I have been having a really rough time getting a hold of a farrier since my husband and I got married (March 2011) and we moved to our current residence.
When I was boarding Buck in Columbia life was great, the barn already had a great farrier lined up who came to the barn about once or twice a month and you could guarantee he would show up exactly like he said he would, clock work. You just signed your name on the list, left him a check, and your horse would have pretty and perfect feet when you came back out. It was like a trip from the hoof fairy!
Well now that I've moved I had to go searching for a farrier on my own. Needless to say it was an almost impossible task since neither of us actually knew anyone down here, especially horse people. So finally my father-in-law found out from his barber there was a kid who lived about 12 miles away who was a really good farrier.
The first time I called the kid he called me back a week later. I decided I'd give him a shot anyway since I still didn't know anyone, we set something up for a couple of days later. He then called me a half an hour before he was suppose to show up and cancelled and wanted to reschedule for the next day. Ok fine, I'll go for that, he showed up TWO HOURS late after the reschedule. All I needed was Buck's feet trimmed at this point, took him all of like 15 minutes and cost me $20 (heck of a deal in my opinion since my old farrier cost between $60-$100 depending on the work you needed done). The weird thing was he then hung around for like a half an hour to forty-five minutes longer, flirting and trying to chit-chat. I actually had to start saddling Buck (even though I hadn't planned on riding) and walking away with him before the guy finally left.
So 8 weeks later I called him again and he didn't answer, never called me back. I called him a few more times until finally another 8 weeks went by before I finally got a call back and we set up an evening for him to come out again. At this point I was getting annoyed with the phone tag and decide to start snooping for a new farrier again.... UGH! Doesn't do me any good to have a nice horse with messed up feet... I started thinking maybe I needed to take up trimming his feet myself but quickly changed my mind when I remembered how picking up furniture and moving it can cause me to throw out my back!
The night he was suppose to show up this time he called (a half hour before he was suppose to show up) and left a message on my phone because I was away from it. He stated he had something come up at home and he was wondering if it would be alright if we rescheduled for the next night, if it was not that was alright he would come on out anyway. I didn't get to my phone until almost an hour after he was suppose to show up. He left that message with no intentions of actually showing up that night I believe. If it were me and the person didn't answer and hadn't called you back by the time you were suppose to meet, I would have shown up like I said I would!
I called him back and left a message letting him know I could not work it in the next night because I had to work but I wanted to know if he could come on Tuesday night instead (this phone call and situation all took place on a Thursday evening). He NEVER called me back!! Not until the day AFTER I wanted him to come out.
So, I am NOT calling this kid back anymore and I have found a new farrier thanks to the local saddle club (yay horse people!). The unfortunate thing about this one is I have to load up both the horses and take them over to him. Guess if he does a good job it will be worth the effort (except Buck is a nightmare to get in the trailer when you don't have help! Not mean just stubborn).
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