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Farrier Woes - When to move on?

1K views 8 replies 9 participants last post by  Yogiwick 
#1 · (Edited)
In advance, sorry for the lengthy post. OK, so shes actually a barefoot trimmer, not a farrier. :)

So, I've had my trimmer for 7 months now. She's fantastic and does great with my two horses. She's likeable, horse smart, and does a fantastic trimming job. My horses are on a 5 week schedule with her.

BUT...

She comes either Friday or Monday depending on when the other stable in the area has scheduled. (Our area is outside her general range, so all the people in this area get scheduled the same day). I forgot our next scheduled visit. It is either tomorrow or monday and I CAN NOT GET AHOLD OF HER.

I sent a text (our normal mode of communication) on Monday. - No answer

I sent a text on wednesday - No answer

I called at 4 pm today - no answer. Left a voice mail

I sent a FB msg at 5pm. It was read by her at 5:07 pm . - no answer.

Yes it's my fault for not putting the appt on my calendar. But at this point, I feel kinda blown off. The messages read the same. " Hey X! It seems I forgot to put our next appt on the calender. Can you let me know when it is? I know we are getting close and I need to let my work know i'll be late. Thanks - SomethingSpecial"


Communication is VERY important to me. I am a major planner. Everything I do is planned. All of my routines are the EXACT SAME from the time I wake up, to the time I go to sleep. If something in my day needs to be changed, it needs to be preplanned for. If it changes abruptly, depending on the severity, I panic.

Her communication skills are .... different then mine. She rarely ever confirms appt with me. She rarely ever texts me when she is running late. And on top of that, she is ALWAYS late. Our appts are scheduled for 10:30 am. I let my work know i will be in at 12 (I generally start at 10a) . I work an hour away. She is rarely here before 11:30, and she has been as late as 1:30. She has texted me a few times letting me know she will be late, in which I ALWAYS reply "No problem. See you soon." But most of the time at 10:45 I shoot over a text saying "Hey, are you close?" and she responds "Running a bit behind. Will be there in 30". In which I say "No problem. See you soon!"

I have accepted the lateness and lackluster communication. (Which is REALLY REALLY hard for me to do.) And have never faulted her for it. When my work questions me about it, I just say "Ever have someone who was so good at what they do, you deal with it?" Cause that is her. Shes great. I've never mentioned any of it to her. I always have the horses ready when she arrives (who are generally well behaved minus a half hearted foot pull on rare occasions), I always am smiling when she arrives. I always engage in her conversation. I never rush or act rushed. And I always pay in CASH.

But, at this point I feel like the lack of professionalism from her is really getting to me. I'm currently in a state of panic. Is my appt tomorrow? Is it monday? Heck, is it next friday? are we doing six weeks instead? I DONT KNOW CAUSE SHE WONT ANSWER.

My SO thinks I'm overreacting. He says it's no big deal and if she gets back to me, or not, life goes on. I understand that, but I really like this woman and her work. Just not everything that comes with it.

What would you do? When do you call it quits and move on?

I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, it's just really hard when I know she has read my messages and is choosing not to respond.

- SomethingSpecial
 
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#2 ·
Me, I'd start shopping. Flakes drive me nuts. But I'd also give her another chance, and this time tell her what is going on. Tell her like this:

"when I didn't hear back from you on my rescheduling question last tuesday, I felt upset, because I was needing more security around planning my week than that provided me" (use your own most recent example but be specific and make it about your feelings and needs, not her failings. It's much easier to hear, especially if you are already kind of defensive which in my experience, most people who habitually drop the ball, are).

Then wait for her answer, don't go on.
Whatever she says, make a solid effort to understand exactly what she is trying to communicate. To make sure you are on the same page, make guesses: "I hear you saying that you've been under a lot of stress lately, am I getting that right?"

Whenever you think she is actually going to listen to you, say, "So what I would like is to have a commitment from you that you'll respond to my texts within an hour of receiving them." Or whatever it is you want (ask for one thing only). It needs to be very very specific, and doable. Don't ask that she become more reliable or anything like that. Too global, too subjective. Wait until she either clearly agrees or waffles so much you understand she isn't going to.

Then wait and find out whether she can do something doable like that. If she can't, move on. There are other shoers.

I actually have almost the same problem, only my good farrier just moved 3 hours away (six hours away in bad traffic times). He has an excuse for not showing up or being horribly late, but it doesn't make it any better for me. So I too am shoer shopping.

.
 
#3 ·
Does she need you to be there when she trims your horses? If not, don't worry about it. I have no idea when my farrier is going to show up, he knows always to come after 1 pm, as I could be at a lesson, I always have morning lessons. My horses don't need to be held, they aren't high maintenance, he drives up, whistles and they come and wait for their turn, they know the drill. I usually pay him in the spring at the first shoeing (barefoot in winter and I trim) for enough for the whole show season, if there is money left over, I try to tip him, he won't take it, he credits my account for next season.
 
#4 ·
I am the daughter of a career Army officer, so being late makes my skin crawl :) I'm going to generalize here, but I feel like horse people don't take time very seriously. Every equine professional I've worked with-chiro, farriers, saddle fitter-have been late to almost every appt I've made with them over the last 4 years. I now just plan to give my horse a good grooming and hand graze before an appt so I'm not as annoyed.

A farrier who is good with your horse and does a good job on the feet seems worth holding on to, even with this annoyance. I wouldn't try to prod them into changing-they won't-but I would plan your schedule to expect they'll be an hour late, and set your workday accordingly. It pains me to say that, and in no other part of my life would I be ok with that. But like you, we are outside the regular service area of good professionals, so have to put up with those annoyances to have people who do well with the horses...
 
#5 ·
If she is really good at what she does, I wouldn't let her go so quickly. I wonder what would happen if you weren't there when she showed up. Would she do the work and move on or would she skip you and move on? If she would just go ahead and do the work....let her poor communication be her problem.
 
#6 ·
Good farriers are hard to find so I'd try to work with her for now until you can find another one who knows how to communicate and pay attention to time. Our farrier is excellent, but I know that she's usually running 30 minutes late on days she does a certain owner's horses before ours so I always ask about that so I know when to call the horses in.
 
#7 ·
Does she trim your horse before the barn visit or after? Ask if your horses can be done first. My barefoot farrier drives almost 2 hours to my area - she does others here as well. She is often extremely late due to other owners being late or the barn trying to add extra horses- she has always said she tries to do my place last because we are a nice break from cranky horses and cranky people.

A farriers job is hard and it is more seasonal than most people think. Many will stay on a regular schedule during summer and make excuses during the winter to lengthen the time between visits. Her income depends mostly on her work in the summer. I would talk to her and ask if you need to be there when she is there. Explain that it is hard to be late for work every 5 weeks and ask if your horses can be done first.

I have had some really bad farriers and would not trade my late exhausted farrier for the world.
 
#8 ·
Just because her GB message was read doesn't mean she was the one who read it.

As has been mentioned, good farriers are hard to come by.

If this is her first "offense", and she is that good in keeping your horses balanced and not lame, let it go.

There have been a few times one of my farriers did not get back to me. The one brother had been hit head on by a drunk driver and life-lighted to Nashville. The other brother had far more serious things to worry about than calling me back. It took me a few days of digging but I found all that out thru the grapevine.

Check in with your local grapevine and see if you can learn anything and get a Plan B farrier lined up in case your current farrier has been disabled for some reason.
 
#9 ·
The horse world is a VERY difficult place.

You shouldn't expect her to be on time, at all, heck the farrier we use always says "AROUND 1-130". As you should know, horses aren't on a schedule, and when you are doing x y z with multiple horses it won't work out perfectly with your little written out schedule. Or maybe someone threw a shoe, and they're stopping really quick in between. Expecting a farrier to be there at an exact time is unrealistic and unfair imo, if they can I'm sure they will but life happens and imo it is pretty obvious with that sort of profession that the times are guidelines (vet even moreso). If one of your horses wasn't good would you expect her to do 3 feet then say "nope, leaving now so I can be on time for my next appointment, see you in 5 weeks!".

There are numerous reasons she hasn't responded and ultimately you should have written it down. I'd just call your work and explain the situation.

I think it's a very valid point if you need to be there or not. We are always there to be polite but when we have forgotten we've come home to a note and a bill saying sorry I missed you and 4 trimmed horses. Especially those farriers that come with a whole entourage, that's why those people are there, to handle the horses.

If they are easy horses which it sounds like leave them in halters in an easy to catch area and a check (or cash) waiting, maybe a little tip if you are worried. Heck at work half the farriers come after I leave for the day and I was told I am not expected to "babysit" them :P.

Having her do your horse first in the day is valid too.

Honestly I'm not seeing anything that is an issue at all, things happen. Not to be rude but it sounds like you have some pretty big issues with scheduling, moreso than "liking" it if you are in a panic when it's not perfect or something changes, so maybe realize that and try not to hold it against others. It is much easier and happier to enjoy having a schedule without being frantic about it.
 
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