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 Expert
Posts: 3815
   
Location: The best kept secret in TX | BigMomma - 2017-04-14 10:43 AM Thank y'all so much! After all of your replies, I called the new shoer. He is booked but is going to give me an evaluation to let me know what he thinks.
Never hurts to look at all your options.  |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
 
Location: Pacific Northwest | Huge difference. I used a mediocre farrier most of my life because I didn't know any better. Was forced to get a new one when he retired. My horses weren't lame but they all had flat feet. New Horseshoer was able to get some improvement, I liked him a lot and used him for 4 years but he stopped returning my calls last summer (not just me, apparently that was his way of getting out of the business). I didn't know any other good farriers, but my friends stepmom does corrective barefoot trimming, specializing in horses that have foundered. My horses feet are AMAZING. I am not on the barefoot bandwagon, it's not that, it's the fact that she actually knows how to trim and what's really wrong with their feet. The navicular gelding is sound for the first time in 7 years, my horse that used to bruise and abscess every time he lost a shoe has built up enough depth that he can trot across gravel, and my mare I took on a trail ride last week and she never took a lame step. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 507
Location: Lost in the corn of Iowa. | IRunOnFaith - 2017-04-14 10:33 AM I used a very reputable farrier in the area a few times and he had so many sets to do in a day that he rushed through my boy. My horse was always left frazzled and was never still for him. Always pacing. I paid twice as much for him than I did with my old guy.
I switched back to my old faithful guy and he made me promise not to share his name with any of my "barrel racing friends". He said he only shoes old school ropers and barrel racers are too picky. LOL. He was in his 70s when I found him and started using him.
I cried when that guy retired. He was great with my horses. I haven't found anyone to replace him yet. He was very patient. Took his time and did lots of corrections that made my horses feel/look/ run better. He always asked me about ground before he put shoes on. If I was going to be outside and it was dry he would shoe accordingly. If I was going to be inside and in deep sand he would shoe accordingly. He was smart. Knew his angles and knew what needed to be done. He also whistled and sang and hummed while he worked so that made it even more enjoyable.
My farrier told me the other day when he was doing my two that he is planning to retire when he's 50. I quickly asked him if he was 49 1/2.  I love the work that he does. Although I'm grateful for the farriers I've had in the past because I can see the difference between "ok" work and "great" work. I think anyways. |
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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | BigMomma - 2017-04-13 9:16 PM
I have a good shoer and am kicking around the thought of upgrading to a great, well known shoer in our area. I need thoughts on how big of a difference can a good versus great shoer make?
Here's my opinion.
Your farrier is extremely important.
BUT, that said.......the best known, highly touted, most expensive guy that everyone uses around my area sucks in my opinion lol.
If you and your horses are happy, and you don't have a real reason to swap, don't. |
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  Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | My story would be too long. Back in my mid twenties my sister married a farrier that was suppose to be awesome. I thought yeah....so what....big deal. I had a young horse that I had been running in a series that ran for four months. Long story short he took 2 seconds exactly off his times he had been running. And he told me he would do before he ever shod him. This is why I react the way I do to people talking about horses cripple here and there and farrier questions. I lived it and believe if you don't have a good farrier you will not do as well and possibly cripple your horse. |
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| This is a good discussion... my question is how do you decide who is great vs good.
For example, I have used the same guy my whole life. My gelding has awful feet and awful confirmation in his fronts which is not fixable but it can be managed. We have had him managed for 7 years but little things have made us adjust over the years. We had an incident last fall that we don't know what caused it and if you look at past posts you can read it more thoroughly. This situation left us a bit stumped...
So I called one of the best, not only in the state supposedly and he came out. He had ideas but super crazy ideas. Things that most farriers have never even heard of and rarely do horses require this type of setup. I told him what the vet said which he kind of laughed about.
How you do you decide? My vet who is also one of the best in the state has been very complimentary to my farrier but we have situation that isn't easily fixed. He is managing him the best he can with what he has to work with which the second farrier agreed with.
Does it make the second one great because he is so creative? It is just a question I have thought about. |
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Nut Case Expert
Posts: 9305
Location: Tulsa, Ok | stayceem - 2017-04-14 1:35 PM This is a good discussion... my question is how do you decide who is great vs good. For example, I have used the same guy my whole life. My gelding has awful feet and awful confirmation in his fronts which is not fixable but it can be managed. We have had him managed for 7 years but little things have made us adjust over the years. We had an incident last fall that we don't know what caused it and if you look at past posts you can read it more thoroughly. This situation left us a bit stumped... So I called one of the best, not only in the state supposedly and he came out. He had ideas but super crazy ideas. Things that most farriers have never even heard of and rarely do horses require this type of setup. I told him what the vet said which he kind of laughed about. How you do you decide? My vet who is also one of the best in the state has been very complimentary to my farrier but we have situation that isn't easily fixed. He is managing him the best he can with what he has to work with which the second farrier agreed with. Does it make the second one great because he is so creative? It is just a question I have thought about.
I think this is a "great" question. I often times see people and especially barrel racers jumping on the latest fad in farriers and shoes and many ending up very disappointed in the results. Just give me a dependable and conscientious shoer who is well enough educated and willing to listen and take the time to accomodate each individual horse and set of feet.
Oh and spare me the giant egos. I had a really great farrier once but someone had neglected to tell him his talent was not as big as his ego. |
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 Dog Resuce Agent
Posts: 3459
Location: southeast Texas | I ?? My farrier. |
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Expert
Posts: 1956
Location: Ky | A great farrier will not make a bad horse into a good horse. Just as a great rifer will not win the Ky Derby on a mule.
But a bad farrier can ruin the greatest horse that ever lived. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| A shower makes all the difference in the world, I was blessed in my early years to meet shower who I have seen take an older proformance horse with a lot of arthritis put a set of shoes on this horse who was sore after shoeing move off sound. He knew how to shoe a horse for what he was and knew how to make one move.free. I learned a lot from him. Wish there was a farrier in my area that knew what he did
I have a good farrier now as I have taken several of my horses to.the vet for various problems and bet said my horse was shod very good
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I look at it this way, I have a great farrier that is in his 70's and learned from a WWI calvery officer. He trims/shoes how the horse stands. When ever we do need shoes on a horse, which is rare, he does a wonderful job and has never made one come up sore etc with hard ranch riding. I pay $60 for a full set. I bet I can find a thousand farriers that charge over $120 for a full set that aren't half as good or knowledgeable as he is. But they went to a short farrier course that made them experts. I will always choose one based on the job they do vs credentials |
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
Location: 31 lengths farms | All!!! You can put the right feed in them, massage, Chiro, BOT, magnets , cold hose, vaccinate, but let's face it, what hits the ground first??? Their feet. Had a wise old cowboy tell me "if it doesn't feel right, start from the ground first" meaning their feet. |
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Veteran
Posts: 264
| I was with a good shoer, everything looked picture perfect from the outside. Took him to the vet when I noticed him starting to act sore in his hind end, after lameness exam I was sent home with advice to rest him. Threw him out to pasture for a month brought him back for light rides. First time out his cornet band started bleeding. Called shoer out who couldn't understand how or why. (Mind you this is a top referred, educated, certified shoer in our area). The next day I put him out to pasture and he took off like a bat out of h*ll. Half way across he all of sudden was 3 legged. The entire hoof split half an inch apart! (Let me know if you want pics!) The lamina, meat, everything that you shouldn't possibly see was showing. Immediately took him to vet and shoer met me there. That is where I realized I had a good shoer, not a great one. The vet recommended someone who was technically retired but would ultimately save my horses whole hoof. He was going in every 2/3 weeks to be re-shod and this was all because of an unbalanced rasp job.
My advice......go for the great shoer. If you had the option of picking a "good" horse or a "great" horse, you'll always choose the great one. Why wouldn't you do the same when it came to health and maintenance for you animal. |
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Duct Tape Bikini Girl
Posts: 2554
| My farrier is the most important decision I make for my horse's future. It is not only important to use the best you can find, but to make sure the farrier continues to do a good job. I do not understand people who spend a fortune on supplements, tack, and training, but go cheap on a farrier. Makes no sense at all. |
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BHW's Simon Cowell
Location: The Saudia Arabia of Wind Energy, Western Oklahoma | Are you having problems with your horse? If you aren't I would be careful switching. Sometimes some shoers just don't fit certain horses, no matter how "great" they are. |
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One Grateful Mom
Posts: 2702
Location: wolverton,mn | The difference between a sound performing horse or a crippled horse.
Your shoer can give a horse a trim or put shoes on depending on needs. If you move or ground conditions change,a good shoer will do the work depending on conditions.
The poor work of a shoer or lack of continuation of meeting a horses needs can be catastrophic |
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | stayceem - 2017-04-14 1:35 PM This is a good discussion... my question is how do you decide who is great vs good. For example, I have used the same guy my whole life. My gelding has awful feet and awful confirmation in his fronts which is not fixable but it can be managed. We have had him managed for 7 years but little things have made us adjust over the years. We had an incident last fall that we don't know what caused it and if you look at past posts you can read it more thoroughly. This situation left us a bit stumped... So I called one of the best, not only in the state supposedly and he came out. He had ideas but super crazy ideas. Things that most farriers have never even heard of and rarely do horses require this type of setup. I told him what the vet said which he kind of laughed about. How you do you decide? My vet who is also one of the best in the state has been very complimentary to my farrier but we have situation that isn't easily fixed. He is managing him the best he can with what he has to work with which the second farrier agreed with. Does it make the second one great because he is so creative? It is just a question I have thought about.
A good farrier keeps a horse sound. A great farrier understands the mechanics behind conformation and movement, and how that impacts the hoof and it's internal structures, which lead to keeping a horse sound. I am so thankful that I have an awesome farrier who understands this. |
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