Farrier Business Practices

I am new to this forum, however I must say I am very pleased to see the amount of information presented in the discussions, not just prideful ego's. Here is my situation, I have owned horses and mules for going on twenty year's, now mostly mules and mammoth donkeys used mainly for trail riding and have had various shoer's thru the years. I have done alot of my own trimming and shoeing not neccesarily because I wanted to,but because it seems hard to find someone who will show up on a regular basis like they say they will, although I do not claim to be a farrier. I recently met a man at a horse event who was in my area, he said he had shoe'd for a long time but now only did "natural trimming". Great I thought, he had pictures and pamplet's and he said he believed in being on time it sounded real good,after all it's "natural". I was away at work the first time he came, my wife called a week later and said one of my mules was lame, he told her to keep her on soft ground it would get better, he was to busy to come back out then. To make a long story short two more scheduled visit's and over two months later she had never been sound over a week at a time. When I told him we needed to put shoes on her because he had taken off to much heel and she needed to grow some back to get the pressure off her frogs and sole he said he could not put shoes on her because it would ruin his credibility. I put shoes on her, she got sound and has stayed that way since. I am now planning on attending O.H.S. in hopes of a possible second carrier, but mainly so I can better take care of my animals. My question is this, as a professional farrier do you not have an obligation to the client to make an unscheduled visit when there is a problem, possibly from your trimming/shoeing job? or am I just expecting to much from a farrier? Yes, she had been sound before he started, I had pulled shoes off about six weeks before, and yes he was always paid at the time of service.

thanks for the reply Chris

I have gotten rid of that farrier, and plan on just taking care of them myself like I always had. I work away from home and originally hired him thinking when I got home it would save me time and we would be ready to just go ride. By the way he had attended a "barefoot" clinic somewhere, I'm not sure where. Until this experience I did not realize this meant "barefoot at all cost". I thought it was just as has always been, there are times to be barefoot and there are times that require shoe's. I am going to o.h.s. next month, even though I have been doing my own basic shoeing and trimming for a while I realize there is alot I don't know. I must say I am looking forward to that and would like to try to transition into a shoeing job to be home more.

Stick with Shoes,  been there did that besides  the word FARRIER Means working with fire, steel etc. a barefoot person is none above  they even call themselves a hoof groomer  so the saying is it takes two minutes to mess up a hoof  and takes 6 mos to get it back, many prevoius owners are back in Shoes

 

Im a FARRIER AND HORSE SHOER and proud of it  this is why I and others read the American Farrier Journal  to promote the forever Steel shoeing Tehniques, Steve E.

Jamie,

 

Our industry in the States does not have a professional ethics statement.  We have tried to get one passed a few times with little luck.  There are some farrier organizations that do have professional codes of conduct but there is not recoarse for not following them. 

 

That being said, you will find that professional farriers, whether they just trim horses, shoe horses, boot horses, etc. will have their own professional ethics and conducts.  There is also some legal issues with providing a service and not reasonable responding to problems.  But lets not go there. 

 

The fact that you are educating yourself will help you greatly at finding a farrier who will fit you and your animals.  Do not expectate less than professional farriers to provide you with "Respective Responsiblities," as there are too many animals out there needing care and many will not "waste" their time on yours.  There are many professional farriers out there that will provide you with a good, solid, caring, and ethical service.  Finding them can be a challenge.

 

That being said, any farrier can make mistakes.  The measure of a professional farrier is how they deal with it. 

 

Please be free to continue posting your questions and comments.

Blessings,

Esco Buff, PhD, CF

Larry Davis

Interesting post, this is a common problem and has been for years, it is coming to the fore front and is more apparent due to the "natural" movement. What I find interesting is the response to the initial post, "its great for my business so I don't stop them", how would you stop them?, "they won't waste their time with yours", how true this is, "not because I wanted to keep the customer happy", I personally want to keep all my customers happy,and last but not least, "no professional obligation to the client",what's up with that. A few of these statements are somewhat arrogant but the one that really hits home is the  "no professional obligation", I suppose there is nothing in writing but every professional farrier should hold themselves to a higher standard and if nothing else demand of themselves "professional obligation". With that being said when is the last time you have offered a clinic for horse owners to educate them in the proper maintenance of their horses feet, the bare footers have info clinics all the time. Its time we as professional's step up to the plate ,and offer education to the public, how many people know what Farrier means, many don't but they all know "natural bare foot trim". Enough of my ranting, be a professional to all your clients, shoe for the good of the horse and life will be good.