Farrier income

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Bigfoot

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I'll cut to it. I'm kinda put out by every farrier that is within driving distance of my house. I can shoe a horse (not great, but I can). I am actually of the same or better quality, than most that I hire. My issue with them, is usually not quality, but unreliability. I'm also slow. It takes me right at an hour to do 2 feet. I keep 5 head shod year round, and reset every 6 weeks. I honestly don't have 10 afternoons in a 6 week period, to do them myself.

If I was a young man (I'm not). If I didn't have a hitch in my step (I do). I'd be glad to shoe horses for a living. No reason why I couldn't do 6-10 in a day. That'd be $100-150,000 a year in gross income. I know you wouldn't net that, but come on. Why aren't there more farriers?
 
most cant take the abuse it puts on the body , Its hard work so that eliminates a few more and these individuals can not hold a job working for anyone else because it interferes with dranking time .
 
talltimber":1lftmrzp said:
Backbreaker and spoiled horses I imagine.

This is a huge part of it. My dad was a farrier for the better part of thirty years. He was very fit and knew horses inside and out. He could not trim enough horses to make it a sole income, even though our area is very densely populated with horses. He did not, however, shoe on a regular basis, so the income potential was less to start with. Aside from the labor intensive nature of the job and poorly behaved horses, the horse PEOPLE were tiresome. Horse people are notorious for not paying on time, being late, ect. I think eventually he just got sick of the BS.

I have finally found a farrier I am pleased with, since my brother stopped trimming and my dad passed away. I have gone through several. I have several pet peeves when it comes to farriers...
1. Don't treat my horses like shyt. They are well behaved working animals, most will stand for a full trim without flinching, but if one happens to be difficult that day, I will not tolerate a farrier who takes a rasp to their belly, hip, ect.
2. Don't talk to me like I am a dumb horse owning nit wit. If there is a matter of concern, I probably know about it already, but if I don't, don't approach the matter with me like I am a child.
3. Don't try to buy my horses. Some people may find it flattering, but unsolicited offers like this just seem unprofessional to me.

Come to think of it, people like me are probably a large part of the reason why farriers are so sparse! :2cents:
 
If one needs an adjustment for doing something that the farrier, who I informed of my horses quirks if they had any ( I had a real nice broke roan horse that didn't like his back feet raised to damn near chest level. Work him low, he was perfect), knows he's just being stupid, then I don't have a problem with giving them a little wrap to get their attention. With that said, I ran one off in the middle of shoeing when he popped a colt across the cannon bone with a rasp. Was this colt's maybe second or third shoeing, the first time I had used this farrier. I've been through a number of them myself. I am same as you Bigfoot, or was, I can do it, I just don't want to. And damn sure not for someone else.
 
talltimber":3lf6kp6r said:
If one needs an adjustment for doing something that the farrier, who I informed of my horses quirks if they had any ( I had a real nice broke roan horse that didn't like his back feet raised to be nice near chest level. Work him low, he was perfect), knows he's just being stupid, then I don't have a problem with giving them a little wrap to get their attention. With that said, I ran one off in the middle of shoeing when he popped a colt across the cannon bone with a rasp. Was this colt's maybe second or third shoeing, the first time I had used this farrier. I've been through a number of them myself. I am same as you Bigfoot, or was, I can do it, I just don't want to. And be nice sure not for someone else.

Don't get me wrong, I will adjust the attitude of mine as necessary. They will behave, I won't put up with shyt from them. However, I personally don't think it is something someone else needs to do on my behalf.
 
Yes, or should have to. I agree. No reason why a guy should have to shoe while holding those bad ones up and trying to keep from getting kicked/pawed/or bit.
 
It's work, just like building fence, and that's why nobody wants the job. I shod horses full time for several years, and part time for a whole bunch more. It's good money, and if you are a legitimate farrier, it's great money. I spent a fair amount of time in school and plenty of continuing education over the years, and I found myself shoeing in vet clinics more than anywhere else. You can pick any crappy job in the world, and make more money at it than most high class desk jockeys. (Except raising cattle. No fortunes there.lol) Speaking of crappy jobs, the fella in town that runs the turd hearse makes a fortune dealing with other folks chit because nobody else wants the gig.
As far as working with rowdy horses, I always let Dan hold em....Dormosedan!
 
Boot Jack Bulls":3m7ei4eg said:
talltimber":3m7ei4eg said:
Backbreaker and spoiled horses I imagine.

This is a huge part of it. My dad was a farrier for the better part of thirty years. He was very fit and knew horses inside and out. He could not trim enough horses to make it a sole income, even though our area is very densely populated with horses. He did not, however, shoe on a regular basis, so the income potential was less to start with. Aside from the labor intensive nature of the job and poorly behaved horses, the horse PEOPLE were tiresome. Horse people are notorious for not paying on time, being late, ect. I think eventually he just got sick of the BS.

I have finally found a farrier I am pleased with, since my brother stopped trimming and my dad passed away. I have gone through several. I have several pet peeves when it comes to farriers...
1. Don't treat my horses like shyt. They are well behaved working animals, most will stand for a full trim without flinching, but if one happens to be difficult that day, I will not tolerate a farrier who takes a rasp to their belly, hip, ect.
2. Don't talk to me like I am a dumb horse owning nit wit. If there is a matter of concern, I probably know about it already, but if I don't, don't approach the matter with me like I am a child.
3. Don't try to buy my horses. Some people may find it flattering, but unsolicited offers like this just seem unprofessional to me.

Come to think of it, people like me are probably a large part of the reason why farriers are so sparse! :2cents:

I'd disagree. If they were all like you, I'd still be under em all day.
 
Reliability is what holds most of them back. I put up with one for a long time that really did a great job with the horses but it was a waste of time to make an appointment. Instead I'd catch my horses about an hour after he said he'd be there in five minutes which was usually a week or so after the appointment had come and gone.
In contrast a friend of mine got into it as a freshman in high school and paid his way through college with it and wound up doing it for a living and makes a very comfortable living doing a few a day and turns people down left and right. Almost all of his clients are big money horse people. He told me himself that the secret is to show up when you said you would.
 
I have to chip in on this one and agree with the majority, farriers seem to be in some kind of union that requires them to be unreliable, not respond to phone calls, not show up when they are supposed to. Most I have dealt with treat everyone else like they are on their time, I dont view that as the case. I'm paying for a service that they provide the least they could do is be close to on time and respond to my calls when they are 3 weeks late.
 
ez14.":1yex8l29 said:
Boot Jack Bulls":1yex8l29 said:
Thanks Fence! :cowboy:
we cant have two fences that would get to confusing :!:

I agree, so I guess you had better come up with something else to call me. I'll answer to almost anything, but I've always wanted a cool nickname. Don't let me down! :lol:
 
Bigfoot":nwa77ehr said:
Excellent training program:

That sounds about right. While I was in shoeing school, there was a stripper from Michigan that came to take the two week shoeing for dummies course. I was in charge of keeping an eye on her while she worked on her test horse. I was shoeing a draft horse in the stocks right next to her, and she kept getting a front foot out too far to keep her horse comfortable. I had advised her several times, but she was having none of it. The horse rared, the stripper lady fell over on my stocks, the horse came down on her femur. It was pretty dang bad, but I got her drug out and loaded on the ambulance. I finished her horse without so much as a wiggle. The way the farrier education system is set up to crank dummies out every two weeks contributes to the problem of less than responsible horse shoers. I still say that the main trouble is that nobody wants to work like that anymore.
 
I am a full time farrier six days a week plus I hold the contracts for two race tracks and we still raise cattle on top to make ends meet ! The reason there isn't more .. here we go
 
Clients that rnt ready for there appt ( horses they can't catch or r coverd in mud or so on ) then u have the il mannerd kicking biting or striking with owners that say it's cute but don't have a clue how to Correct it or thinks there just playing !
 
And then the next client is mad when we're running late from bad behaved horses or extra horses or clients running late . But yup it's my fault lol
 

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