Q: What do you say to a horse owner who sees your apprentice working on his horse and isn’t happy about it? Even though the apprentice is only clinching the nails, the owner says he expects only you to be working on his horse. How do you handle that situation?

A: These are loaded questions because many of us have apprentices as well as other farriers working for us.

When my team and I arrive on the job, the first thing I do is introduce my team of farriers to the client. If there is a question from the client about who will be working on what horse, I respond with “Our team will be working on your horses.”

I explain to the client that he/she is hiring a company and not an individual farrier. I let clients know that both my team and I go to continuing education clinics, seminars and that my team members are working toward the next certification level. I assure the client that if I have a particular team member working on a job, that person is qualified to do so.

I explain that farriery was not meant to be a one-man job and that a better job for the horse will be accomplished by a team. I stand behind the work my team does to assure that the client is getting the best service possible.

You can use examples such as a veterinarian bringing a vet technician to perform certain procedures on a horse…