If your horses live out, and have muddy legs and the farrier is due, then you’ll know the difficulty of cleaning up before they arrive. Horses with feather are often more difficult to get ready but there are ways.
You know what it’s like; it’s been dry all week, but the day before your farrier is due the heavens open and you know that your field is going to be a swamp. There are ways to get your horse ready for the farrier without a full on bath, which may not be possible in the middle of winter.
No farrier wants to pick up muddy feet, and get swished in the face with a wet, brown tail. Read on to find out what you can do if your horse lives out and you don’t want to become persona non grata with your farrier!
How To Prepare For The Farrier
Farriers are an endangered species and have their own small networks. If you don’t fancy ending up blacklisted within the farrier community, then take note of the following:
- Punctual – If your appointment is for 10am, then have your horse ready to be seen at 10am; do not just be arriving at the yard and dragging your horse in unprepared. Apart from being disrespectful, you’ve just made the farrier late for all of his following appointments.
- Ground – Even if you don’t have your horses at a professional yard, you should still be able to provide your farrier with shelter whilst he works. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, just a hardstanding area that’s not wet and muddy. A roof to keep off the rain will also be appreciated.
- Training – Work on getting your horse to stand still and used to having it’s legs handled and lifted for as long as a trim/shoeing would take. No farrier wants to shoe a horse that is jigging around and/or striking out.
- Presence – The farrier is not a baby-sitter for your horse. Hold or tie up your horse; whichever the farrier prefers, but stay with him. You will be able to calm your horse as necessary, and put simply, it’s just polite!
- Refreshments – If you have the facilities, offer refreshments, especially if your farrier is doing several horses. Many will refuse, but it’s always nice to ask. I cold drink in the heat of summer, or a warming brew on a cold day will often make life seem more pleasant.
- Source 1
How To Prepare Your Horse For The Farrier
There are a couple of essentials when getting your horse ready for the farrier. Read on to find out the do’s and don’ts:
DO
- Be on time with your horse ready
- Provide a shelter out of the wind
- Train your horse to stand still and lift each leg politely
- Make sure your horse’s legs are mud free and dry – wet legs and hooves are unpleasant and ruin a farriers tools
- Tie up your horse’s tail
- Remove muddy or wet rugs
- Be honest: if you only hack around fields, don’t tell your farrier that you endurance ride on the roads to make yourself feel better. The work you do will affect the way they trim.
- Pay on time
DON’T
- Be late
- Present your farrier with a wet and muddy horse
- Forget to tie up your horse’s tail; especially in bad weather
- Leave your horse whilst the farrier is working
- Forget to arrange regular appointments in advance.
- Leave too long between trims/shoeing. An overgrown hoof will be more difficult to trim, and your farrier doesn’t want to get a name for doing bad work simply because you don’t have your appointments close enough for your horse’s welfare.
Horses With Feather – 5 Tips For Being Ready For The Farrier
Horses with feather are more difficult to get ready in a short space of time. There are several easy hacks that can work well, even if your horse lives out. The YouTube vid has examples.
If your hairy horse lives out and the ground is wet and muddy, then it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to simply brush off the mud. You could try these methods:
- Pigtails – If your horse’s legs are just damp and not particularly muddy, tie the feather in pigtails or bunches, out of the way, and towel/microfibre dry off the legs.
- Socks/Tubigrip – Using either tubigrips or socks with the toes cut out, pull these over your horse’s legs to bring the feather out of the way. This stops them being awkward for the farrier, but also stops them getting trimmed along with the hoof.
- Boots – If you need to hose off the legs if the mud is that bad, then towel dry and put on thermatex wraps, or a long boot that gives your farrier a dry part of the leg to hold.
- Tail-bag – If your horse’s legs are muddy it’s likely that their tail is too. It’s also likely that some of that ‘mud’ isn’t mud at all. Your farrier will appreciate the tail out of the way, even if not muddy: being whipped in the face by a horse’s tail is unpleasant, even when the tail is clean.
- Hairdryer – If you have mains power at your yard, then a quick blow dry will make your farrier far happier – that’s blow drying your horse’s legs, not your farrier’s hair-do (unless you’re a particularly good hairdresser!).
Using one, or a combination of the above will mean that your farrier has a much more pleasant time tackling your horse’s feet, and will be more likely to make return visits.
THE 5 P’s
I Can’t Find A Farrier, Help!
If you can’t find a farrier who’s willing to come and trim/shoe your horse, it might be that you’re terribly unlucky. However, look at the below list, and be honest. Remember the 5 P’s; These are 5 reasons that you may find getting and keeping a farrier difficult:
- Pain to get to – Are your horses a long way from anywhere? Is it worth the farrier driving a 50 mile round trip to trim one pony? If it’s not financially viable, then it’s unlikely that a farrier will take a loss for you. If there are other horse owners nearby, it may be worth contacting them to see if you can use their farrier, or even transport your horse to a yard nearby. If it’s a long way to go, you could try hiring their arena at the same time to make the travel time and money more worth it.
- Pain in the ar*e – Either you or the horse. If your horse misbehaves then not many farriers will want to trim/shoe them. After all, it’s their livelihood, and one kick could put them out of work without income for some time. Alternatively, are you not booking the next appointment at the end of the trim? Then texting/phoning incessantly asking them to come out with 24hrs notice? Many farriers are booked weeks in advance, and asking them to come over at the drop of a hat is neither fair nor practical.
- Presentation – Try to have somewhere dry and level, and out of the rain for your farrier to work. Do you pull your muddy, wet horse out of the field without drying off or picking out their feet? Always make an attempt to have your horse mud free and dry. It takes more time, and is more harsh on a farriers tools to trim a wet horse. Always have several towels to hand at the very least, and don’t hose off the mud 2 minutes before your farrier arrives without at least towelling dry the feet and putting on thermatex (or similar) boots so that the farrier has something dry to hold.
- Punctuality – If you’re always late, or only just dragging your horse in at the time that your appointment is scheduled, your farrier is not going to be happy. Get to the yard early, and prepare your horse. Or don’t, and prepare not to see that farrier again.
- Payment – Paying on time is a must. Preferably ask which payment your farrier would prefer. Some will prefer cash, whilst others prefer bank transfer – try to accommodate their wishes if possible.
None of the above are difficult to arrange, with the exception of distance, which is the hardest to overcome if there are very few farriers in your area. Remember though, a good farrier is difficult to find, so make their lives as easy as possible.
Conclusion
There are many reasons that you might have difficulty finding and keeping a farrier. There are a lack of farriers all over the country, so it’s unlikely you’re the only person struggling. However, if you’ve had several farriers out, and none of them wish to make a second visit, then it’s worth honestly asking yourself if there’s something you’re doing (or not doing) that is causing this problem. Word travels fast if you have a horse that plays up or is dangerous, and it is your job as an owner to overcome this with training. Regardless of the issue, try to find out why so that you can address the problem. Finding and keeping a farrier will make both yours and your horse’s lives less stressful.
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