Sometimes farriers tend to focus so much on their clients’ footcare problems that they forget to look after themselves. If you’ve ever dealt with burnout, frustration, financial difficulty, feeling overwhelmed, not having enough time to do things, having a limited personal life or a poor quality of life, you know what I’m talking about.

Making the matter even worse is working in a solo practice as most farriers do, says Nancy Loving, an equine veterinarian in Boulder, Colo. Back in December, she urged attendees at the annual meeting of the American Association of Equine Practitioners to change their lifestyles and quit working 60- to 90-hour weeks.

Like many horseshoers, equine vets often think they must be available at all hours to meet the needs of their clients

According to Loving, the key is setting limits and sticking with them.

“Early on, I almost made the mistake of providing after-hour services to clients who had daytime obligations,” she says. “However, I have found that clients concede to rearranging their schedules if it is firmly and kindly made clear that routine appointments are only scheduled for times within regular business hours. And this does not include weekends or evenings.”

Setting limits and boundaries has not affected her ability to continue a comfortable working relationship with clients. The result is that time is now allocated between the needs of clients and her own business and personal/family life.

Learn To Say “No”

Loving maintains the trick for success in learning to gracefully say “no”…