Posted by Anne Daimler on September 15, 2003 at 07:06:39:
In Reply to: Re: Who's in it for the money? posted by Bill Adams on September 15, 2003 at 01:15:26:
: :
: : : And one question, Rick, why does it upset you when someone charges a fair price for the work performed and the successful results achieved?
: : : Denise
: : Who said I was upset? Maybe you should go back and re-read my original post.
: : Personally, I'd rather just trim. I'd go to work in my Corvette and make one hell of a lot of much "easier" money.
: : See Denise, I'm not upset when someone charges a fair price but I am a follower of the Phineas T. Barnum philosophy when it comes to practitioners of the Strasser Voodoo. but you already knew that. The question more properly should be, why so defensive Denise?
: : And, not that I really care, but why are you responding on a Farrier and Vets only forum? And, isn't doing that, along with belonging to the AFA, some sort of , at a minimum, moral and/or ethical abrogation of your Strasser contract?
: : Inquiring minds just want to know....
: : Rick
:
: So here is my problem with Strasser et al: This barefoot thing started back in the eighties in London. The eighteen eighties.
: What bothers me is what I've seen and heard about Farriers disagreing them because it would cut our livlihood. I've done the math and I would make three times the money, unless I charged what the local Strasser guy gets, then I'd make four times (without draging around thirteen hundred pounds of stuff).
: Our local guy has posted flyers impuning the honesty of Farriers, which bugged me. He also said that horses who fought with Alexander the Great for fifty years, barefoot, were healthy and sound the whole fifty years. Al (the Great) died when he was thirty three years old.
: I recently shod a mare that had been trimed by an owner that had garnered information from the web as to barefoot only. Within a week at proper angles and protection of wide web shoes she was moving sound and fluidly, the oppisite of how she was.
: Now the idea that one can learn off the web how to care for an animal is not unresonable, but it is so often presented as easy and a chance to save money. There seems to be a crusade mentality aginst Farriers. Oh well, I feel that way aginst the IRS.
: My $0.02 ($0.08 if I went barefoot),
: Bill
I am in total agreement with you about people trying to learn off the internet or at a weekend clinic. They cannot possibly gain enough info to do it correctly. I know. I went to a weekend clinic, after which my farrier walked out on me for asking too many questions. I tried trimming my horses with what I had learned and decided I need more info -- a lot more info -- so I took the Strasser course.
As far as the money goes, both my former farriers indicated they were making close to six figures. I don't make anywhere close to that. It takes me around an hour to trim a horse, and much of that time is spent on my knees checking balance. I try not to trim more than four horses a day (to save wear and tear on my 55-year-old body) but have done as many as seven. I do have the luxury of not having to support a family, just need to make as much or more than I did at my desk job. This job may be more work, but I like being self-employed (finally in charge of my own schedule) and love working with and helping horses.
Is your "local guy" actually Strasser certified? Most CSHS do not advertise at all, and I know Dr. Strasser would not approve any type of advertising that attacks traditional farriers.
Anne