Hey guys,
I just had the worst experience with a farrier about two months ago! Woman came very highly recommended as a Barefoot Trimmer from folks on the ranch where I board. She was fairly new to some people on the ranch, but I figured I would give her a try. Now I have a horse who was an abused horse, and you CAN NOT hit him. You can tell him stand, or yell at him and he will understand that he does something wrong, but if you hit him he gets VERY scared and will not let you near him! I had also only had him for about 4 months when she came to work on him. He had his feet done twice before when I had him though with a different farrier, and did perfectly with no issues. Well this woman comes along, and I even tell her that he was abused and needed a soft and understanding hand with NO hitting. So he does just fine with all three feet until she gets to his back right hoof. He was trying to put his foot down and she didn't even make a noise at him before hitting him FULL SWING with her filing rasp! She hit him right onthe corner of his hip, not even on the meaty part. After that he freaked out and stepped sideways and then would not let her near him. Well we both decided to have her come down on another day to finish the job. I paid her $40, and dhe left....that was my mistake. She never called back. I tried calling her for over 6 weeks every 2-4 days to try and get her out to the ranch to do his last foot. She finally got a hold of me 6 weeks later via TEXT (very unproffessional) and told me that she did not want to be behind my horse. I had no problem with that, but I wish she would have told em that BEFORE I had to wait to try to even get a hold of her. Then I sent her a text back, and requested a refund since the job was never done, and she actually calls me and yells at me like a child. Saying things like "I have no horse sense" and "my horse is too wild to be handled and tried to kill her". She also claims that he was KICKING at her face, and even had a mud mark on her hat, but I didnt see onee mark on her, plus I was holding him, I wouldve known if he kicked (pluys hes a big strong quarterhorse, i fhe wanted to kick her he WOULD have, and even so he is a "flight" not "fight" horse). She never finished the job, never gave me a refund, and verbally abused me and physically abused my horse. I just had a new farrier look at his feet yesterday to do them, and my horse was perfect as before.
Has anyone else had horror stories with their farrier? I was absolutely appalled by this woman's behavior and even had to report her for her actions! Thoughts?
PS: Before any farriers reply, I did apologize to her the day of for him "acting up", though he definitely was not kicking. It was the end of the day, so I think she had a rough day and ended up taking it out on the horse, and then later on me. I am very concerned for the welfare of my farrier when they are under my horse, and I would never put them under a horse that I believed might cause them harm. Though I am still concerned about the welfare of my horse as well, I do understand in full that the hroses training is my job and not the farriers. Plus I told her the whole scoop about my horse and his background, so that she knew that he could not be hit, and she did so anyway.
I just had the worst experience with a farrier about two months ago! Woman came very highly recommended as a Barefoot Trimmer from folks on the ranch where I board. She was fairly new to some people on the ranch, but I figured I would give her a try. Now I have a horse who was an abused horse, and you CAN NOT hit him. You can tell him stand, or yell at him and he will understand that he does something wrong, but if you hit him he gets VERY scared and will not let you near him! I had also only had him for about 4 months when she came to work on him. He had his feet done twice before when I had him though with a different farrier, and did perfectly with no issues. Well this woman comes along, and I even tell her that he was abused and needed a soft and understanding hand with NO hitting. So he does just fine with all three feet until she gets to his back right hoof. He was trying to put his foot down and she didn't even make a noise at him before hitting him FULL SWING with her filing rasp! She hit him right onthe corner of his hip, not even on the meaty part. After that he freaked out and stepped sideways and then would not let her near him. Well we both decided to have her come down on another day to finish the job. I paid her $40, and dhe left....that was my mistake. She never called back. I tried calling her for over 6 weeks every 2-4 days to try and get her out to the ranch to do his last foot. She finally got a hold of me 6 weeks later via TEXT (very unproffessional) and told me that she did not want to be behind my horse. I had no problem with that, but I wish she would have told em that BEFORE I had to wait to try to even get a hold of her. Then I sent her a text back, and requested a refund since the job was never done, and she actually calls me and yells at me like a child. Saying things like "I have no horse sense" and "my horse is too wild to be handled and tried to kill her". She also claims that he was KICKING at her face, and even had a mud mark on her hat, but I didnt see onee mark on her, plus I was holding him, I wouldve known if he kicked (pluys hes a big strong quarterhorse, i fhe wanted to kick her he WOULD have, and even so he is a "flight" not "fight" horse). She never finished the job, never gave me a refund, and verbally abused me and physically abused my horse. I just had a new farrier look at his feet yesterday to do them, and my horse was perfect as before.
Has anyone else had horror stories with their farrier? I was absolutely appalled by this woman's behavior and even had to report her for her actions! Thoughts?
PS: Before any farriers reply, I did apologize to her the day of for him "acting up", though he definitely was not kicking. It was the end of the day, so I think she had a rough day and ended up taking it out on the horse, and then later on me. I am very concerned for the welfare of my farrier when they are under my horse, and I would never put them under a horse that I believed might cause them harm. Though I am still concerned about the welfare of my horse as well, I do understand in full that the hroses training is my job and not the farriers. Plus I told her the whole scoop about my horse and his background, so that she knew that he could not be hit, and she did so anyway.