Re: [RC] Natural balance shoes cost? - Barbara McCrary
Just as a matter of information, it costs
me in northern CA $90 a horse for a regular shoeing with St.
Croix Eventers (iron shoes). That's among the least expensive there
is. One farrier charged me $100 (our regular one was recovering from an
accident) and was a poor horseman to boot. At the time we were dealing
with a fearful 6-year-old who had never been shod. I won't go into
details, but the horse feared him and I wouldn't allow the farrier to use any
kind of force. He left, saying it looked like we weren't going to get
along. I agreed (happily) and he left, horse unshod. Our regular
farrier is back, and the horse now shoes like an old pro (because our farrier is
a very skilled and patient man). In the San Francisco Bay area, where the
clientele is more into jumping, dressage, and showing, the going rate is from
about $175-$225 per horse. I don't know the cost of Natural Balance shoes,
so I can't help you there.
Hi Ridecampers; I've been having problems with my mare Summer, who has
been stumbling a lot this past few months. She is a real "long and low" mover.
I noticed it more when I started riding her for longer distances and
attributed some of it to laziness or tiredness. She does not really do it on
rides very much. If she is walking along stumbling like a drunk, if I get
after her and give her a bit of leg it stops. But who wants to do that
every second, right? So I talked with my shoer and he tried some half rounds
on the front. This helped a little bit, and he charged me $10 extra for those.
I told him it wsn't helping that much and I wanted to shorten her long toe a
bit, so it looks like those rounded off horses who are going barefoot and
shuffle around the corral all the time wearing off their toes. He decided to
try Natural Balance shoes, and really rounded off the hoof. Then presented me
with a bill for $20 above the cost of regular shoeing. I am going broke with
this guy!
My question is ...what do those shoes really cost, if you buy them at a
farrier supply? Are they really $20 more? Or am I helping to absorb the cost
of the damage done when he pumped his NEW F350 diesel truck full of gasoline?
Sorry if I sound irritated, but living in Southern California seems to be a
reason to be gouged for everything. Can those shoes be re-set, to save money
if they are not too worn? Now I think it is costing me about $90 to shoe
that horse, and at every 6-7 weeks, it is becoming painful to the
budget!!!! (And no I haven't got my new Ariat Terrains yet either...grrr)
I am going to try them on a ride this weekend and hope they perform on
rides as well as people have mentioned in the archives.
Please do not tell me that I really need a chiropractor, because I know all
about chiropractors and it really would come down to who would win the fight
over the last shred of my money, the chiro, or the shoer. This is not the
horse that twists around to itch her saddle and needs a new custom made one,
this is the other horse.
Thanks so much for your comments on the cost of the shoes.
Beth Glover
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