When you shoe your clients’ horses at a show, Tony Bucci says you should respect the official show farrier by saying hello, introducing yourself and by being polite. “That’s proper etiquette as you are really his guest on the show grounds,” says the official show farrier for the Winter Equestrian Festival held each year in Wellington and Tampa, Fla.

To provide valuable guidelines on working with horse show farriers, we recently asked shoers who receive the American Farriers Journal “E-zine “Shoeing Tip of The Week” for their thoughts and opinions.

Take Time To Visit

It is a point of respect to speak with the show farrier when you arrive to shoe at an event. Acknowledgement promotes good communication and I want to be on good terms with anybody that might need a hand if they have too many horses to do as well as being willing to handle one of my horses if a shoe came off.

Since the show has asked the farrier be there, you should ask him or her where you can setup as a point of respect.

If the show farrier needs a hand and you are the only farrier that had the courtesy of introducing yourself, who do you think they are going to ask to give them a hand? When you have a client that has a horse that has thrown a shoe and you aren’t there, the show farrier will be more likely to help out if he knows you.

If an owner…