What is the average Ferrier cost for a shoe reset in this area(Eastern Ontario)? What schedule do find works best(4, 5, 6, 8 week, etc..., riding every second day)? Thanks for any input.
that's understandable when changing from winter to summer and so on...have been reading the other posts about ferrier's but not many people mention pricing and schedules.
I pay a bit more than most, and know I do. But I find decent farriers are hard to come by and hard to keep.
Trim all around: $30 Front Reset and back trim: $100 Two new front shoes and back trim: $130
My guys are on a 6 week schedule, although could easily go to 5 in the summer, and are ridden only on dirt 2-3 times a week. The get new shoes every other visit (3 months).
6 week sounds about the norm...I agree if you find a ferrier you like they are worth every penny! I have heard anwhere from $90-$150 for a reset but wasn't sure what this included( front and back, trimming?), this can make a difference over a year (approx. 9-10 visits) Starting to get a better idea what to look for.
Sorry...I didnt mention that yes a reset does involve some trimming...I just assumed that was the norm. However, does that mean that some farriers consider a reset just taking the shoe off and putting in back on without really touching the foot? How's that supposed to work, afterall, the foot does grow?!?! Weird.
Posts: 294 | Location: Ottawa, ON | Registered: October 25, 2005
I pay less than all above quotes, and I have an excellent farrier who is always on time, always comes out and resets quickly if a shoe is thrown, and my vets have even commented on how well balanced my horses feet are. If you are shopping for a farrier, don't base your decision on price only. I find you can spot certain peoples work from a mile away, each farrier has their own style and what they like to see a foot look like, sometimes trimming so the foot appears long in the toe and too low in the heel(which I hate, btw). Check out some horses in your area, and if you like how their feet are done, ask who the farrier is and get the #. I've had my guy for about 8 years and I would not switch from him for any reason! All six of my horses have gorgeous feet, thanks to my farrier.
Posts: 195 | Location: Dunrobin | Registered: June 28, 2006
Originally posted by Super Son: Sorry...I didnt mention that yes a reset does involve some trimming...I just assumed that was the norm. However, does that mean that some farriers consider a reset just taking the shoe off and putting in back on without really touching the foot? How's that supposed to work, afterall, the foot does grow?!?! Weird.
No, they should never just take it off and put it back on again. They have to trim the nail to reset it. Just wanted to make sure you understood.
I've had my guy for about 8 years and I would not switch from him for any reason!
I have to agree with up-at-5. He is excellent. I had that same farrier too. The only reason I don't still have him is that I was going to be moving out of the area and he couldn't follow.
What does that mean? When I watch trims I see the farrier sort of reshape the foot, take off any flares or deal with missing pieces. They don't use the same nail holes either (which you can see if you look at the foot when it's finished). There's a lot more to feet than one might think! I was just originally confused because I thought she was saying that her farrier DIDN'T actually touch the feet, he just pulled the shoe off and tapped it back on...which would be wrong lol...but I get it now, sorry lol
Posts: 294 | Location: Ottawa, ON | Registered: October 25, 2005
How long you keep on the shoes depends on how fast the horse grows foot. At one point my old mare went through this phase where she was going every 3-4 weeks before she would start forging and becoming long. (Thank god the hoof growth then slowed again) Then we have a pony at our farm that goes around 2- 2.5 months before needing a reset because he has little to no hoof growth. A usual time period is around 6-8 weeks though but again it depends. Once your horse gets a few resets and has shoes on for awhile you'll find that out really quickly what the average amount of time you can keep the shoes on.
Slow hoof growth is a very bad sign, it mean little to no circulation and blood flow in the lower leg. A healthy normal horse will grow 1/4" of hoof wall in 4 weeks. I keep most of my clients on a 4-6 week cycle depending on work load.
The pony that has really slow hoof growth is a 25 year old Shetland and he's used as a backyard pony for pony rides now. He's always had that problem and he's always been sound. He's happy at our barn and there's nothing we can do really except give him a bunch of circulation meds so we're just focused on letting him grow old and die happy on our farm.
Mystic-what circulation meds? The frog acts like a small heart for the lower leg and hoof. With each step the frog pumps blood. Good movement, diet and turnout will help circulation and hoof growth. I am not aware of any medication that does this... Below the knee there is no muscle, only tendons so meds would not help with hoof circulation problems-only open blood vessels.
>I think Mystic meant that if they were to bother at his age, that would be the only option.
>I've never had a horse who need shoes yet. So for a trim I've paid an average of $30. That seems to be the average all around.
I like a farrier who is educated and who is concerned about the health of my horse as well as her hooves. I don't want a farrier who is more concerned about conforming to radical ideas and guidelines that do not necessarily work for all horses, whether it be barefoot or shod.
I've had problems now with both overgrown hooves and hooves trimmed too short.
I also like to question my farrier, so they must be willing to have discussions with me about hoof health.
I am seriously considering going to Farrier school. I have taken a very strong interest since my problems with some farriers. Although, I had a really really great one a while back, but he could follow when I moved barns
My mare was on a 5 week schedule and she had been on 4 and 6 before that as well.
Circulation medications for the lower legs and feet include isoxiprine (sp) and asprin...both have been prescribed to a horse of mine with very bad feet by Dr. Butler.
Dr. Butler is our vet as well and he gave us that option. We decided since he was in no pain of any sort and it's not like he is a big show horse or anything doing hard work causing a lot of wear on the foot or the shoes wearing down and having to be reset just to leave him be.
We did however put my old mare on I believe it may have been the "isoxiprine" (it was a really yummy smelling strawberry flavour lol) due to her having slow foot growth and thin soles. We only had her on the meds for a short while (until the bottle ran out) and she has really good soles now and that is when she had the rediculous amount of foot growth where we would reset her almost every 3 weeks for around 6-8 months. After that it slowed down a bit but she has a good rate of foot growth now having to be reset every 5-6 weeks where it was 8-9. I'm a true believer that that stuff does work.
