Does anyone do their own farrier work?

[minihorse]

I was reading on a friends FB page about them taking their full sized horses to farrier school for owners.

I was wondering does anyone do that for their minis? Seems as if it would be a good skill to have.

 

[chandab]

I trim my own due to necessity, not desire. It's gotten increasingly harder to find a good farrier, and even harder to find one that can do minis, and third will travel out here, so I started doing my own about 6 years ago. I do ok, some are easier to take care of than others.
I did them occasionally before the last good farrier moved, and he taught me quite a bit while he was here; but I've pretty much been on my own the last 6 years, last 3 farriers I tried were ok with the saddle horses, but horrible with the minis, and one quit calling back (if he didn't want to drive out here, for which he charged a nominal travel fee, he should have just said so, instead of taking the coward's way out and just stopped returning calls).
It's not an easy task, so if you have a good farrier, hang on to him, he's worth his weight in gold.

 

[Cayuse]

If I was younger I would like learn the basics of how to trim. I have rasped mine once in awhile, but only to knock off a sharp corner or two. I couldn't do more than that now with my arthritis. It's hard work. Those guys earn there $.
I live in an area where there is an abundance of farriers, but none of them want to work on minis. I have a farrier now who is happy to do them but I am not that thrilled with the job he does sometimes. The best farrier I ever had had to quit the business as it was too much for him physically :-(. He was wonderful. He owned minis himself so understood them pretty well.

 

[Minimor]

I have been trimming all the minis since 2001--when we first got them--and had been trimming our Morgans quite awhile before that. At one time we had a good farrier--i learned to trim from him, and learned therapeutic trimming for a badly foundered horse from him and one vet we had at the time When that good farrier retired we had trouble getting a good replacement and after trying 3 or 4 that were absolutely bad at their jobs I gave up and started doing all the trimming myself.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

I am one that found a farrier , worth his weight in gold. This is one thing I've always feared, if I was to trim incorrectly , it could be a disaster.

Like Chanda & Minimor, If he was to retire or move on, It would be a different story. A good farrier is so hard to find & if I was to learn, I would want to learn from my current farrier.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

It is an art. I tried doing my own at first but could not do it correctly. You might have a gift and be wonderfully successful. I've been fortunate to find barefoot trimmers so have abandoned my own trial and error attempt.

 

[MindySchroder]

I have been trimming my own since 2001 as well. My father-in-law is a farrier and when I had more than 5 horses he said I needed to learn to do it myself So I did! I shadowed him and worked with him on my own and other horses. I shadowed a few barefoot farriers and took any chance I could to learn more about trimming. I trimmed my own and that morphed into trimming for many others. It was how I earned my bread and butter (or at least my horse's bread and butter) for a number of years.

This past weekend I was at a hoof trimming clinic taught by David Landreville. I highly suggest taking a look at his page on Facebook. You can find him both by his name and also by looking for On the Vertical. He posts pictures of hooves that he has rehabilitated as well as just plain beautiful feet. He also has some minis on there. He believes, as I do, that mini feet are the same as horse feet are the same as draft feet. If a farrier tries to tell you otherwise, then run! LOL! The difference is that minis aren't heavy enough to do any self wearing, unless they live on gravel 24/7, but even then they can't really maintain an excellent foot. Of course a draft horse is better at doing that once they have a balanced foot because of their weight. But as far as the look of a hoof, the shape, the internal and external foot, the mini has the exact same foot as any other horse.

https://www.facebook.com/david.landreville.1

https://www.facebook.com/On-the-Vertical-577360549041463/

My hubby asks me if other horse people lay in bed looking at horse hooves before they go to sleep at night. LOL! I tell him if they are interested in having an all around healthy horse they do!

 

[minihorse]

Sounds like you are all being smart for your minis. Are minis harder due to being shorter?

 

[Willow Flats]

My farrier works on mine on his knees wearing knee pads.

 

[Cayuse]

Same here! My farrier is one tall dude, but he's not above getting down and crawling around on the ground to do a trim.

 

[lilly the pony girl]

I have trimmed my minis hooves before but generally I let the farrier do it. I only trim there hooves if its necessary.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Yep. Mine gets down on the ground with mine, too. I do find that farriers, being artistic, can be touchy about their work. When I have questions about his work or make suggestions, I have to be very diplomatic. And not all of them really even particularly like horses.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

The thing I really like about my farrier is the fact he talks me through each hoof as he is trimming.

Many years ago, I tried a farrier for the first time. He pretty much told me (after about 10 mins) , he didn't like questions. So I politely untied the horse and showed him where the front gate was.

If a farrier just wants to take your money and not discuss anything , he/she is not the right farrier for you. Just my opinion

 

[chandab]

Yep. Mine gets down on the ground with mine, too. I do find that farriers, being artistic, can be touchy about their work. When I have questions about his work or make suggestions, I have to be very diplomatic. And not all of them really even particularly like horses.

I've seen many in the "not all of them particularly like horses", and always wondered why someone would get into a back breaking job if they weren't fond of who and what they worked with...

 

[Marsha Cassada]

My dil is a certified barefoot farrier. We've talked before about how some farriers don't really seem to like horses. She said they enjoy working for themselves and the flexible hours. And I think they enjoy solving problems.
My farrier will answer questions if I ask him and explain things, but he doesn't volunteer anything. But, he also doesn't burden me with the story of his life, either, so that is a good thing. If he sees something I need to keep an eye on, like separation, he discusses it with me. I've been very pleased with my horses' hooves, so that is the main thing.
My dil tried to show me how to trim several years ago, but I just don't have the knack. I have to pay the professional.

 

[diamond c]

I do my own also although Im very good at it but its hard to find a farier to do minis around here

 

[minihorse]

The thing I really like about my farrier is the fact he talks me through each hoof as he is trimming.

Many years ago, I tried a farrier for the first time. He pretty much told me (after about 10 mins) , he didn't like questions. So I politely untied the horse and showed him where the front gate was.

If a farrier just wants to take your money and not discuss anything , he/she is not the right farrier for you. Just my opinion

I like that your farrier explains as he goes. I'd want that so I could be a partner in keeping my minis (if I had any) the best possible for them.

I like that you showed that non-question guy the gate. Good for you.