yes I do tip my farrier. I know he is in busines for himself but you can still give a tip now and then to show your appreciation for a job well done.

I also tip my hair dresser and they are self empolyed as well.

My farrier, vet and hay supplier get homemade brownies, or pies, etc., with every visit. The vet gets 2 containers, one for his office staff (the "gatekeepers") and one for he and his wife. If it is an emergency, I take the goodies to the office at a later time. The farrier and his wife get a gift certificate at Christmas, and he keeps the "change" when paid. Such as $141 bill, he is given $145 or $150. The farrier is my neighbor, so gas is not an issue. The hay supplier also gets an outfit for his 3 year old daughter with each delivery. He could be charging me alot more to deliver and stack in the barn, and I am appreciative!

Brenda

I don't normally tip the farrier.  I do provide cold drinks and a fan in the aisle of the barn where they work.  However, in Lea Anne's situation, I might have thrown in a few extra dollars to compensate for the horse being cantankerous.

Hound dog - when the farrier is Amish...yes, you take the horses to them.  At least that's how they do it here.  The Amish shoe for outsiders on Wed. and Sat. and the trailers will be lined up six or seven deep by 8:00am.  The Amish around here do a great job on QH types, but I don't like how they set my gaited horses, so we only use them occasionally.

RIDE ON!

DANG!!!If that's all I had to pay,I guess I WOULD tip the farrier something!

I just paid ours $145 to shoe 2 adults and do a trim on a yearling!

Well, I tip my farrier!  (he's my husband!)

Just in a days work, he normally does not get a $ tip.  Glass of tea, soda pop etc maybe, and appreciates that. 

On race horses and show horses, when they have a special competition or special problem, a lot of times there is a significant tip, but those are horses that are making money, and there is a lot of difference in that, and the regular recreational horse owner.  He has flown across the country to do two shoes, but that horse needed to qualify for a futurity finals, and spent a week on one horse, but it need to run the the Derby, so those are  much different.  Horses have been hauled here a bunch, and he also spends a lot of time at the vet clinics for calls  and to farms.  I agree, there are a lot of inconsiderate "professionals" out there.  Alot of times, when he goes to a job, there is the "while you're here" extra project, and if that is early in the day, that makes for a late day.  He does call if he is running late, which often happens.  He does not say "See ya Tuesday" and not show and no call.  He knows people make special arrangements, horses shut up, people to be there etc, and to be a no show is very rude. 

Did he tell you that? What is "make"? Net income? Gross income? Revenue?

I seriously doubt any farrier clears $300k per year. Let's pretend it is just revenue, and do some math. To simplify, let's figure it in equivalent trims, acknowledging that a shoe job takes more time than a trim, but also costs more (for both the farrier and the customer). So, at $30 for a trim he'd have to do 27 horses every day of every week, or at $50 he'd have to do 16 horses every day of every week. I have two friends that are farriers in their late 20s and are in prime physical condition. Both would say that they physically could not do 27 horses every single day. 16 would even be a stretch. Sure, there's probably plenty of days when they do 27 or more horses, but it's not every day or even a stretch of days in a row. So, even if it's $300k in revenue, I still have a tough time believing it.

Let's go about the math another way. Pretend he can get every horse on an 8 week schedule. We know very few customers actually do that, but it would be ideal for the farrier. At $50 each, he'd have to have 923 horses. The 923 would grow significantly, considering the longer/inconsistent schedule most people keep. 923. That's ridiculous. And the number grows to over 1500 at $30 each. Both of my farrier friends say if they had 300 to 400 horses, they'd have about as much as they could handle.

Now, income. Subtract cost of fuel, vehicle maintenance, shoes, rasps, other tools, cell phone, showing up for no-show customers, self-paid costs that most of us have through our employer, etc.

I bet his 1040 doesn't show $300k, and if it does he better get a new accountant.

My husband is also a farrier - part time on nights and weekends. He is no where near as prestigious as your husband, Flying H.

Jay does not normally get tips (at least not that I know of ). He charges $25 for trim and $50/75 for shoes front/all round. He always calls if he's going to be late and I've never known him to no show for a client.

Some things he appreciates much more than a tip are

1. Not having to train a client's horse to trim/shoe it. He charges $400 a month to break horses.

2. Not having to chase horses in 10 acre pastures. His clients always know when he's coming. He does not mind catching the horses and a lot of times clients will not be there (he's been doing most of his clients for 4+ years and they trust him with their horses). But he's not going to chase our horses & he's certainly not going to chase a client's.

3. A cool drink on a hot day. July, August, & September are particularily hot in SC. A cool drink between horses is much appreciated.

4. Payment before he leaves. He has a few customers with horses at a boarding stable that are on a routine, he's goes and trims them and then let's the owner know the amount. He's never had any problems but these are 'special' customers.

Ummm.... I didn't say clears that kind of $, those figures are gross income.  But here in SoCal the good shoers get $ 100.00 to $ 150.00 for a set of normal  shoes.  Pads or special shoeing is much higher.   He charges $ 140.00 for a normal set of shoes, he gives us a very good discount (thank goodness), but he does 10 to 15 horses a day (and has more work than he can handle), so you do the math.

Never did in the past.  Do now.  I know its not much but normal tip is $5.00.  Reason: the trimmer I use now does a GREAT job, travels about an hour for my two trims every 4-wks (that's just the way their hooves have always been), shows up & is usually early, trims for the best interest for the horse's body not what angle is taught in 'shoeing school', and her cost is way less than the ones in the past.  That and after becoming a LMT (massage therapist) and being in business for myself over the years I have more respect for the self-employed, physically demanding, 'service industry'.

Just sneakin in here to say, Like many others, I make up sandwiches or burritos for him and lots of ice tea or cold bottled water. I also make a point of having the horses ready and haltered at the ties BEFORE he arrives. I also am holding the animals and close by to help with tools and such.  This is the fourth farrier we have tried and he is quite good, but very picky about clients. We even had one farrier who while great on the horses, he was so unreliable and flakey we just stopped using him. He would make appts, then not show up or even call. I found out later he only wanted to work part time and then not very hard. A point should be made that your horses should stand QUIETLY for him and not lean or nip/bite/or fuss! Tips or gifts on holidays or bdays are nice touches too!

Steve

I have tipped in the past when I use to have a horse difficult to work with but finally took him to a trainer who worked with his problem and he's fine to work with now.

My farrier now is an Amish man and I don't tip him but will offer him drinks.  He's cheap and trims for $10.00 and when I have him put shoes on before I go on vacation, he'll trim three horses, put pads & shoes on all four for one horse and charges $85.00. He does a great job and is the best shoer I've worked with.

He doesn't have the cost of travel because he works on my neighbor's horses and the first person of the day picks him up and I'm the last of the day so I take him home and it's about 30 miles round trip. 

With him being so cheap it does sound cheap not to tip but I figure he can raise his prices if he wants more. With the cost of everything going up, I try to save anyway I can and started going barefoot on my horses except for vacations which I have to because of the rocks being so bad.  It's actually working well going barefoot and I started ordering and giving my own shots too.

No way, do I tip. At 135.00 for 4 shoes on 4 horses no way. I even buy my own shoes. In fact I'm so fed up with farriers, that I'm learning how to trim my own horses. If their not trying to rip you off, they don't show up for the appt. and don't even call. Their as bad as doctors where I live.....lol.

Maybe you need to find another farrier, I would be careful about my words, not all farriers fall under the same category, my personal feeling is that you are very ignorant about the industry.  And I don't mean to be unproffesional and fall into your level, but if I had a client who wanted to save a buck on a shoe, I would show you the ROAD!

I agree, not all farriers are the same, just as not all horse OWNERS are the same!  By the way, that is CHEAP to shoe 4 horses.  I pay that to get one done correctly!  Decent shoes are not cheap, you can get good quality or you can go cheap.  To be honest, it kind of sounds like you are difficult to deal with and expect Porterhouse taste on a soup bone budget.  Probably a reason it is hard for you to find a "good" farrier.  Trust me, just as folks will pass on a bad experience with a professional, they will do the same if you are hard to please or are cheap yourself, or your horses are knotheads (I am NOT saying yours are).  Just becareful what you say, because what goes around does come back around! 

1) she does an excellent job (natural trimmer, not a shoer)

2) conscientious and explains what she's doing and why

3) Gives me hell when my founder-prone pony is getting too fat

4) Arrives ON TIME EVERY TIME-calls if she must cancel (rarely)

5) I don't have to be there (ok, 50% of this point goes to my well-behaved horses)

6) She charges $30 per trim

7) She leaves me a sticky note with the next appointment, scheduled for seven weeks

8) She usually follows up with an e-mail or a phone call about any concerns she may have

9) She has to drive 2 hours to get here (granted she has more customers in the area - but still that makes for a looonggg day for a single mother)

So the last time she was here I gave her a $10 because obviously the gas prices are killing her like they're killing the rest of us. But she didn't raise her price because of it, or decide to charge a "farm call" like the guy who comes to put shoes on one of my horses.... he gets no tip....

Edited by barstow 2008-05-13 3:37 PM

This woman is a "natural trimmer." Period. She does not shoe. She's got a healthy clientèle in this area and she does a good job. I like her work and her work ethic.

Because one of my horses goes better with shoes in the front, I have to call in a farrier. He does a fine job, but I am loyal to my trimmer for the other three.

(We live in a very depressed part of Maine, sometimes known at "the other state of Maine.") So those of us that do take care of their feet regularly are coveted clients.

He'll stick around, at least for a while. There are a couple other "hoss shoe-ahs" to chose from, but I prefer this guy to them. One is a short-tempered A-rab who thinks very little of woman, and the other is a pig, who makes suggestive and sexist remarks. I'll happily keep my female trimmer and the shoer who shows up with his very pleasant wife to hand him his tools.

Juyst sneakin in....

Just curious, how many hours and miles do you ride a week?

I know here we put in no less than 40 miles a week, and maybe 8 miles a day, and the soil and rocks of the high desert will certainly do a number on most horses hooves.  Our farrier is BOTH highly skilled, and certified, as well as a very nice guy. Sooo... he gets the royal treatment from us and after three back surgerys, I no longer yearn to be a shoer!

Ours really deserves his pay.

Just my 2C'S.....Steve

In most communities, you will find a professional certified experienced farrier or two, they are covered up with work.........and they tend to hang onto the clients that are knowledgeable, good attitude, good pay, and good horsemen, with well mannered animals. 

 The other clients wind up filtering on down the food chain for the new just-out-of-school guys & gals or the weekend hobby farriers to struggle with.  Just seems that way.