Do you hire a farrier for your horses or do th job yourself?

Question

I do the job myself with a farrier as help since I have 15 horses

Answer 1

I do my own.

We are barefoot here.  If it came to shoes...I would hire.

I did learn from my farrier and a certified barefoot trimmer.  We attended clinics also.  

I still have my farrier come out once a year and 'check' my work and make any suggestions or corrections.

He's happy...and I'm happy...and the horses are happy.  Works out good all around.

Answer 2

Do it as long as the farrier approve, but I seen butcher jobs by people that can redern a horse useless. Even if you are good at it a minor mistake can spiral. Ask your Farrier, may be do some work with him on other horses and see. Under his guidance you can perfect the skill. I recommend going to a 2 week school avaiable at most farrier schools. It teaches the bones, angles, measurements, etc. and give you the proper tools comfortable to your hands.

Also, i see this a lot, make sure to measure and draw the angles on the hoof. People who do now do this will make a fatal mistake. Eventually a small dot or mark with the nippers will do, but be sure the angle is right for each hoof.

If you farrier thinks is fine, than trusting he's good, i don't see a problem.

Answer 3

This is actually a huge pet peeve of mine.  I think too many people play farrier, think all they have to do is go snip a little hoof off here and there and voila, they job is complete.  I pay a farrier, always have, always will.  Hooves are too important to s***w up.  I know it looks simple, but it's not.  Sure, you CAN do it yourself, but I've seen enough people whose "farrier's taught them" do their horses or have gone to a couple clinics here and there and those horses have bad feet--wrong angles, no heels, etc.  I had a friend that did all these backyard clinics that supposedly even taught him to hot shoe, and the first time he did my old mare he quicked her so bad that she bled for a couple minutes and was lame for six weeks (which concurrently made her afraid of the farrier.  Fantastic).

There is a reason there are special farrier schools, and why you can't get through them in a couple of weekends.  Farrier work should be left to people with PROPER training, not just a few lessons by another farrier or a clinic.  But then again I am very picky about my horses' feet compared to a lot of people.  But there is a good reason why they are NEVER lame.  The money I pay the farrier is worth that.

Answer 4

Higher a farrier. I dont want to mess my horse up!

Answer 5

I agree entirely with midnight_ashes on this one; not only is trimming and/or shoeing your horse illegal, but you can cause enormous damage.  There is a reason it takes years to qualify as a farrier - it is extremely complex work balancing a hoof correctly, and by having a stab at it yourself you're putting your horses at high risk of lameness, as well as undermining a very valuable profession.

It IS definitely cruelty, and the RSPCA, BHS, WCF and FRC all take it very seriously.

Answer 6

I hire a farrier the nice thing is though we get discounts considering we are a training barn so we have lots of horses that get done over 28 horses sometimes more considering we have another barn with 8 or 9 stalls in it we try to leave empty in case of emergancy's..

Answer 7

Only a registered farrier should dress/shoe horse's hooves. Unless you are registered and qualified, you are just asking for trouble. This is actually regarded as animal cruelty. You're lucky we don't know where you live, you'd be reported.

Answer 8

I do all my own farrier work and always have.  I currently take care of about 7 of my horses, and 3 of a friends so 10 horses.  as far as being qualified that is absolute nonsense.  You may have to be certified to work on someone elses for money, but not to work on your own.  That is absolute rubbish.

Oh and since you are being overseen by a farrier no one here has any business criticizing you in the least!

And as for as how complicated it is....I have slways found it quite simple.  Of course it helps to have an understanding of the horses foot and how it travels, and a professional nest door to get advice from.  But all in all I have never had a problem and have only made one mistake when mismade horse shoe nail bent the wrong way.  That was the only time I have ever quicked a horse and I have done my best to make sure I never do it again.

Answer 9

I trim mine, sometimes. I have 29 horses & only trim a few if my shoer can't get out. I was shown by a farrrier.

I think It's a crock that someone would report you for triming your own horses!! I live in Las Vegas & I trim my own horses!!!!!! E mail me & I'll tell you my address to call on me!!!

Answer 10

you really need to get a farrier to do it

Answer 11

hire i dont know how to do it but i would like to learn

midnight_ashes if she knows how to do it let her do it there her horses

Answer 12

hire

its cheaper to have a pro do it rather than having to hire one to fix mistakes on the hooves and a vet to fix any other problems that came because of poor shoeing

Answer 13

farrier. Our farrier did learn and get his licence and all that by his farrier teaching him though, if your farrier knows what he is talking about and says you can do it then go for it. Its always nice to have an expert check to make sure its all good, if you have a horse with problem feet though make sure to get a professional to do it for you.

Answer 14

Farrier deffinitely.

Answer 15

As long as it's your own horses it's not illegal.

It's not something I would do because fariers train for about 6 years to learn how to balence the foot properly, however if your farier has taught you and is happy that you know what you're doing with a regular trim then I don't see a problem. The fact that you also have the farier there and do the horses with him means that if you are unsure of something complicated comes up then you have the extra specialist support there.

Answer 16

the only way I would do it myself is if I'd completed the education and internship necessary to even think about messing with the hoof of any horse....no hoof, no horse.

Answer 17

I am not a licensed farrier, and I trim my own horses feet.

I do not shoe, instead I reference Pete Ramey and Jaime Jackson's books and do the work myself.  I have three horses, and since I have learned these methods and started to apply the theory, I have not had a horse take a lame step.

I have three horses: a draft, a 1/2 draft and a QH.

I took a 20 hour clinic w Pete Ramey, had a farrier help answer some of the initial questions, then did a lot of research, bought a lot of books, and talked to a lot of people to educate myself.

Midnight, if you'd like to report me, knock yourself out!

nothing I do to or for my animals is cruel.  you might want to check the statutes on animal cruelty before you go hollering at folks.

Answer 18

we have a farrier come out but i only have 4 horses! the reason why we have the farrier come out is not enough time(im not saying that 15 horses doesnt take up alot of your time! lol). usually i have to work other horses while one is getting his feet done and my mom is kinda nervous around horses which makes them nervous and it all goes down hill from there.so she cant hold them without me being there. otherwise i think doing your own horses feet is much better than paying someone to do it, as long as you know what your doing its fine(and it saves you tons of money!)

Answer 19

Hire. I don't have the training nor experience to do it myself, though in the future, once college and all of that jazz is done, I hope to get some personal training in it and do like you say and work with my farrier: save time and money, and get a little knowledge in the making :)