Horseshoeing, How To Choose A Farrier
It took me a long time for this one to come to me. What are the criteria used to choose your Farrier? Interesting question isn’t it?
Over the 16 years of my career as a Farrier I have heard several times from people “My Farrier Specializes in Lame Horses”. For some reason I’ve always felt a bit inferior from hearing this, as if because I didn’t work with a lot of lame horses my abilities as a Farrier didn’t measure up. How wrong I was for thinking such a thing. Truth is I know how to work with lame horses and I understand lameness and I’m a good craftsman and trust the quality of my work.
What I realize now as a Farrier is that not having to call the Vet out is a “Good” thing – actually it’s a “GREAT” thing. It’s the best testimonial of my shoeing quality. Prevention of lameness in the first place in my mind and I’m sure your mind as well is the first priority. On that standpoint I qualify – not having one lame horse due to my shoeing method for over 16 years now is a perfect track record.
So what would you prefer- a Farrier that has a track record of working on lame horses or a Farrier that has a track record of not having one single lame horse due to his or her style and method of shoeing? Doesn’t it all seem all too convenient that a Farrier works with lame horses? At the risk of cynicism isn’t it convenient for the Farrier to be able to charge more for treatment of lameness but not know how to prevent lameness? It’s somewhat like creating his own market for his specialty- as in not preventing the lameness in the first place then getting to charge more in the future to treat the lameness.
I realize that was a low blow – but at the same time thought provoking isn’t?
So I don’t feel intimidated anymore – actually I feel somewhat superior – after all my personal record and reputation is all about “Prevention of lameness”, stopping it “Before” it happens. If you (A Farrier) were to keep focus on Prevention then you shouldn’t need a Veterinarian in the first place. How sweet is that?
So how does one choose? My vote would be for the Farrier with the least amount of lame horses to his credit.
You can become a part of and put yourself in the “prevention” category by simply visiting the website below in the Author Bio. Get your hands on the method with the 100% track record – “Not One Single Lame Horse”. Go ahead the link is below – just click there.
Thank you, happy riding and remember to Care4Horses.
Reprint rights allowed providing nothing is changed.
Author Bio: John Silveira, Farrier, Aikido practitioner, spiritualist, born and raised in San Mateo California the bay area. For information on his shoeing method and the 100% track record just go to http://Care4Horses.com and leave contact information.
thank you and remember to Care4Horses
Tags: coffin, equestrian, farrier, foot, horse, hot, joints, lameness, legs, navicular, riding, ringbone, saddle, shoe