So with the help of Mrs Mom I found a barefoot trimmer who is not only willing to come out this weekend, but happy to. I am SO glad I had help because I had a few names I found from different online searches, etc and Mrs Mom pointed out stuff that I would have never known just by looking at their qualifications lists. THANK YOU MRS MOM! I did have some friends get in touch with me about one possible person in my area as well so if this doesn’t work out I have a back up plan now. That person didn’t pick up though and as you all know I am desperate and wanted to talk to someone asap. My biggest fear is that this new person will do something that will accidentally hurt my horse. I am trying to let go of that fear though because NOT doing anything is hurting my horse already. And the trimmer I am trying is a woman so at least I don’t have to worry about her sending Gen back in time in his brain to when he was abused.
As for my own farrier…I really don’t know what is going on. I do believe that his wife is very ill and in the hospital. That is just not the kind of thing people lie about. I think out of all of this what I really wanted was just him to let me know that he couldn’t do Gen. When his wife had their child he took a few weeks off, during that time though he had people he trusted doing his clients for a few weeks. I think that is what took me so off guard, that he couldn’t come out and yet didn’t have any back up. I think a returned phone call would have gone a long way. It is hard to not get involved in some way personally with service providers. Especially for me because I am a total chatty cathy. I still care about my farrier and would consider hiring him back when all this is done. The not talking about it though is what kills me. I don’t ever want to go through the “he is coming” only to have him not show up ever again. I know that he has lost a lot of business and that I tend to be more forgiving then most so if I am thinking about not using him again most people have already written him off. I hope that whatever is going on with him turns out okay.
So thank you all for your good advise and I am just going to take this one step at a time and assume that everything will work out the way it is supposed to.
Now I need to figure out how to be in 2 places at once on Friday so I can have time to ride. Any thought on that? You lot seem to be able to help me out with everything else. Help me find the time to ride Friday…I really want too!
Oh and for those of you asking about Lori she is doing well! I just saw her last weekend (she gave me the coolest hand painted frames with little dressage Gennyrals on it! She is riding again and has a wonderful deal worked out with the ladies who ran the barn that X lived at that I wasn’t thrilled with. They asked her to help them turn one of their hunters into a dressage horse so she is riding and gearing up for show season herself. She just sent me a video of her and the new horse (who is a paint also) trotting and cantering and I think she is going to have a really good 2009 season. She also went and got one of the last X ribbons at an awards banquet…which also came with an engraved trophy and is just special. I also got to say hi to the man himself while I was there. She paid extra to have him cremated and sent back so he is hanging out in a lovely box at her house. I got to tell him I missed him. I know that Lori and I will always miss him because he was perfect. He really was. You don’t get horses like that very often in a lifetime. I am glad that Lori and I are both in good situations now…and that we are friends. We are going to be at a lot of the same shows this year so it will be good to have a friend out there riding a different colored horse as well in the sea of bays.
I’ll be looking for a full report this weekend girl!
Glad to have been able to help- now let’s just see how things go with this visit.
Thanks to all of you for the sweet comments- y’all made me blush!
Great way to start the day too…hehe
I’m happy to hear you have a farrier coming for Gen’s feet and I hope it all goes well. It’s too bad about your farrier and I understand that he should have at least called you, but on the other hand you never really know what someone is going through, it could be very traumatic and the last thing on his mind is calling people right now and giving them explanations. He may not want to talk about his situation, anyway he still could have left a short text message.
Glad you heard from Lori and got to see X again, and it’s good to know she got ribbons and a trophy, that will always be a good memory for her.
As for Friday, just don’t take your lesson until Saturday if possible and go hold your horse for the farrier, I’m sure you really want to do that anyway, just to make sure things go okay.
Don’t tell Ace I said this, but I’m a little jealous of you having a cute colored horse to take to shows who will stand out. I love my bay boy, but he will tend to blend in with the crowd, at least when it comes to color. I guess we’ll have to work a little harder to stand out!
It sounds like you have made the right decision regarding your farrier situation. Hopefully things will be ok for your old farrier and your new one will be great.
Good Barefoot trimmers work hard to learn about how to keep horses sound and going well without shoes. Inmo – if you are going to have a horse barefoot, I feel it is better to have a barefoot trimmer do him then to have a regular farrier who does shoes “just do a barefoot trim.” I think a lot of “shoers” tend to concentrate their efforts on finding the best shoes for horses to wear and don’t tend to pay as much attention to the trim itself.
Since a barefoot trimmer makes their living off of doing barefoot trimming only, they put a lot of effort into their trims and helping the horse be sound and comfortable WITHOUT shoes.
I don’t know if that makes any sense, and I’m not trying to say one is better then the other, just that if I didn’t want to put shoes on my horse — I would want to find a good expert at keeping them barefoot.
Griffin basically has no heels on his front feet (one foot has always been worse then the other). I’m sure this has a lot to do with how he was raised and raced. Since I’ve had him, I’ve gone through about 6 or 7 different farriers. Every single one of them made him sore except 1. The one that didn’t was a barefoot trimmer who learned her trade through apprenticing with another barefoot trimmer. She didn’t have a lot of degrees or go to school — but she did an amazing job on my horse and he was NEVER sore when she did him. She also saved one of my friend’s horse’s feet from white line disease (which is how I found out about her in the first place).
Unfortunately, Griffin now lives too far away for her to come and do him anymore. I miss her all the time. Aside from being a great hoof trimmer, she was also an awesome storyteller.
Most trimmers look at Griffin’s feet and want to chop his toes off to (try) and get his heels to grow. Because they cut so much off, they make him sore. If I tell them not to cut so much off, his feet get too long in the 8wk intervals….and then he also gets cracks from his hoof walls getting too long.
Because I got tired of dealing with this and always seeing my horse sore after every trim, I decided to learn as much as I could and do him myself. By doing him myself, I can trim him more often and keep his toes at a good length for him. I also never have cracks when I am doing him and he is never sore. I can’t say I would have ever attempted it if I had not watched other people screw him up all the years previously. I fully admit I am not an expert. I don’t give hoof trimming advice to other people. I learn as much as I can — all the time. I would also NEVER trim someone else’s horse.
That said — I can’t really give much of a perspective on finding a good farrier since I don’t use one, but I do think a good one is worth their weight in gold. I’ve seen my share of icky jobs (…and I do believe that I do a better job with Griffin’s feet then some of the people that did him previously).
If this barefoot trimmer you are having come out has good credentials and references, I bet she will do a great job with Genny. If I had to go back to any of the farriers I used previously — I would most certainly pick one of the two barefoot trimmers that did my horse. I liked their work better than anyone that applied shoes.
Genny will probably do better with a lady trimmer too — like you said. Of all the people that did Grif, I think he liked Jackie the best as well. Grif tends to like women better too. I prefer woman vets for the same reason.
Thank You for the update on Lori. I was wondering how things were going with her…..if she was going to keep riding with another horse….or get another horse…..or if she would need some time after loosing X. It’s really great to hear that she is going to show this summer too and you will be able to see each other at the shows. Bring on the color!!! It’s just too cool!!! If I lived closer, I’d come and be your cheering section
Ah, Farriers. Considering your situation you might find it amusing to go back through my old posts and read about some of the stuff I’ve been through with farriers, LOL! Glad to hear Mrs. Mom saved the day! She rocks!
So glad to hear you have found a farrier! If you were up here I would have been able to give you names, but alas you are far away!
Also good to hear about you and Lori.