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Farrier work

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bverellen

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Wondering how many folks on this board do their own trims and shoeing, and who hires it out.

And what is your deciding factor on whether your horse(s) go barefoot or get shoed?

I started apprenticing with a local guy so that I could take care of my own, and possibly sideline a bit.

It sure is some hard work compared to other ways of making money, but worth the education.

bart. †
 
There's a vet from Cuba who works on a ranch nearby who does the little shoeing work we ever have. For the most part though, our horses run around in bare feet.
 
I stopped shoeing a few years ago, and have gotten along fine. Walking around on decomposed granite keeps their feet in good shape, and I don't ride really hard, so it works fine for me.
 
I shoe my horses all summer long. We run in some pretty tough country. I would love to get away from shoes cost me 60 dallors for one horse usually have my main one done every 45 days.
 
We trim our own, and the odd time we get one shoed in the winter. The vet gets a farrier in every tuesday and you just line up. Can't remember what she charges.
 
Lots of farriers around here. Mostly they work on Jumping horses but a few specialize in ranch horses. We don't have a lot of need for a farrier any more. A whole different set of shoes and rates for a ranch horse and a Spruce Meadows jumping horse. Thankfully they still like doing ranch horses.
 
When we were in SW Montana we had to keep horses shod all summer
because of the rocks. I was at a horse sale at the Kidd Cattle Co. in
Three Forks a long time ago, when the auctioneer said he'd been all
over the world crying sales and the worse place for a horses feet was
the mountain and foothill areas of SW Montana. When you have to have
one set of shoes taken off and another set put immediately on,
you better have a guy who knows what he is doing.

Here in SE Montana, we shoe our horses once in the spring and that's
usually all we need. Maybe once more, but the important thing is to
not let the horses feet overgrow the shoe. We became good friends
with Gene Ovnicek (www.hopeforsoundness.com) and we were
very lucky that he shod
our horses in SW Montana for 5 years. That was his advice, to not
let the foot overgrow the shoe. When you only put shoes on occasionally,
a real good farrier is not quite as important. We called others and they
brought their horses to our place for Gene to shoe. He studied those
horses feet and how they changed and that was some of the information
he used to make horseshoes. He's the Natural Balance guy.

And I learned from him that shoeing is not just to keep the feet from chipping out, but for support of the hoof wall, sole, etc.
 
I trim our own horses, part of the time. The other part we have some one else do it. I can keep the feet flat about every other time. As far as shoes, we put them on when we go out to Fort Robinson in the fall to help work Buffalo, and I have 1 horse I try to keep shod if I ride him hard. He just has bad feet that crack and break terrible. I have an appointment to get him shod, and the rest of them touched up, here in a couple weeks.
Never shoe anything in the winter, unless I keep them up and ride all winter. The ice and snow build up to the point where its hard on the horses legs if you turn em out with shoes on..
 
i take all our horses to a farrier about 12 miles away. we only put shoes on the arena horses or if it is needed for corrective shoeing.
 
I'll pull and trim but usually have somebody else slap the shoes on will haul a couple to a outfit that shoes hundreds of horses , they use a table, $50 on the tableand it done as fast as you unload and load, they shoe 5-6 horses a hour some times more
 
We do all our own trimming on the horses we are riding, although I don't claim to be an expert. Our soft Sandhills are very forgiving and those horses that are not being ridden, don't get trimmed at all. They keep themselves broken off fairly well.

I never shoe a horse in this country, even in the winter. The few times I've been around shoes was when we hunted elk in the Wilderness of Wyoming. I really appreciated the need for them there. One other time I had a hired man who insisted on putting sharp shoes on his personal horse. I was so nervous about his horse kicking and injuring mine, I was glad when those shoes came off.

I respect and appreciate a good farrier. They work extremely hard and their knowledge can be be valuable for corrective work. In this case I agree with what they say on TV, "Don't try this at home."
 
I can't afford to have myself or my horse crippled up for very long,so I hire it done........shoeing anyway..........can trim a little off once and a while if need be though

don't really need shoes in my area,but went to the Black Hills in SD last summer..........really need them there
 
We have to keep our horses shod. I'll put them on in a couple of weeks and install new ones every 45 days or so. The rocky country we chase cows in is pretty tough on a horses feet although I have seen a couple over the years that were hard footed enough that they got by ok.
 
Don't really believe in shoeing, my dad has been a horseman/cowboy for his whole life and can trim a horse better than any farrier I have seen (maybe I am a bit biased too :D ) Shoeing does have it's place however, but it can ruin the sidewall of the hoof. It is good to give a horse a break from it every now and again. Never have had my horses shod and we are in the Black Hills, just have some real good feet on our horses!! My husband does all the trimming on our horses now, he had a few tips from my dad, but had done it before and does a real good job!! I think the going rate for trimming around here is $35 to $45/horse.
 

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