he feels the need to change anything, just to give you a heads up beforehand so you can discuss with him first. Its a fine line between communicating strongly enough that you need him to contact you before he does anything different and pissing him off so that he doesn't care to try to think outside the box if he notices things he'd like to change.

As for the tacking on shoes, I'd have a discussion with him to see if there is any new reason he thinks you are having so many lost shoes lately. I'd be annoyed that he won't tack them on for free but I don't know what you are going to do about that. Hopefully just prevent Connor from losing shoes in the first place (hahaha).

And I'm going to jump on the clips bandwagon - all 4 farriers that come to our barn puts clips on most everything. I rarely see toe clips but most everything has quarter clips unless their shoes can't have them (like Woody, who has Polyflex shoes on up front, so no clips in those, but clips behind)
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SnackPack
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I would be upset about the changing of Cody's shoes/angles and the not putting the shoe back on the abscessed foot. The other stuff I would chalk up to "getting to know you" type stuff. While I wouldn't expect to pay for a lost shoe within a week or so of shoeing, after that I would...and especially if it was an extra trip to the barn and couldn't be handled during the weekly visit.

and like most others here, my farrier does clips. Elf is one of the only horses in the barn with clips, mind you, but he's had them since I got him. Oddly, when I first got 'em he had them on all four feet and for a LONG time has only been getting them on the hinds. Not sure why that is, but haven't had problems with them so I just leave it alone.
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WhySoSerious
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My horse does not get shod with clips, but I know many horses who do. My horse is just on the rotation for shoes every 5 to 6 weeks and so far I haven't even been there to meet the farrier. However, the BM is and Joker's shoes always looks exactly how I want them to. He only gets front shoes and is the only creature in steel. All of the rest are western horses and wear aluminum.

This farrier is definitely more expensive than my last. Front shoes with the new farrier are the same cost as a full set with the old one. He does a good job though and it's extremely convenient to just get him done with the rest of the horses. He hasn't lost any shoes yet (except for last summer when he was way overdue), so I'm not sure if/what the farrier charges for tacking on a shoe.

I would definitely be upset if his shoes were changed drastically (say to aluminum, or pads or wedges were added) without talking to me. My BM is always there when the farrier is and I trust her judgement.

I would try to talk to the farrier, as that's the only way you're likely to get anything figured out. If things don't change after that, it's probably time to look for a new farrier.
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RHowell
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SidesaddleRider
May 30 2012, 11:39 AM
We have clips on all of our shoes. As do most people that show in Zone 3, so that certainly doesn't bother me at all. It is actually harder for farriers to find shoes w/o clips than shoes w/clips nowadays.

Not communicating with a client, though, REALLY bothers me. We fired a farrier the other year because of it, after his assistant came out by himself to do one of the horses, and really messed him up, and then he wouldn't return my (rather irate) calls to schedule a time for him to come out and fix the assistant's errors -- and this is a guy we had used for 3 years, with immediate payment, and no previous issues (I will say that I have heard that said farrier has very few clients now, as a result of some prima donna attitude over the past couple of years -- and this is a really good farrier, so have no clue what bug got up his butt...).

I would have a serious discussion with this guy re Cody's shoes -- not to mention you may want to contact your bank and put a stop payment on that check, as you did NOT authorize him to shoe him in anything other than the standard shoes, so his unilateral decicion to do the Manolo's is his problem.

And he charges to come out and replace shoes? I never heard of such a thing, especially if he was already at the barn to shoe other horses.
Agree. I'd actually be upset if I *didn't* find clips on my horses. But the changing it up without contacting you first, unacceptable. My farrier texts and calls and obsesses and says "I'm thinking about...." I love my farrier.

However, on the replace shoe front, unless he's just put them on in the last day or two, my farrier generally does charge. I can also generally get him to fix a shoe within 24 hours, so I'll gladly pay for that kind of service. He always charges I think $50 if he has to come out and replace a shoe that hasn't been found. If the shoe has been found and he's out that way, he might not charge, otherwise it's $20. Any farrier can stick on shoes so they don't come off, but putting them on to stay no matter what will lame a horse. It's a delicate balance to put on a shoe properly that will stay on if the horse is playing/overstepping/fields muddy etc....so I would expect a charge for that, but not for fixing a F#@K up or some other farrier-related issue with the shoeing.

I have had an issue lately with the farrier on one of my leased horses changing the way the horse was shoed and have been trying to get the horse's feet back to where my beloved farrier has them, so I empathize with farrier dissatisfaction. few relationships with horse professionals are more sacred than with the farrier and the vet. I'd get rid of a trainer before I'd get rid of a farrier if it was "me or him" scenario.
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