I dont think there is anyone that does perfect shoeing all day every day but there is certain things i would like to seein an every day job. i try to preech to the young lads we will work to a standard and try not go below it. so if i'm showing a lad the clenching part of the job i would say that or better
I hate questions like this, George. I don't ever think I do good enough, but I try. I'll see something that I should have done better when it's done, but I know that it's adequate and better than it was. Sometimes I'll think I took a bit too much off that part of a hoof that I can't put back on, and then try to fit the shoe to somehow compensate. I've pulled off many a pair I'd tacked on and change to a different size. I've said to clients watching; "This is the sign of a good Farrier" as I pull off a shoe I just tacked on and throw it back in the fire to tweak a heel or something. I quite often look at a horse and think that it's the best job I've ever done, and that's the goal on the next one.
A few other things not quite good enough; I could seek the Lord harder, be a better husband and father, make more and better handmades. If I wasen't so damn good looking, I'd be a real mess.
The jobs I'm proudest of are the ones on some old backyard plug that I could put the shoes on upside down and no one would notice. I shoe and finish the same way I do one of my top jumpers. No one may ever know, but I've been caught a few times when they took the horse to the Vet for something and I get the feedback on a nice job on a poor horse. I figure you're gona get caught however you do things.
Well, if I have to pick THE most important thing on every job , that's a no brainer....... it's the trim, it's the trim, it's the TRIM! Better than three quarters of all the lameness referrals I get called in on are easily sorted out by improving the trim. I want the whole job to be done as well as I can do every time, every detail, every horse, but if the trim is spot on, the appliance becomes much less significant.... I,(and more importantly the horse), would rather see a half assed, ugly, low nailed, huge clinched shoe sitting on a correct trim than a picture perfect, beautifully made and nailed up job fitted to a foot that is still an inch too far run forward with crushed down heels.... I see it all the time... If the foot is correct, the horse could give a shit if the shoe was hand forged or forged by a checkbook, if a boot will work, or if they can be left barefoot... I'm a less is more kind of guy that strives to do what's best for the horse in the simplest, least invasive modality possible. Sometimes that's barefoot, sometimes it's throwing the contents of the truck at them. So what's important in an everyday job? I would have to say to treat every horse with equal importance and to do your best to leave every horse better than you found them, whether it's your first time in on them or if they have been on your books for 20 years. Dave
Dont get the bit about hand forged shoes there can be poorley forged shoes and fitted also there can be poorley preped feet i think it would be good if you can do everything well if you cant forge shoes well dont knock it
Smitty, not sure if that is directed at my comment? If it is, you read it wrong... I can and do forge shoes when I think it's the best route and certainly don't "knock" it..... my point was simply that any choice of appliance is secondary in importance to the trim itself, especially from the horses' perspective. I also agree that it's best to be able to do many things well and know when and where to apply them. Those that champion only one way as "the" way to accomplish a certain means are the ones that lose credibility with me, whether it is the "only/always" barefoot camp or the "must only be hand forged" camp or any other "only" way. The words "always" and "never" don't have much of a place in the horse world. Dave
I totally agree Dave, basic trim is foremost..whatever appliance later can be the iceing on the cake..how the Horse responds to what we do is the bottom line...bad trim perfect shoes no good, perfect trim bad shoes no good....as with all things in Farriery , Balance keeps rising to the top.
anybody worth there salts at shoeing knows the foot prep and fit are the key to a solid job this might be the thread to high light these areas of the job what is good in a trim and fit and so on show what you started with and the end results
Am I the only one here that has ever made a shoeing mistake? I've driven a few bad nails over the years. Done a few jobs I thought were spot on, the horse went off sound, but didn't perform well in competition. Struggled with figuring out how to get a horse comfortable and keep it going. I'll never be the best farrier. But I can make sure that no farrier delivers better service than me at equal or lower cost. IME, when it comes to service, I've never had much real competition. I when into this business knowing that, despite how hard I tried not to, I would screw up once in a while. But every time that has happened I have stood behind my work. I've never made excuses or "blamed the horse." I have hired more experienced farriers at my own expense to help me on cases where I was not delivering results. If I drive a close nail or quick a horse and I know about it when it happens, I pull the nail, medicate the nail hole (sometimes pull the shoe and double check everything) and I tell the owner what happened and ask them to keep me informed if there are problems. If the horse gets an abscess because I drove a bad nail, I treat the abscess myself - including making a trip to the farm every day until I'm sure the horse is sound and going to stay sound. If a horse owner is not happy with the results of my shoeing, I will either redo the job or refund their money. In the past 12 years I have given 2 refunds. I have also re-shod 8 horses for free because I changed the brand/style of shoe I was using and the horses didn't go as well in that shoe. If a horse loses a shoe, I replace the shoe within 24 hours. I don't care if the horse lives in a swamp, is a gate or stall kicker, fox hunts in woods with a lot of tree roots, or has piss poor conformation and bad coordination. I've never made excuses to my clients about pulled shoes. Pulled shoes and sprung shoes are MY PROBLEM, and I deal with it and eat the cost. I've never left a client hanging because I missed an appointment. I've never left telephone calls un-returned, 4 hours for urgent messages, 24 hours for not urgent messages. I have always had a written service policy and guarantee, and always met those terms without exceptions or excuses. AND, I've never walked away from a horse with a behavior problem as long as the client was willing to let me teach the horse to trust me. You're only as good as the last job . . . you showed up for at the appointed time.
