Category Archives: Farriers

farriers

THE LAZY FARRIER

May 5, 2016 Horse Farrier

I have never believed in expending more energy as a farrier than I absolutely have to, and this came home to me at a recent course where I had a young farrier attending one of my advanced courses over five days. The self-taught farrier knew he was working too hard and … Continue Reading ››

Farriers

ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE FUTURE OF THE FARRIERY INDUSTRY

May 5, 2016 Horse Farrier

Recent changes to the Australian consumer laws may very well be the catalyst for change in the trade of farriery. The new laws give the horse owner legal redress for substandard work carried out by the farrier and has far reaching impacts on our profession. … Continue Reading ››

Farriers

FARRIERS FOLLY

May 5, 2016 Horse Farrier

As farriers, we have let the horses and the horse world down. With information technology on tap, we are still not getting it right. The over abundance of horses with long toes – low heels, flares, contracted heels and Seedy Toe … Continue Reading ››

Farriers

FARRIERS VERSUS HORSE OWNERS

May 5, 2016 Horse Farrier

Farriers shoe horses, so what else do they have to learn or need to learn? They learnt their trade once, so isn’t that enough to get them through to retirement? It is a physical and tiring job and they already earn a living, so should they waste precious time and money going … Continue Reading ››

Farriers

HOW TO FIND A FARRIER

May 5, 2016 Horse Farrier

Because I flaunt my mobile phone number and my email address so freely, I receive a lot of phone calls and a lot of emails. Invariably I am either under a horse, running a course, or out of range in the outback, but I make a point of ringing every … Continue Reading ››

Farriers

IN SEARCH OF THE QUALIFIED FARRIER

May 5, 2016 Horse Farrier

I keep on having the same old recurring discussion with desperate horse owners, not only here in Australia but from quite a few other countries overseas. These owners have generally started via the internet in their search for answers to an ongoing lameness … Continue Reading ››

Farriers

WHAT SHOULD WE PAY FOR EGO? ZERO!

May 5, 2016 Horse Farrier

As a young chap learning the trade I can never remember any of my older mentors displaying the attitude that they knew all there was to know about shoeing horses. If the horse had any gait or attitude problems which caused the farrier to take twice as long to complete the job, … Continue Reading ››

Farriers

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FARRIERS GONE?

May 5, 2016 Horse Farrier

Equine Influenza in the eastern states has been a steep learning curve for everyone in the horse industry, and many have suffered financial loss because of it. The bottom line is that very few horses died because of EI, the horses are … Continue Reading ››

Farriers

A WASTED DAY ON THE JOB

May 5, 2016 Horse Farrier

A few weeks ago I had a call from a young farrier who had relocated from USA and was finding it difficult to get work in South Australia. I have a standard master file of replies for email queries from farriers considering relocating from overseas, ranging from locations, hoof care charges … Continue Reading ››

Farriers

EQUITANA DISCUSSION 2005

May 5, 2016 Horse Farrier

One of the sessions at Equitana 2005 in Melbourne in November was an open discussion on ‘To Shoe or Not to Shoe’. Panelists were Carl O'Dwyer, Grant Moon, David Farmilo, Will Miller, Dan Guerrera and Mark Rodney.