Conference noted::equitation

    Hi Nancy,
    
    I think thats about the going rate for farriers nowadays, considering
    how many horses are around, they can afford to be high priced. 
    At the track, I paid $38 for 4 aluminum racing flats, and pay $60
    for 4 riding horse flats.  In winter, I pay $75 for 2 borium with
    pads.  I usually try to wait until the end of December before I
    put the winter shoes on, then I don't end up having to reset them
    before winter is over.  I just had 2 fronts put on my mare, and
    a trim behind for $40.  It definitly isn't cheap!

    We are paying $80 or $85 this year.  I never went thru this before,so
    I don't know what its getting me. 
    
    Michele

    Handmade shoes for my horse cost $70.  More if I use pads.
    
    Trimming is usually $20 or $30.  

    Cost has been $30.00 to have two horses trimmed.
    Friendly advice and info for free!

    Am I in for shoe shock?  My father is a retired farrier so I never
    had to pay for shoeing when I was younger.  However, I haven't had
    a horse for the past 4 years.  I just got one this summer and I
    have had him shod twice.  The first shoeing was the shoes all around
    and pads for the front for $50.00.  The second shoeing was for shoes
    all around, pads in the front (I think those were re-set) and trailers
    in the back for $43.00.
    
    I have another shoeing scheduled for the end of December for borium
    and from the looks of these prices for borium maybe I should take
    out a loan.
    
    Karen
    

    Again I find myself lucky to live in PA not MASS or NH!
    My farrier charges $10 for a trim, $30 for a reset, $40 for plain
    shoes, $50 for borium shoes, and $5 extra for snow pads on both
    fronts. He is the best around and most others are within $2 to $5
    dollars of his prices.
    
    Sandy
    

    I am paying $25.00 for a full trim,
    	        $35.00 for shoes only on fronts and
    		$45.00 for four shoes.
    
    la
    

    I  am a part time farrier.  I have been shoeing since 1980. I was
    a full time farrier for 2 1/2 years.  Went to shoeing school,
    apprenticed under a good farrier etc..  Shoeing horses is the hardest
    physical work I have ever done.  When you pay the shoeing bill you
    are paying mostly for the labor.  If a farrier buys his supplies
    in bulk the price of shoes etc. are small compared with the price
    of the labor.  I get $50.00 to shoe a horse, which includes 4 new
    shoes.  Pads, clips, borium etc are extra.  the price of 4 shoes
    is approx. $8.00, nail a few cents, gas, wear on tools all add up.
    insurance if the shoeing is your main job, truck expenses etc. all
    need to be factored in.  After all this is include a farrier is
    making about 25.00 a horse.

   This past weekend I paid $82 for borium shoes and snow pads on
   all four. That's in Central Mass. Now I hope it warms up enough
   (above 10 deg F would be nice) so we can ride without out fear of 
   frostbite! Brrrrrr... :^) 
   

    re .9 - Where in Central Mass?
    I live in the Templeton/Athol area but my farrier is from Hadley. His
    name is Max.
    He's one of two farriers that come to my stable so I did have a choice.
    Max does a much better job of shoeing than the other farrier and I'm 
    quite please with the way he handles the horses (God forbid anyone
    hurts my Jasper!). 
    Anyway, for a trim + 4 new shoes = $45. (I asked for clips and he
    didn't charge me extra).
    Since I already have Jasper's borium shoes from 3 years ago (the borium
    cleats may have to be redone), I'm not expecting a big $70 - $80 bill.
    
    			Cindy
    

    The horse is in Sterling, the farrier is from West Newbury.
    Apparently these were her first borium shoes-- she was funny, wasn't 
    quite sure *what* was on her feet, and walked strangely for a while! 
    This shoeing was all new shoes and pads. With luck we will get good 
    mileage out of them!

    k.

    
    I usually pay about $50 for flat shoes and closer to $70 if I want them 
    tapped for studs.  
    
    A few weeks ago, one of my horses threw a shoe, and my blacksmith
    couldn't come out, so I had another farrier who was out at the farm
    one day tack it back on for me - he charged me TWENTY BUCKS!
    
    I mean, it's not that big a deal but I was shocked.  Most times
    they'll do that for free, or five bucks or something.  It's not like
    I asked him to supply the shoe or anything (?)
    
    Amy
    

    Its fourteen english pounds in the south of England, dont know how
    that converts into dollars.  Thats for four new shoes (cold shod)
    a little bit more expensive for hot shod but not a lot about a pound
    or two.
    
    Also, the rates you are being charged for livery (board as you call
    it) are astronomical.  We pay 7 pounds a week for just grass and
    stable (even though they are kept out during summer), and 12 pounds
    for winter livery, which includes stable, straw, food, hay and the
    guy there brings them in at night, mucks them out and rugs them
    up and turns them out during the day.
    
    Does anybody know how many dollars to a pound or vice verce, I would
    then be able to convert the prices you talk about and get some idea
    of the sums of money involved.
    
    Barbara
    

    Re. .13
    
    The thorny question of costs must depend very much on the area 
    in which one lives.  I too live in the South of England, but at a 
    rough guess I pay half as much again for my pony's keep and 
    shoeing etc.  and I don't have such a comprehensive service.  
    I'm quite sure I could find people in the U.K. who pay even more 
    for their horses/ponies keep.
    
    Prices obviously vary from area to area, as well as country to
    country.  Is it fair to compare prices from different areas ?
        
    Judy
    
    (Who's bank manager wishes her pony lived on fresh air !!)

   2.20 Canadian dollars = 1 pound sterling
   1.83 Canadain dollars = 1 US dollar
    
    My maths runs out at this point.
    
    LM

    Due to my wonderful calculator, I attempted to convert the english
    pound in .13 to american dollars. This is what I got.
    
    .4545 pounds = .5464 american dollars
    		
                   (hint - I divided the canadian dollars so that I had 
    			   $1.00 canadian to pounds, and american dollars)
    
    At 14 pounds, that would equal $16.83 american.
    
    		
    		   ( .4545 = .5464
                        14 = x
    
    		     .4545x = 14 * .5464
    
    			  x = 14 * .5464	
                              ----------
    				.4545
    					)
    
    		Boy, has it been a long time since I did any mathematical
    		formulas!
    
    				Cindy
    
    P.S. If anyone notices discrepancies in my computation, blame my
    calculator!

    Possible easier course is to consult Boston Globe Business Section

        		$ EXCHANGE for 12/16/88
  
      		 1 pound = 1.8191 dollars, with the
    		 dollar expected to devalue over next 90 days.
    
    	- Kate

    Well, am I the biggest sucker, or are others just afraid to reply?
    I keep my horse in the high-rent district of Dover, Mass., and
    the farrier recently got $105. for new front shoes with borium and snow pads,
    and new rear shoes.
    
    I might add that my horse had "sheared heels" (a deep crack extending
    from frog all the way up to hairline of heel) for over a year and a half
    that this farrier was able to cure through analysis and careful
    corrective shoeing.  Our previous highly touted Hunter Jumper "A"
    Circuit farrier was only able to partially correct the problem (after
    a year of treatment), and make him sound, but the new guy made a few 
    changes and consistently showed up to re-shoe and re-evaluate.
    
    So, I may be a sucker, but my horse is sound, healthy, no longer
    requiring bar shoes and wedge pads, and I'm happy, too.
                
    

    
    Well, I paid $60 to have all my horses shoes pulled, feet trimmed and
    borium put on the front ones, then placed with pads back on his feet.
    Then I found out how sore he got in the rear and had to have the
    farrier out again.  He reused the set from the rear (the ones that were
    pulled 1.5 week earlier)put borium on them and put them on... to the
    tune of $50!  I though $50 was  crazy to put borium on the rear, but
    he did admit that he charged me some travel 'cuz that was the only work
    that needed doing.  
    
    I wonder how much of the 50 was travel costs. It cost me $110 for the
    whole job... not far off from the what others have paid...
    
    Dani
    

>        I wonder how much of the 50 was travel costs. 
 
    You would be surprised!!!!  Not that this is related to horses,
    but I called a guy to prune my apple trees, and out of a $300 quote,
    about $150 was for travel time, for a 15 minute trip! 
    
    Needless to say, I pruned my trees myself....

    After reading all the replies to this note I was not looking forward
    to paying my winter shoeing bill - but much to my surprise it only
    cost me $75 for four new shoes with borium, front pads and a trim for
    my pony on top of it.  The past three winters I was at a barn with an
    indoor and did not have winter shoes on my horse.  Now I have my own
    barn and no indoor -  on go the winter shoes.  I am a bit concerned
    about the stress the winter shoes seem to put on the legs.  Anyone have
    any comments on this subject.  I have the current issue of EQUS which
    has some info in it - but I would like somemore input.  
    
                                       Wendy
    
                                             

    To avoid extra stress on the legs when the weather is such that
    we don't need the borium, I have my farrier tap the shoes and I
    put in borium tipped studs.  Then I remove them when I'm done working.
        
    That way the borium is used ONLY when necessary.

    Food for thought...we had an incident with leaving the winter shoes
    on too long.  We had our fellow at home with borium as he worked
    on ice and snow.  Then we sent him down for training in an indoor
    arena.  Didn't think that the borium would cause a problem, so we
    left the shoes on (about 2 weeks old) and the trainer agreed.  He
    would have him done when his farrier came along in 3 to 4 weeks.
    Got a call from the trainer, Sirtiw's front tendons were swelling
    up (he had been there about two weeks with about an hour of
    concentrated work a day.  So off he goes to the vet.  The diagnosis
    was the shoes were causing the problem.  The borium doesn't give
    the horse the same balance as the flats do along with the fact that
    the stops are more sudden in dirt than they are on ice so there
    is more stress on the tendons with the concentrated work.
    
    Now we are careful if we send a horse from ice and snow into an
    indoor facility and we also watch when the spring comes along and
    we get more enthusiasm for riding once the ice is gone....off come
    the borium.
    

    I find this discussion on borium interesting since I use borium
    all year round with no problems. I have found that different farriers
    put it on differently. If it is put on like caulks built up in just
    4 places it can cause problems. The shoes I use are a double rim
    shoe and the borium is melted into the slot so it is just barely
    higher than the edge. I have never had any problems even with horses
    ridden 4 hours a day every day. It makes the shoes wear longer and
    I don't have them skating down the roads when I ride.
    
    My 2 cents,
    Sandy
    

The real question should not be cost, but quality of the work. I have had an 
experience where my stable companions recommended Leonne, a Ferrier, as 
providing reasonable (cheep) prices and GOOD quality workmanship. Since I had 
just purchased the horse for my daughter a month before I used this Ferrier. I 
have since learned that his work is less than good in fact it was almost 
catastrophic to the horse. The horse starting to get flacking & cracking hoofs 
and Leonne suggested that we give her a foot suppliment plus a hoof oil. To 
make a long story short, there was no improvement (at lest that I could see) 
over the next 8 weeks so I called in the VET and he just took one look and 
said the shoes where to small, they did not allow for growth.

I immediately changed Ferriers and within two months the flacking and cracking 
has gone away, the hoofs look good and the horse moves better. Oh by the way, 
the VET had me take take the horse off of the hoof supplement immediately and 
had me oil the hoofs once a week.

The Ferrier I have now is slightly higher but HE KNOWS what he is doing, I'm 
happy, the horse is happy, and my daughter is extremely happy because she now 
has a healthy horse and more riding time.

    I HAVE to question some things.. (dont everyone jump down my throat at
    once :*) )
    
    what do flacking? i assume flaking?? and the cracking hooves... were the 
    shoes and the hooves even ??  were they cracking away from the nails,
    were they growing over the shoe?? ( can you go into detail on this
    description??) 
    
    also how can shoe be too small if the shoer lines up the shoe with the
    outer wall of the hoof?? 
    
    I question all of this because I want to learn more about ILL fitting 
    shoes and lameness/leg/foot injury.. etc
    
    
    		thanks
    
    
    wendy o'
    

    
    A shoe can be too small even with it fitting to the outer wall IF the
    shoe does not extend far enough back.  Also, most farriers who shoe
    performance horses like hunters and jumpers leave room at the heal
    (set the shoe somewhat wider than the heel) so the foot has room to 
    expand without dropping over the outside edge of the shoe. 
    
    We see lots of farriers out here put shoes on that are too short (no 
    heel support) and too narrow at the heel.  The vets see lots of
    navicular disease and/or sheared heels with such shoeing. 
    
    Mary Jo

    I've been through 2 farriers who used too small/short a shoe on my mare.
    The heel always grew over the shoe, as well as the hoof wall sides,
    well before the scheduled 8 week re-shod.  
    
    My current farrier uses the correct size shoes, and I've never seen her 
    hoof grow out over the shoe.

    Re .28 - Ditto!  I've been through about 5 farriers, and all
    kept shoeing too small/short a shoe on my guy....He would
    over grow the shoe, lose the shoe well before 6-8 weeks....
    
    Lynne

    When I got my guy, his heels were terribly contracted from too small
    shoes.  I had the shoes pulled and within a couple months his feet were
    better.  Then he got a really bad stone bruise so the vet recommended
    shoes with pads until his sole healed.  Unfortunately, while he was out
    in training, the trainer's blacksmith put on shoes that were too small,
    so when I got him back he had "morgan feet" and they were cracking and
        breakup a lot.
    
    Now I just keep him barefoot all the time -- I think its harder for a
    blacksmith to do permanent damage this way.
    
    Mary