Shoes have been a slightly different story. There are a couple of different folks that shoe at Brown Ranch and Wilbur has been on a schedule as part of Amanda's group of horses. We try to keep him on a bit of a tighter 6 weeks shoeing because he grows hoof so fast but it can stretch to a little longer and he's just fine.
We've run into a bit of an issue this last cycle getting the farrier out....let's just say when I went out to meet the vet on Thursday I was more than a little embarrassed. It's hard to not send multiple stalker like text messages daily (I kept it to once a day) when you know your trainer is trying her best to get the guys out. Still.
So when I was chatting with a few folks while waiting for the vet, and a guy comes up and introduces himself as a farrier new to the area getting his name out, I asked if he had time to do one real quick. Sure enough- shiny new shoes for Wilbur and a new farrier for Emily. AND a reminder that I'm Wilbur's person and perfectly capable of running his schedule and managing his appointments. In fact, I find that I prefer it.
For those who manage their horse's vet and farrier schedule- any scheduling tips? Are you on-site for all appointments?
I typically used to be present at all appointments. At my current farm I normally do not have to be present for all appointments and we all communicate about when the vets coming out - helps that there are only a handful of boarders in addition to BO. All of he vet(s) and farriers that we work with (fingers crossed) have been amazing so far though.
ReplyDeleteGlad Wilbur is all up to date! I am (and have always been) at very small barns and prefer to use my own farrier vs. the 'barn' farrier, so I just schedule him to come out whenever I need him. When it comes time for routine vet visits in the spring and fall, I just communicate with my fellow boarders to see when everyone would like their vet work done, and schedule the appointment for the whole barn. 99.9% of the time, I am present during each appointment, but I am also an un-official barn manager, so often have to hold others' horses as well!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not on site, I'm good friends with my farrier and his family, they are neighbors to my mom. I let him set Ramone's schedule and he just keeps it.
ReplyDeleteI am my horse's farrier, so I'm always there for that. When I had him done by others, I always tried to be there for that. Just because his feet are special unicorns, and when he was done without me there he was lame for days. I used to meet the vet every time, but I trust my new barn to do all the maintenance stuff (vaccines, fecals, etc). Now I'm only out for the big vet events (injections, lameness exams, etc).
ReplyDeleteOMG that muddy face <3
ReplyDeleteI don't always know exactly when the farrier is coming until he has come. I know the week, but not the day since he does a group of horses my trainer schedules it/he comes when eh has time. So I am not always there, but I don't mind, I trust him.
ReplyDeleteThat is the cutest little mud ball giving you love!
Ha that last pic is adorable! I manage my farrier schedule with another barnmate who uses the same guy. I used to always be on site but now can't be, it works out tho bc she's retired and doesn't mind.
ReplyDeleteomg the mud in that last picture. I schedule vets. our farrier used to be like clockwork and require no mental energy on my part whatsoever. This has not been true lately and I'm getting annoyed.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently in a nightmare of trying to find a good farrier since I've moved but we had a great farrier back home. I tried to be at most appointments to help him with the horses but he was perfectly fine with working on them alone. He is really good about working the horses if they are being naughty, he doesn't like them getting into bad habits, so that was always nice too. The only issue was he was busy a lot of times so it was hard scheduling appointments and we would run into canceling and rescheduling a lot. But the shoeing was great so that's what really mattered!
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