Isn't a farriers job to work with horses????

[duckluck]

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Errr...it's not quite that simple. The nail comes all the way through the hoof and gets crimped on the top side. If you just pry the shoe off, you will cause a LOT of damage to the hoof wall. You need to lift the crimp just enough that you can grasp it with a good pair of nippers and nip that sucker off. Depending on the farrier, there will be 2-4 nails crimped on each side of the hoof. Once the crimp is gone, then you can pry the shoe off with relatively little damage to the hoof wall.

Just trying to be helpful here.


Rusty

If you file the crimps off, this makes it very easy, provided you have a file/rasp that is up to working metal on metal, which it would be. That is, provided the horse will stand for putting her foot up while you work it.

 

[deerman]

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X2....Sometime the ower make it harder.....not the farriers job to train........the fee he charged isn't worth getting hurt.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

If you file the crimps off, this makes it very easy, provided you have a file/rasp that is up to working metal on metal, which it would be. That is, provided the horse will stand for putting her foot up while you work it.

Yep. This works good too. So that gives you 2 methods to try. Surely one or the other will work for you, Debi.

Good luck with this!

Rusty

edited to add: And PULL the shoe off. Don't pry it off. Prying will break down the rim of the hoof wall. Instead, hold the foot between your knees, grasp the shoe with a tool like over-sized pliers and pull. Expect it to take some major work to get it off. HTH​

 

[duckluck]

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X2....Sometime the ower make it harder.....not the farriers job to train........the fee he charged isn't worth getting hurt.

X3...you have to remember, this person is getting paid by the job, not the hour, and no job without benefits, health insurance or workmen's comp is worth getting hurt over...no one wants to do that over any one owner or any one horse, for sure. The farrier's work is risky enough without extra chances.

 

[welsummerchicks]

I think some of the organizations they join offer insurance, but in general, it's very, very hard to get coverage. Their job is considered very dangerous. One lady I know got family coverage at work to cover her farrier husband, but when he got hurt bad, they wouldn't cover him. They had some way of disqualifying the claim at that point.

Out of 3 farriers I've had, one is disabled now and can't work. He really got hurt bad. And generally, the horse owner's reaction is, 'sorry, but you said you could handle the horse, it's not my fault you over-estimated your skill'.

Although, an older farrier told me that the job almost always has a 'time limit' on it...for just about everyone. As they get older, they need to hire some help (and it needs to be very skilled help) and the job takes a cumulative toll on knees, neck, shoulders, and back. Many of them have to quit by 50 (or even earlier) and find something else to do.

All in all, to stick with it, to be good at it, it is a tough way to make a living, but it's really a job someone can take a lot of pride in doing well.

I might pay less for someone who was a journeyman or apprentice, or had only attended an eight week school (or less), but then I have to realize I will be getting someone with less skill and experience.

The better farriers are pretty amazing when it comes to handling difficult behavior in horses. Their discipline is firm and quiet, and the horses understand and respect them. If they get 'hard' with a horse, that means that was the only way to keep everyone safe. And the good ones, they have an economical way of getting the point across; the horse actually gets much less upset overall than if it's nagged and fussed over. And they don't waste a single ounce of energy getting 'mad' or 'losing the temper'. They just get the job done. And every time they come back the horse is better.

I've had equine dentists like that too. After decades around horses I still stand there with my mouth gaping open watching the things these fellers can accomplish with a minimum amount of effort and fuss.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

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The only problem with tricks up one's sleeve is that most owners don't like those tricks when they are unsleeved! Then they don't like the farrier for using them either!

We have 13 cattle horses, 2 mules, & 3 minis (I trim the minis). I have a ferrier out quite often. A ferrier can't expect every horse out there to be on their best behavior when he pulls up, he has to deal with the good & the bad. If he can't do his job in taking care of all types of behaviors in horses, he has no business with MY business. A good ferrier will get the job done.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Again, it depends.

It depends on what else is going on, how bad the behavior is, and what the customer is doing and saying.

Too, some farriers have gotten into so many bad situations with customers not letting them even correct the horse, that they finally say, enough.

 

[deerman]

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Thats point i was making, the owner can make it harder for them to control the horse...like don't hurt my baby.

If the horse is not trained...not the farriers fault........no reason they should risk getting hurt, because person didn't get their horse train, for what they charge sure not worth the risk..........

 

[duckluck]

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The only problem with tricks up one's sleeve is that most owners don't like those tricks when they are unsleeved! Then they don't like the farrier for using them either!

We have 13 cattle horses, 2 mules, & 3 minis (I trim the minis). I have a ferrier out quite often. A ferrier can't expect every horse out there to be on their best behavior when he pulls up, he has to deal with the good & the bad. If he can't do his job in taking care of all types of behaviors in horses, he has no business with MY business. A good ferrier will get the job done.

A truly good farrier will likely be making well enough money with well trained horses that they won't need to be bothering with dealing with all sorts of behaviors in horses. They'll put up with a limited amount of messing around and then that's it, goodbye. I know very few who will spend too much time butting heads with rank animals or owners, for that matter. And many simply won't bother with minis because they tend to be the worst in terms of behavior.

 

[duckluck]

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Definitely hard to get good coverage. Most policies I have seen are more from the "care, custody and control" standpoint.