Subject: Re: [RC] how many endurance riders shoe and trim their own horses? - Pvan19
I agree with you Jody on the fact that if you can't agree on a shoeing
method with a given client you should not work with him/her
however - I don't agree at all on the generalisation that farriers don't
want to listen
Come on - I'm sure that in the US like in Europe there are loads of good
and bad and average farriers out there!
And I think there are a lot more nighthmare clients around than farriers!!
It's amazing what people will say... they'll read a book and show a picture
saying 'this is what I want' without understanding what this implies for the
horse and the work it's in... with the barefoot and self trimming rage coming up
in Europe people read an internet site, have a go at it themselves, ruining
their horse's feet and than calling the farrier ( who is expected to show up
straight away ofcourse) to repair the damage.. the lack of hygiene and regular
foot care, the lack of regular shoeing and trimming... people nailing shoes back
on themselves when they fall off after 10 weeks, than realising the horse is
dead lame... customers expecting the farrier to go thru a knee deep muddy field
to catch the horse himself (ie run after him for an hour, horses are not stupid
) and than shoe him even though he can't even see the feet because of all the
mud...than take three months to pay their bills... I could go on &
on... sound familiar hihi???
People doing their own trimming & shoeing is fine (even though I think
it's not worth the money savings)- on condition you get really good
training and supervision...which I think is hard to find, and takes years of
practice...
Being a farrier is an incredibly hard and unrewarding job - the good ones
are passionate about helping horses fulfill their potential which is the only
way you can do this for a long time without throwing in the towel
Not surprisingly a lot of my farrier husband's favourite
customers are endurance riders - they are much more aware of the importance of
good feet and shoes than in most other disciplines, and have more knowledge and
the desire to experiment with new techniques - so much more interesting and
gratifying to work with!
If you keep getting bad farriers - ask yourself if you're a good customer
??
just my thoughts...
Pauline
------------------------------------------------------------ From: Jody
Rogers-Buttram <dragnin100@xxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: [RC] how
many endurance riders shoe and trim their own horses?
That is always the
drawback with farriers....they DON'T want to listen. As endurance riders,
I don't think that we are asking the farriers to do something to the feet that
is unhealthy. BUT, as a farrier, I was taught that if the owner wants you
to shoe a horse in a manner that is not hoof healthy, that you should drop that
client. I have one time, dropped a client. It was a QH stallion,
ex-halter horse, a really georgous horse, but he had the most horrible
contracted heels. They wanted to continue to stuff him into shoes too
tight. I stopped shoeing him.
