Keeping Your Farrier Happy
Remember that trimming and shoeing horses is a very demanding, high-risk job. Your farrier is a professional, and deserves to be treated that way. He or she will do the best job when s/he is safe and working in a clean, comfortable environment on a cooperative horse.
Keeping Your Farrier Happy:
- Be sure that your horse(s) are caught up and ready when the farrier arrives. Hooves should be picked out and legs should be clean and dry.
- There should be a clean, dry, level place to work, well-lit and out of the sun, wind, and rain.
- Having a cool or warm drink available for him/her never hurts!
- Ask your farrier before putting any fly spray on the horse. Leaning one's sweaty skin against the horse is not good if you are sensitive to the fly spray its wearing.
- Hold your horse for the farrier. Even a good horse who stands patiently on crossties is not as easy to work on as when it's held.
- Ask plenty of questions, but don't bother your shoer when he or she is busy concentrating. Most shoers want you to understand what they're trying to accomplish when the work is done.
- Thank your farrier and pay your bill in full when the work is done.
- Set up your next appointment before s/he leaves. Don't wait until your horse's shoes are falling off to set a date.
- Notify your farrier immediately if a shoe comes off. S/he may have a spot available to come out and replace it.
- Call ahead if you need to reschedule - your appointment can likely be used for someone else if arrangements can be made in advance.
Holding a horse for the Farrier:
- Remember that training your horse to stand for shoeing or trimming is YOUR job, NOT the farrier's! Practice every day if your horse will not stand patiently, moving his legs around, holding them up for long periods of time, even tapping the hooves with tools. This practice will pay off for you in the long run.
- Keep the horse's head forward and level.
- Stand to the front of the horse's head, but when the farrier is working on a front foot move a little bit off to the opposite side. When s/he is working on a hind foot, stand off to the same side. This will help to keep the horse's weight off the raised leg.
- Watch your horse carefully, all the time. If he's leaning, wiggling, twitching or squirming, correct him immediately. These behaviors are annoying to the farrier and dangerous to both him/her and your horse. A shoer's tools are very sharp, and it's all too easy to hurt yourself or pound a nail the wrong way if the target doesn't hold still.
Courtesy of Northeast Farrier Supply - 210 Holabird Ave., Windsted, CT 06098 - 866-333-6337