P!ss Poor Planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part, 'k?
Today's topic is a pretty interesting one, and I will be expressing MY views on it. Feel free to toss in your own in comments.
I, personally, do not trim for owners who are not there. If there is a dire emergency, yes- I will bend that rule. But in general, no- I do not provide service if there is not an owner present. The reasons for this are many- mainly because I am allergic to pain- be it pain from a client horse having a brain fart and hurting me, or pain from an owner misunderstanding things and giving me a headache. Allergic. To. Pain. 'K?
I also have only kept a small handful of clients. Clients that keep their horses on a routine schedule, who are there for every trim with no complaints (and it isn't like I ask them to skip work- because of the small number of clients, I can set times on weekends, evenings, etc to work with their schedule for the most part. The problem arises when it is 120* outside. Then I do tend to stick more to my schedule, which is o'dark thirty before the sun/ heat get too intense.) These clients also have animals that behave very very well.
But every once in a while, the best of intentions go awry.
Phone rings earlier this week. It is from a client I've been trying to connect with for about 3 months. Her horses are borderline on the behavior aspect, one is borderline on becoming a pathology, and one is young and tends to push his luck at times. Not a horse I'd want to trim alone and expect to have it done safely.
Mind you, it has been a considerable amount of time between appointments. I've been trying to set something up- but it never worked out. (Count in failure on MY part here too, as I spent the entire month of September with walking pneumonia, 2 rounds of antibiotics, and just sick.as.hell.)
Back to the phone ringing. "I need you here as SOON as you possibly can get here!! The horse's feet are a total MESS. When can you be here?" and the client proceeded to list off when would work to schedule an appointment. We settled on fairly early Thursday morning.
I woke up at 3:30 with a splitting headache. Took some meds and tried to go back to sleep. Woke up early, head still splitting, forced down some coffee and headed out. My mood, to say the least, was not bright and cheery.
I arrive at the client's house to find the gate at the end of the driveway locked and no one home.
Seriously?
You call me in an uproar, insisting that I get there like, three days ago, and when you finally find a gap in your schedule to fit in trimming, you are not there?
Now, I know there are a whole lot of hoof care providers out there who don't mind getting the job done when there is no owner present. There are a whole lot of owners who have no problem with not being there. I'm not saying either one of you is in the wrong- it is YOUR choice what to do or not to do there. *I* am saying that MY choice is to NOT provide service when no one is around.
I am ALSO going to say the following:
No matter what the arrangement you have made with your hoof care provider, their job is the following:
- Provide hoof care to the best of their ability.
- Arrive on time or as close to on time as possible.
- Provide service promptly.
- Return phone calls or emails promptly.
- Notify clients of schedule changes.
Notice that no where in there do I say:
- Train your horse to stand for hoof care
- Train your horse NOT to bite, kick or strike the hoof care provider
- Catch horses that do not want to be caught for hoof care
Those particular things fall under OWNER'S responsibility.
And if the OWNER is not capable of teaching the horse, hire a competent trainer to teach BOTH of you.
People, look. If you have a horse, do your hoof care provider a huge favor. Teach them to freaking behave, BE there when YOU say you will, and KEEP YOUR HORSE ON A SCHEDULE, so that there is not four months of EXTRA work to be done, and DON'T bitch about the rise in price for that four extra months worth of work. You want to save money? Keep them maintained as you do your vehicle.
That's my PSA for the day.
17 comments:
well put ! I have NEVER missed a farrier appt horses are always caught and standing waiting . One difference is I have an arrangement with my farrier , where I do agree to pay extra for younfg stock that is learning if there is a problem. Know hgow many times I have had to pay extra?? Nada, seems like we are all relaxed nowing our asses are covered and it goes just fine
I'm rather concerned about your headaches and walking pneumonia. Are you allergic to things in your environment? Did you have these issues when you lived up north? I know you've got hubby and kids going out into the world and bringing home viruses, but it does seem like you get more than your fair share, which makes me suspect the stuff growing around you.
I don't think your request to have an owner present is unreasonable at all. I would be hesitant to go on to someone's property without them there to perform a task that might cause injury to myself or the animal (if he/she spooked and ran into a wall, for instance). What if someone left a gate open, a horse escaped and you got blamed? I am lucky that my B.O. is present every time the farrier comes (he comes every 3 weeks). She manages the logistics of getting the horses in and making sure that everyone listed (we write our names on the board) is taken care of. She also helps the farrier with those horses that are nervous. I am grateful that our set up works so smoothly..I don't have to worry.
You're entitled to your rant, IMO.
As an owner I guess I've always felt it was part of my responsibility to be there when my horses are trimmed or have vet-work done. It makes me nervous to have a farrier that wants to come when I'm not there. The lady I use now I would definitely trust - in an emergency - to do the horses on her own. (And I know she does on occasion do a solo act other places - she also charges more for chronically problem horses and/or absent owners.) But when I was farrier-shopping I had a couple recommended that I would NEVER have let come by themselves. EVER. (And didn't have back). And our horses are for the most part very well-behaved with no special issues.
I've heard too many stories of horses being taken out behind the barn and "tuned up" when they wouldn't stand or swished their tails too much or whatever.
Where T's gelding is, the horses are all on different shoeing schedules depending on what they're used for, and the farrier they use will often just show up, pull the correct horse, do a trim & reset and leave again. But he won't touch the "problem" horses without someone there. And Rufus, if he's being hot-shoed, qualifies. In this case, I'm rather grateful.
Great Rant! And every entitled ! Seriously, if you sent an appointment - be there. Or have SOMEONE there at least.
It would never occur to me to not be home when our farrier came. It never crossed my mind that I could expect him to find my halter, catch my horse and trim her all by his lonesome.
Farrier or not, I don't want anyone in the pen who doesn't belong there: Mom, Bill or me. Everyone else needs to ask permission and be accompanied by one of us when in the pen. There's just too much liability otherwise.
I would never expect a professional to work on my horse when I'm not present, but it seems the norm in my area.
LOL, when I get a headache I can't even bend over without puking. You're sure made of stouter stuff!
~spotz58
I'm with Nuzz, what's up w/you? Something in your environment making you sick? That's very odd!
As for the rest, yep, been there, done that. It goes all ways. I prefer
someone to be there for sure, but lotsa places I've been told to just go and do them. No biggie either way.
I don't want my horses trimmed if I'm not there. I like the input I get from him, and I like to monitor my horses'behavior- they may need tuning if there is something going on with them, be it other horses calling, flies bothering them, or whatever- it's my job to make sure the farrier is safe and can get his job done quickly and efficiently, and my job to do any tuning necessary. Which, fortunately is rarely necessary.
And hey, you need to stop getting sick! How many times this year already? I think at least three that you've mentioned. Any black mold around?
I'm with Shirley. Unless I'm in the hospital and the horses can't walk cause of their feet... I want to be there. I want to know how they are doing and what I need to do.
Several folks have mentioned the environment as a possible cause for your issues. I KNOW the south. Mold and mildew run rampant. Could that be the issue here? I've seen some sick kiddos at school due to mildew. You may want to check and see if that could be a problem at your home,
Personally, I can't imagine not being present and handling my horses while when my farrier comes. Amazes me the stories he's told me about some of his clients. Similar to your experiences. He always makes a point to tell me how he appreciates coming to my place because I'm there, my horses are well behaved when he works on them, and I have them ready in halters so I can bring them in to be trimmed. I have complained about him not returning my calls in due time in the past, but that was before he decided to be a full-time farrier instead of working his clients in-between his other job. He's much more dependable now that he's a full-time farrier. I totally agree with your PSA! Good for you!
I try to have my horses stalled, cleaned off, dry, haltered and ready to go. Am not always successful, but I try. Called.....courtesy???!!!
I like to be there when my farrier does my horses. I like to get his opinion on their feet, make sure everything goes OK...etc. He is perfectly willing to do them if I can't be there, but he has been my farrier for twenty years and knows all my horses very well. None of the horses are hard to work on--in the past, when I have had young horses, I was ALWAYS there to hold them. I do want to add that my farrier is very good about showing up when he says he will, and we have never had any issues of this sort, but in the past I have had farriers who were not good about this. Needless to say, they didn't last with me. It goes both ways. Both farrier and client need to be respectful of each other. Which, I guess, goes for any sort of relationship. People need to do what they say they are going to do. Your client was inexcusably rude.
Wow - that takes some nerve to call and BEG you to come out and then not be there??? Sheesh.
Hope you are feeling better soon - seems like you have been battling something for awhile now...
Good owners are hard to find. Sigh.
Oh good grief, oh good grief.
There is NO WAY I would ever treat my hoofcare expert like that. NEVER.
It's a risky occupation, and the effort to get out to my place and to continuously bend down then stand back up because I asked a question and need to read her lips... has placed my girl on my RESPECT AND TIP WELL list.
And as well as I know her, I would never ask her to come out and trim when I wasn't there. She offered to do it when we were away at Mom's service - because she's a sweetheart and knows my horse. But even then... Heaven forbid something happens that doesn't involve my horse but somehow still hurts her?
There are just too many variables.
And while I rescued my starving mare off of Craiglist (and nearly saw her die within 24 hours)... I can testify to the absolute GOLD it is to have a horse that is well-behaved and respectful. I was TERRIFIED of horses after an awful (drugged) first horse. And my mare's ground manners let me enjoy horses again. Someone took the time to originally train her right - and that means so much to me. And to my farrier too.
Rant over.
Holy cow - I am sorry this client did that to you.
Post a Comment