WOW! Shoeing info much appreciated!
Fellow H&R'ers ~ I just wanted to express my immense appreciation for the scores of responses you guys and gals sent us regarding you farrier expenses. We've accumulated some great information. At some point, Erin and I plan to put together some statistics on price variations from around the country. Pretty interesting stuff, really!
I also wanted to personally respond to Fran Jurga's response. Fran is a nationally-renowned hoof and hoof health-care expert and we've used her as an invaluable resource on numerous occasions and plan to do so going forward. She brought up some excellent points that we believe everyone should take into consideration.
Of course, we don't believe anyone should sacrifice the quality of their horses' feet for money's-sake, but out of curiosity, does anyone feel they've been taken advantage of by particular "farrier monopolies," as one might term them. And, Fran, we definitely pose this question to you, as well! For example, I have an old friend from college, who was paying around $300 for a shod and four regular shoes on her 26-year-old Quarter Horse gelding, with whom she occasionally went trail riding on. The barn she boarded her horse at "dictated" the farrier she used, as it was considered part of "the package."
Anyone else heard of this? Or feel they've been taken advantage of?
Thanks again guys for the awesome feedback! PLEASE keep it comin'!
posted by Alana Harrison @ 7:15 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Farrier monopoly? What you describe is a trainer or boarding barn owner monopoly. I have heard of this situation, and often the trainer or barn owner is receiving a good part of the farrier's fee in return for guaranteeing an amount of work. Or the owners pay the barn owner, who then pays the farrier (hopefully).
This is standard practice for racehorses and a lot of show horses.
In other cases, this sort of requirement is because the farrier can't or won't come a certain distance or to a location unless there is a guarantee of a full day's work, or a certain dollar amount.
A trainer might be concerned that a good farrier be working on all the horses in his or her care and make that requirement. Or it may be strictly a financial deal. Veterinarians have been known to do this as well, but it is not as common.
Some barns want to run on a strict schedule and having half a dozen (or more) farriers with big trucks showing up at all times of the day (especially at feeding time) can be really disruptive, so they choose to work with a single farrier who knows to come on specific days or at specific times of the day.
I've also heard of situations where the barn owner is a farrier, or married to one, and outside farriers are not allowed to shoe the boarders.
In other cases, the reason is philosophical. There are "all barefoot" boarding barns, for instance, where shoes are not allowed. Some trainers are also advocates of Natural Balance shoeing, for instance, and may want all the horses in the barn shod under those balance parameters or with those shoes.
An option for the owner in your example could trailer her horse to be shod by another farrier. In the northeast, trailering your horse to be shod is quite common, as it is in Great Britain. But it sounds like your friend is a casual owner and that might be too much effort.
Is the $300 in keeping with other farrier prices in her area? Are the other boarders paying that as a flat fee as well or is she paying more because of something about her particular horse?
Good farriers may be scarce in that area and the barn owner wants to be sure that services are available at that farm. Owners who can't ride because a shoe is off or the horse needs to be shod and there is no regular farrier will be unhappy boarders. (Maybe--it's impossible to know what her situation is.)
Our barn has a farrier come out and do several horses on the same day, but if we wanted to use another farrier, it's okay for us to do so. As it happened, I switched over to the "barn farrier" when I moved my horses because my previous farrier didn't service the new area. I can't imagine paying as much as the person you mentioned for a set of shoes though - wow!
I used to be at a show barn in the NYC area where the use of a specific farrier was required. That was three years ago and I paid $250 for a trim and four shoes. I moved my horse to a more relaxed barn and switched farriers - now I pay $90 for the same service. I suspect my old barn was getting a cut of the farrier's fee.
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