I hear what -your saying Tone
many down this way think ill of Me some Ive personally offended
How ?, by being straight with them
Its like who the [swear word ]does he think he is

Well I'm the owner of my business I'm my own insurance my own protector and other than the guy up stairs the main controller of my destiny with in reason of cause
No one is going to do my work n pay my bills for Me but Me
proved the the last few times Ive been ill or injured
the owner couldn't or wouldn't look you in the eye no even to as little as apologize
ALL you'll get is the sorbent treatment , mark my words

An owner recently wouldn't have the horse pro trained to be shod
also wouldn't sedate
the first time it cost me three hundred to get my back good again
the second time I got half the job done
I went home
Ive spent 14 hundred dollars on my back since November just gone
just some thing I need to do to keep going just the same as many of you blokes ay
Bottom line is ITS MY BUISNESS and WITH IN REASON as it is after all a service industry I control it as to who I work for and when
some folks don't even get past the phone screening on the first call
I think we develop a 6th sense about brummy customers yeah
I don't know but I'm not to often wrong nowadays

I hate big barns. The biggest one I've got has 16 head. I've got a ton of barns with 2-5 head and most are just a few miles apart. Makes life easy.

I'm with Nick. I have to think long and hard about taking on a barn of more than 5 or 6. Especially when they call and act like they're doing you a big favor just by asking.

They can be a real PITA, and tough to lose when they go. Last summer I had a barn of 22. Fortunately, I guess, they all moved south last fall. I wasn't sorry to see them go, but it leaves a big hole in your book.

I still go to that barn, but there are only 6 there now, and much easier to schedule, and less demanding.

I'd have to vote foe.

Regards

All I do is big barns nothing less than 20 head. All saddlebreds and\or morgans. I like goin to a barn for the day and not having to go to two or three places a day.

I'm old and out of date. I live in an area where million dollar cattle deals are still done on a handshake, so I won't make any specific recommendations other than to say that if you get into a barn with a deal why would you be surprised if you're out because the BO found a better deal?

My vote is foe. I went straight outa shoeing school into shoeing "big" barns, nice multi-million dollar south Florida barns that many shoers dream of. I worked them for several years and had enough. Moved away and started over again from scratch, and I like my life much better now. I know that as it is now, half of the owners on my books could sell all their horses tomorow, and it would not phase me and I wouldn't lose a dime. Put all your eggs in just a few baskets and you are dependent rather than independent. You may think your doing something, but your not really, the same money can be made in a day with 2 stops as it can with one. I have found people more willing to pay more, and tip, and be more apprecriative when they KNOW that they need you much more than you need them. When the hierarchy is switched then the bartering and bargaining begins. I have been rejecting most large accounts over the past few years, maybe because I am getting older, tired, and less hungry and I am not that easily impressed, and maybe because when you find yourself in endurance or survival mode, trying to race the clock to get a large barn finished up in 2 or 3 days time, you do the very best job you can in as reasonable amount of time per horse that you allow yourself, I much prefer accounts set up where if I want to challenge myself on quality, I don't have quantity breathing down the back of my neck. I still do a few large barns, but it wouldn't hurt my feelings any if someone else took over. There are a few local farriers/friends who seem to really think that shoeing for someone "important" would make them important as well. But a horse is a horse, and as long as it stands good and allows me to do a job on it that I am content with, I don't care who owns it, as long as the work area is good, I don't care how many miles of board fence they have. If the owner's attitude rubs you wrong, it should be a red flag, no matter what restuarant chain he started, or what company he owns, or how many folks know his name. Do the best you can everyday, treat people kind, re-invest in yourself and your business, communicate well, present yourself professionally and opportunities will find you. Much better opportunities than the barn full of price bickering barefooters your describing. Learn from your mistakes. Don't give some little know it all cow a price break just because she told her little followers to use you. And learn how to answer the questions that these little barn princesses throw at you. Your showing your cards.

Red Amor wrote:
Same here.

I think it depends on your business. If you have help and can knock out some horses in the day, a big barn is no problem. Even if you lose it, it shouldn't effect your business much.

If you work by yourself and a big barn is taking more than a day a week to service, losing it will probably hit the pocket book quite a bit.

Plus it depends if you have horses on a 6-7 week schedule or if you're doing them every 4 weeks. If you have horses at 6 - 7 weeks and lose a big barn, you can move some of those 7 weekers to 6 to make up for the loss.

I prefer a 3 -5 horse account.

I've given discounts and it always comes back to bite me in the ***. In a couple years as prices increase those discounted people become dead weights in your business.

All of what rick says is very true.... with that said ... in the area I'm in a back yard horse owner will starve ur axx to death.. there must be a big diff in back yard owners in the other areas because this is how it goes down where I'm at........ top dollar is about 85 ..I have got 100 at a place or two but did not last long due to as soon as someone under cut me by 20 bucks I got fired...if u loose a shoe its a way big deal to them and assume it was farrier error and not that the horse could have pulled it off in the field on the hay rack or old bath tub thrown in the pasture.... back yarders seem to wanna only shoe every 10 weeks and only when they plan on ride...the work areas are not the best prob dirt and no over head cover at most spots...I also find they are the ones that tend to do what the next know it all says or who to use......the only tip I ever got from a backyarder is {drive safe on the way home}....other than the very few that have a few horses that compete in the back yard in my are they just are not good to work for...now boarding barns are just as Rick says ...but show barns that board are much diff to work for...sure ur at the mercy and sure u do have to handle things carefull and sure if u get fired u take a hit.... but lesson horses discount are around 110 to 130...a good 40 bucks higher than a back yard horse and the norm price is 150 to 180...and to me the risk is worth the pay...besides I like the rat race in a way..I like knowing they horses will be used hard and shown hard...in a way it s a way to compete again..in a round about way... maybe one day when I get tired of the rat race I may find myself looking for a more laid back way of shoeing but I guess the back yarder in my area is very much diff than others..but I can't help but to think other areas are much like my area

Travis Reed wrote:
I've never seen a show barn where the horses are worked hard! Shoeing at a show barn is some of the easiest shoeing I've come across. :confused:

Eric Russell wrote:
Lol u could be right....u mean 20 min of 2 6 rails is not hard work..lol.. I don't see any horses now days worked hard truthfully

DANG I JUST PREVIEWED THIS AND IT LOOKS LIKE I WROTE A NOVEL. Read it if you care to. ... I partially agree and partially disagree, lol . First, in my mind a "big" barn is one that takes more than one long hard day for one fellow to get 'em done on his own. I don't know what everyone else considers a big barn, so maybe we are all talking in circles. What Travis says about the backyarder rings true the further out in the sticks you get, but the closer to an urban area, the rates seem to increase. I live in the sticks but commute most days, to an area where more people seem to have discretionary money. No one gets rich working for poor people. If I gave the impression that I condone the idea of trailer park shoeing, that wasn't the point. But, like Red said, you can nearly always tell from a voicemail what sort of owner you are dealing with. "Trailer park" accounts lead to more "trailer park" accounts, as that is the way word of mouth works, and these are the people they will talk to. But you do not have to shoe "big" barns to shoe at nice barns with good horses and good owners. Good owners socialize with good owners. Every one of my stops is not equal. Somedays I can manage to make in half a day without breaking a sweat the same amount that I work my rear off for all day at another stop. My business definitely needs to be analyzed and revamped, because I am all over the board. But my trend has been gravitating more towards the easy money. The mindset of shoe less and make more per horse. I have some 3 horse accounts who pay almost twice what I get for some of my other 3 horse stops, thats not bad. I can rest my back driving to the next stop and I get to stop at taco bell on the way. Last time I went through my records, I figured that my owners average 6 horses each. Travis said that many backyarders want to shoe or trim every 10 weeks, and with many of them this is true (or longer!). I can say that all of my accounts that I care about adhere to a 6 week schedule, but the ones I don't care much about are "fillers" or "gravy" accounts to me, I stick them in where I can when I can, and if they all did adhere to a 6 week schedule then I could not take care of as many of them as I do, if they are happy, then I am happy for them. Some of them I encourage to wait as long as possible, because as long as they are content, its one less person I have to worry about calling back and fitting in. Maybe their procrastination or priorities may frustrate some farriers, but it actually helps me out, and since its not my horse(s), I really don't care if they do them twice a year or once in a lifetime. I let their inconsistency work to my advantage, like I said they are insignificant gravy. The accounts that really pay the bills are kept on schedule and serviced with priority, the fillers are a dime a dozen. I think that a fellow can be successful and make a pretty good living doing average horses, and does not really need to shoe huge barns unless he has an inferiority complex, or just enjoys shoeing large barns. When I decided to move away from south Florida, I was shoeing 180 head, every horse with 4 shoes, no trims, no real corrective work, all on a 4 week schedule, but only for 13 owners (nice but also monotonous). The advantage was definitely that the phone did not ring every 15 minutes, and scheduling was like clockwork. In contrast, in Georgia I topped out in 2010 at almost 1500 horses divided between 277 horse owning clients , the majority of that number was definitely "fillers" with a few trims, a few of which I may have seen only twice in that year. In 2009, I really started to lose control, and get overwhelmed, I had started my business in Georgia with the mindset that God wasn't going to send me more than I could handle, and if he put it in someone's head to call, then maybe I should at least return their call. In 2010 I had to start to rethink that mindset, because I was like a zombie (not much better now actually). Too tired to give a flip, I started to learn the word no, and I started to hit the delete button on some of these 2 or 3 times a year people. I still am no where near having a reasonable workload, but I have cut the client list almost in half over the last 9 months. As hectic as this is, compared to Florida, I still prefer this type of business. In Florida a lost shoe was always replaced same day it was lost. Here my owners know that isn't practical, most here understand how thin I am stretched and know that I will do the best I can, but it may be a while. Here, I don't loose many shoes because the horses are typically not being worked as hard. Here most of my base clientel are fairly flexible and easy to deal with. Here, I have mainly recreational equestrians rather than professionals, and there is not the same degree of pressure and stress. Here, I get to see and work on more interesting problems that you typically do not see with top level horses, (and I really enjoy that sort of thing). Here I have carte blanche with nearly every owner, and I enjoy the freedom I have and the trust they have in me to do whatever I like. Here, I like the feeling that my business is secure and I am on the right side of the supply versus demand equation. The downside of shoeing for the recreational owner with 1-8 horses is yes, sometimes your going to end up in a crummy situation, when you throw a wide net, your gonna get some keepers and some that you need to throw back, but there will be some keepers. Hopefully when your building a business, those keepers communicate and socialize with other keepers. Both sorts of businesses have their advantages and disadvantages it just depends on your personal preference I guess. I just know that I make more now then I did then, I prefer smaller accounts (3-5 with shoes, or 10-20 trims) where I can make good money and not wreck my back (maybe I'm just worn out), and I like to deal with good people who are interested and appreciative. In Florida, I had to shoe 7 horses every day of the week to stay on schedule, here my average day is more like shoe 2 or 3 all around, shoe 2-5 front footers and do a pile of trims. Trimming to me is easy money and I don't have an aversion to it as some farriers seem to want to talk every owner into shoes for some reason. My focus for the future of my business, is far from shoeing "big" barns, but is to continue to narrow down to only the nicest (low stress) owners with good horses who can afford what I am content charging. BUT, admitedly I am reluctant sometimes to get rid of all those who don't quite fit that ideal criteria because I know that in a few years I am going to have some teenage boys who I could hand over these accounts to and they would then be making pretty good money if they are inclined. So to each his own, but point being you can be prosperous and content without "big" barns, so if you are starting out in the business and dreaming about shoeing exclusively top level horses for big operations, thats cool and thats a good goal, but also consider that its not the right fit for everyone, and if you are at all like me then contentment may be derived more from focusing and working with cooperative easy going owners rather than those who think that you should be grateful they are using you and you could be replaced because surely every farrier wants their fancy 30-40 horses in shoes account (sounds like a back ache and a migraine to me). (Add in as many of those filler gravy stops as you are willing to put up with. Though some are not ideal, their money spends the same and putting up with a little B S builds character, lol) If you took the time to read all this, I apologize, lmao.

Rick Talbert wrote:
I've been reflecting a bit since losing the big barn mentioned above... and I couldn't agree more about what you say here.

Mostly I want to get paid for my work, but I also want to feel good about what I'm doing because I put my heart and soul into it. I want to feel appreciated.

Why?

I take a risk every time I get under a horse and I don't think farriers are fairly compensated for that risk. I do this because I enjoy working with horses and could earn more in another field I am qualified in, but don't enjoy the work.

IME big barns make you feel like cr4p because they only pick the perceived faults where-as the smaller barns and people with 1-4 horses tend to appreciate the positive changes I make to their horses... and they are prepared to work with you as you try to solve problems.

We are all guru and villain... often all on the same day. I don't expect kudos when I know I could have done better (I'll accept a kick in the ring when I've not done my best) and I don't expect slavish adoration when I do well, but a little doff of the cap and I'll put up with a lot of nonsense from a green horse.

I find small operations more likely to be pleasant to work for and those that aren't, I don't miss when I tell them to go hopping to hell.

It doesn't take a hell of a lot of horses to make a business and I've just decided I only want to do those that make me feel good about what I'm doing.

$0.02

Rick Talbert wrote:
Rick will u send me a copy when this novel comes out on tape...signed please..lol.. I think ur spot on when u say I think it comes down to what one prefers..and who knows I may look for those more personal accounts later down the line..I heard at a clinic onw time if ur bussines has not changed in 5 years time your prob not evolving as a farrier..and so far that has held pretty true for my busines....

Travis Reed wrote:
yeah travis, I will send u the e-book version. LOL. I almost didnt post that last night when I saw how long it was, and how it may be taken in the wrong way, but what the heck, its just opinions and thoughts. You been quiet on facebook lately, those big barns must have you wore out, lol. ha. You gotta eat a lot of chick o sticks to keep your energy up.