The Upward $$ Tick Continues
Our farrier was just here, and before he left after this latest appointment, he let us know that his prices would go up between now and his next visit. Not by a lot--$5 per horse--and I'm certainly not complaining. He does wonderful work, and I know it's not cheap to run that vehicle of his up and down the road.
Still, I can't help comparing what I'm about to be paying for work on our horses' feet to what we paid just five years ago, before a steady series of upticks took place:
Trims: $20/head then, going up to $35/head next month.
New set of shoes: $65 then, going up to $95 next month.
We have our horses' feet worked on every six weeks, or about eight times a year. The math adds up an additional $120/year for a horse without shoes, and $240/year for one that's regularly shod.
Just one more reason why we've pared our little herd down to three head, as opposed to the five or six on the rollcall only a few years back.
posted by Juli Thorson @ 3:49 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
I'm lucky, my farrier has stayed at $25/head since I've had him. And just the two mares with trims no shoes every six to eight weeks works well. He also doubles as my animal sitter if we leave for vacations and such. Of course I pay him for that, but I trust him with all the critters in our care.
Oh, my, where do you live?! Around here (Mass) trims go for about $65/head and 4 shoes $225/summer, $275/winter! I need to move to where you live. :-)
Anne
That is exactly why I pulled everyones shoes this winter for the first time in about 10 years. Every little bit we can save helps.
I'm lucky. My farrier is a family friend who has held the price steady for us for quite some time. I know his new clients pay about what your farrier is charging now.
The upward tick of feed (hay, grain and even dog food, forgoodnessakes), accessories like trailers, saddles, grooming products and flyspray and just the price of fuel combined with the bottom coming out of the middle market has caused my family to change our horse industry trajectory. We were selling well started geldings that we bought as yearlings, but after failing to sell a very nice horse this year we've decided to just keep what we have, ride them and enjoy them. Luckily, we've never bought anything that we didn't like well enough to keep. :-)
As a farrier supply shop owner, I feel its important for each us to understand beyond the price of fuel how the farrier's business related expenses have been impacted over the last few years. For example, my last order of nippers, up 13% at the wholesale level; Steel shoes up around 25% over the last 12 months; A quality 125 lb anvil which we sell was up over $100 on my last order, and then there's the cost of speciality items, including bar shoes, equi-thane, equilox and even Play Doh which they use. All up double digits in 2007. And those are the direct materials expenses they deal with. Add that on to health, liability, and auto insurance increases and most of them are shoeing 6 days a week and 12 hour days (if their backs will hold up) just to stay financially solvent. The best way to keep prices down is to make your horse and farm a pleasant place to work. Make sure their feet are maintained during visits, and the horses temperament is conducive to a farrier being safe and productive. And then don't forget the appointments, payment when services are rendered and leaving the gate open if you're not around. All that being said, a farrier that enjoys working with the owner, their horses, and at their farm is more inclined to provide standard and emergency services far beyond what they charge. And at a price that's appropriate and allows the horseowner to enjoy their passion and the farrier to continue in their trade.
I'm in southeast Wisconsin. I did tip him at Christmas.
$110.00 per horse for shoes and/or resets....
I hear you about the price of shoes going up. My farrier let us know before the new year that shoes would be going up from $70 a head to $80 and while I don't like paying more I do like my farrier and certainly understand his costs have not gone down either.
But I only have two horses and both have always been shod. My arab mare whom I use for endurance just gets regular shoes, but my TB mare who rarely gets ridden has special "natural balance" shoes because she overreaches and that meant her shoes went up to $90 for a new set or reset...OUCH.
I've decided that at the next farrier appointment the TB's shoes are coming OFF as she rarely leaves our property since my stepdaughter's turned "teenager" and does not really ride anymore.
Gotta save every $ I can and my competition horse MUST stay shod as much as I use her in rocky terrain so I got to cut back somewhere.
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