I am in the process of reconnecting with my roots in Westchester County NY. Family and friends are the big draw. I plan to offer my services in the area. One of my pet peeves here in Maine is when a guy from a cheaper market comes to the area and unknowingly brings along a low price list. I hate being undercut by an experienced farrier who if he only knew our rates would come in at the market rates and not depress prices. Its my feeling that if you are good at what you do you should not buy business you should earn it. And if you help lift rather than depress prices you will be more welcome in a local farrier community. Well now thats me as I know that prices in the Westchester County, NY, Dutchess County NY and Fairfield County, CT area are in a vastly different price class than here in rural maine. But I have no idea what they are and I don't want to be that guy who undercuts everybody and causes a lot of bad feeling in the local farrier community. My pricng policy has always been to be in the top third tier of fees. I don't want to be the most expensive guy but I don't want be a factor in depressing prices either. I like to compete on the quality of the work and service not the price. I am looking for information as to the price range for a trim for a horse, trim for a draft horse and four plain flat steel shoes for a horse in this area. I am also curious if there are any formal or informal farrier associations in the area that are worth joining.
Why not have some of your family and friends call up some local farriers and ask for prices. Their calls should be returned by the end of the year when things slow down.
I went on COTH and looked at a lot of the how much is everybody paying thier farrier threads. Looks like $55 trims, $120 front shoes, and $195 four shoes is about average down there. I'm going to do a recon trip and hit the feed stores in the Westchester County and Greenwich CT area and see what I can ferret out.
