Partnered up with a Guy at a Barrel race today. We worked with a similar enough style, it worked out well. We took turns, one time he would shoe fronts and I back, then switch. Split the pay, Lightened the load, we moved through the horses quickly, good time had by all.

The only confusion was, the owners. lol My prices are 10 higher than his, so when someone would come up and ask how much I answered, if they passed, and asked him, we would just smile and both pick up our tools. When they asked I would reply, "you just decided who made the hard decisions or takes the blame and I can't just sit here and watch him work". They would just laugh and ask "so how much am I paying?" There was another guy there but he set up across the parking lot.

People take their horses to a barrel race to get them shod? :confused:

tbloomer wrote:
A lot of people take their horses to shows to get shod too. A lot of them live in places where there aren't any farriers who can handle the "specialty" who will come out to service a small account.

tbloomer wrote:
In my neck of the woods getting a can chaser shod is kinda a after thought..they drag the horse out of the pasture and haul it to a running and get it shod almost as a novelty.. I'm sure they are some that take really good care of the western type horse ..just not where I'm at..they will starve a shoer to death..

Canchasers are far better to work for than ropers, they are too cheap...setting up at a race works because someone is going to loose a shoe or they see how bad their horses feet are when they get there or they know you shoe for some of the girls beating them and your book fills up good...downside is riders that really cant ride and make 100 excuses about the ground or this or that, hard people to please for sure..

Can chasers are not the greatest to work for that is for sure. I also spend plenty of time sitting because the other guy is cheaper that I.


Usually someone shows up, and couldn't get their farrier to show up so they have to get it done at the show, or they have not been home much the last few weeks. And of course the pulled shoes, at a multiple run race.

Mostly I go, because I like shoeing barrel horses, I have clients there, and it helps get to know future clients. Its more a PR thing than a instant money maker.

Plus I get forging practice while I wait around, I destroyed alot of aluminum today.

tbloomer wrote:
By the looks of it, they sure as hell aren't there to win or improve, for the most part. Since they don't have peckers, they compare hair, trailers, horses....

Travis Morgan wrote:
Dude, come on, this kind of talk is not what we are here for. I don't see anything productive or fun in this comment. I'm not a moderator. so its not really my place to say anything, but your representing our area, try to do it with some class!

You know damn good and well about half the can chasers around here are just there to be seen; they can't get their horse anywhere near the barrel or do anything else with them, and it's their trainer's fault.
A couple of girls I went to high school with that are still doing it and winning regional championships have commiserated with me about it. Most of them are a joke and give the true horse women a bad name.

That may or may not be the truth, but that is still not what we are here to discuss. I don't care what they go for as long as they take care of the horse and the check clears the bank. Otherwise I don't work for them long, and they have no effect on my world. Sitting around talking **** on them just makes us look ignorant.

Man ya'll are hard on the can chasers. Lot of them around here are good people, and a couple are pretty good horsewomen. The large percentage are not going to be that great equestrians simply because it is such an easy sport to jump into, therefore there are a ton of novices. For the most part I find they are pretty easy to deal with.

I wasn't trying to be hard on them, the ones I work for are a fine bunch of girls, that care about their horses.

Travis Morgan in gray

You know damn good and well about half the can chasers around here are just there to be seen; they can't get their horse anywhere near the barrel or do anything else with them, and it's their trainer's fault.

Travis, I don't know where you're from, but I don't think it's from around here.

A couple of girls I went to high school with that are still doing it and winning regional championships have commiserated with me about it.

In the Southwest, Midwest, and West - especially in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas - they run barrels for real money you can kick over a rock and find an NFR or IFR barrel horse. Lots of big futurities and maturities, "D" barrel races, a bunch of WPRA and IPRA barrel races, and the same bunch are running in all the state and regional associations. Nobody, absolutely nobody, steals a barrel race around here!

Most of them are a joke and give the true horse women a bad name.

I must confess, I have no idea what a "true" horsewoman is. I'll admit that barrel racers can be mighty trying (I've been married to one for 41 years, come September.), but those for whom I've labored over the years all knew a little something about a horse, every damn one of 'em.

Personally, I've always found pro barrel horses to be the most challenging of horses to shoe - a 360 degree turn one way, then two the other way, different arena conditions, lots of trailer time, the inevitable hock problems, and an occasional (?) pilot error can make for some very interesting shoeing problems - and the better the horse, the more difficult they become to get dialed-in because what worked in the winter buildings won't work in summer's big pens.

I've always thought that if the Olympic riding events are supposed to be the ultimate test of riding ability, they ought to make it a 10-run barrel race in flat saddles, draw horses and have the competitors ride a different horse every run. Doubtless, the establishment would wail like a fresh-made Sicilian widow, but when the smoke cleared, the world would damn sure know who could ride and who was just a passenger.

Besides, they need all those other gals donating their entry fees to fill up the purses for the good ones to win.

Guys dont make me have to defend my exwife!!! As Mr Stovall said, the canchasers in our part of the country are dead serious about anything and everything when it comes to their horses..problem is they do believe more in VooDoo than Farriers in alot of cases..At a big event you will find a row of stalls leased out to backcrackers, acupuntures, and massage theropists...ya might find one or two Farriers out in the barns shoeing.. the good thing is they will open their wallets when it comes to fixin their horses.. now back to bashing exwifes!!