09/28/2026
There's always talk about burn out between farriers, and on the client end it's usually "my farrier isn't as reliable as they used to be, or they keep showing up late, or forgetting to reschedule". Be patient, be understanding, and remember your farrier is one person trying to do the work of 5 in the business plus what ever they might have going on in their personal life.
We have to be the farrier and dedicate our time knowledge and energy to the horse in front of us, answering questions and concerns.
We have to be the secretary, scheduling appointments, answering calls or text trying to remember who the new person who reached out was and HOW they reached out. There's 4 different ways people will reach out trying to set up an appointment.
We have to be the supply office, make sure our normal supply is on hand, and anything new for the inventory we might not normally use.
We have to be a co profession bridge, working cases with the vets, going over the results, rearranging our schedule to make it work for everyone.
And we have to be a student, continually learning and advancing our knowledge and skill.
That's not to mention making the call if the weather is safe to work on the horses, most horses get unpredictable when its windy, when the weather changes and the sugars in the grass spike most owners don't think its a problem until fluffy is laminitic.
It's been humid and dew point in in the 80s, fluffy hooves are getting soaked, soft and easier to lose shoes, but we hear, "but it hasn't rained that much".
We can't control the weather, if you're horse has a laminitic flare up, emergency appointments, if horses don't want to behave and drags the day along.
This is alot for one person before you take into account the farriers personal life. I've gotten calls from people wanting a new farrier because theirs is "down and hasn't been as reliable" I called that farrier and found out they were in recovery from an emergency surgery. Same story when a local farrier had a heart attack, one broke ribs, another broke their leg, kid ended up in the hospital the list goes on. Every time ive tried to cover down and if the stop is close to me I send the money to the down farrier and refuse to accept them as permanent clients until their farrieris back on their feet. Farriers are human, we break, we get sick. YOU get hurt or sick, you have one person to let know, we have all our clients.
Burn out gets you hurt, making mistakes, forgetting things. This morning I put my rig in a ditch, thank goodness I had an awesome client around the corner that pulled me out. The reason I bring up burn out, is because I've been working every day Tabitha hasn't had a drs appointments . Some weeks 7 days to try to catch up around crappy weather, or the 100+ degree days. I left the house wishing for a day off but thinking about the lost shoe calls, the when you can you work me in messages?
Just remember we are humans not machines. We love what we do and even if we seem short or not as personable it's not a slight against you or your horses.
And to end the already stressful day, the last horse, on the last shoe, as I started on the last nail decided I didn't need my shoing cart any more and flung it down the isle way.
