Fwd: RC: uh-oh, Insulted Farrier

[Endure4fun@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/18/00 12:43:56 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
guest@endurance.net writes:

<< He 'threw me out'
 and has refused to ever shoe my horse again.  My 'sin' was
 objecting to the extensive rasping the farrier's new apprentice
 was doing to my horse's foot.  I've been with this farrier for
 three years.  I have to truck to him.  He charge >>

I've been reading these posts about farrier problems.  When someone is having 
shoes put on and the farrier is having an intern do the work, do he/she ask 
first?  After all you are paying for the farrier's experince, not to be a 
"lesson" for an intern.  Yes, I know they have to learn some where, but 
should we have to pay exp. farrier's prices when he/she is having a "student" 
do the job?  Shouldn't we have the choice who we want?  After all we are 
paying them!
We are trusting a professional to our horses feet just as we trust a doctor 
to take care of us.  I don't think I would be happy if my doctor said that 
his "intern" was going to operate on me for the experience!!! and to top it 
off have to pay the doctors fees if I even survived!
Yes, everyone has to learn, but let it be our choice and not at the expense 
of our horses feet/health.
keri

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• To: "ridecamp@endurance.net" <ridecamp@endurance.net>
• Subject: RC: uh-oh, Insulted Farrier
• From: "guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>
• Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 12:55:55 -0700
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• Resent-Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 12:43:48 -0700 (PDT)
• Resent-From: ridecamp@endurance.net
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Linda B. Merims lbm@ici.net


I just went through a similar situation last week.
My farrier's reaction was even more extreme.  He 'threw me out'
and has refused to ever shoe my horse again.  My 'sin' was
objecting to the extensive rasping the farrier's new apprentice
was doing to my horse's foot.  I've been with this farrier for
three years.  I have to truck to him.  He charges a minimum of
$150 for four shoes.  The old apprentice left and the new
apprentice was doing my horse for the first time.  He kept
rasping and rasping and rasping the toe in a way I'd never seen
my horse done before.  I kept quiet until I couldn't take it
anymore (the rasping had gone on so long I was having visions
of blood leaking through the hoof wall) and I finally just
blurted out, "Will you please stop rasping!"

Well, my farrier went ballistic.  "Are you trying to tell
me how to shoe a horse?" he shouted. "He's rasping the way I taught
him to rasp!  I'm not even going to tell you why he was rasping,
you know so much more that I do!  You can get somebody else
to do your horse from now and just see what happens to that
foot!!"

It kind of went downhill from there.  I was careful not to
respond to his fury and not to return his insults, but he didn't
calm down before I left the way I was hoping he would.

The upshot is that I'm looking for a new farrier.

I have no intention of apologizing.  The way I look at it, if
the farrier had been, say, a famous pediatrician and the
apprentice a first year intern, and my horse was a little
kid in for treatment and I was his mom, and I had objected
to what the intern was doing in exactly the same way,
there is no way on earth my farrier's behavior in reaction
would be considered professional or acceptable.


Linda B. Merims
lbm@ici.net
Massachusetts, USA



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