In this pic I am working with Dr. Loafman of Equine Medical Associates

Do you know what you call a farrier without a wife?  Uninsured!

I have come to the conclusion that people think that farriers are independently wealthy.  They seem to forget that their payment to us is our pay check.  We don’t get a pay check on Friday for all the work we have done by some charitable Samaritan that donates money to us so we can go out into the world and do our job for free.  Now, now I know that is hard for some to believe but I am telling ya pilgrim, it is the truth.

Another thing that I would like to clear up is that we do have to pay for our supplies.  No, there is no “farrier supply fairy”.  I know, I know, you think I am pulling your leg.  Really I am not.  We DO have to pay for our supplies.  Usually cash because if we charge it and have to pay interest on the purchases that cost is passed on to the customer.

Out of that check also comes care and custody insurance, liability insurance, diesel, and if we aren’t married to a wife with insurance benefits, medical insurance also has to come out of that.  Vehicle insurance and maintenance also has to be paid.  The list goes on.

One of my favorite is “Can you hold that check for two weeks”.  (That is usually asked after you have shod the horse all the way around and it is 150 degrees in the shade.)  I promptly call all my creditors and ask them if they can hold my check for two weeks.  NOT!

Another favorite is when you tell the client you are raising your prices by $5 and they act like you kicked them in the crotch and gave them a wedgie all at the same time.  Meanwhile they have a two horse trailer, a four horse trailer and a brand new dually sitting in the drive way well worth over $100,000 but I am asking too much when I want to raise my prices by five dollars.  Silly me, what was I thinking?  I should be beat with a wet noodle.

“I have 10 horses so what kind of discount are you going to give me?”  The same discount that the gas station gives me when I buy 30 gallons of diesel.   The guy with the Prius just put 11 gallons of gas in his car so I should get a discount.  Right?  I am sorry but it takes the same amount of work to do horse number 1 as it does for me to do horse number 10 but by that time my back is threatening to commit suicide.

I could go on all night but time escapes me and I have to shoe ponies in the morning so I need to put my underworked, over charging, lazy arse to bed.

In closing I would just like to remind everyone that shoeing horses is hard work.  They say it takes a “weak mind and a strong back”.  Remember that your payment to them is their “paycheck” and they need that to pay for their supplies and bills.  I once had an old seasoned farrier tell me that the best tool one can have is a 5 gallon bucket.  Ok, I bit and said why.  He said when you are done you turn that bucket upside down, take a seat and tell them you aren’t leaving until you get paid for your services.

Yes I am a whiner and I will take a little whine with that cheese!  Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the ramblings (or whining) of an old farrier.  God bless!