Backyard horses comprise a significant portion of some farriers’ businesses and can be a very successful and profitable part if handled correctly.

Prince Frederick, Md., farrier Patrick Quinn didn’t aspire to provide hoof care for backyard horses, but this is often the bread and butter of a farrier’s operation.

“These are your best clients; they are the people whose places you enjoy being at with their horses,” he says. “You are not in a big barn with all kinds of owners — some of whom don’t know you, where it’s more impersonal. It’s often a more relaxed atmosphere and informal relationship with the backyard horse owner. These folks become your friends and they trust you to be their expert in caring for their horses’ feet and hoof health.”

Dean Moshier, in Delaware, Ohio, has more than 450 horses on his roster — from backyard horses to top-level show horses — and does a lot of therapeutic shoeing, but owners of backyard horses are the mainstay of his business.

“When I set up shop here in Ohio, I thought I would have to shoe for barns, but there are many people with one or two horses,” he says. “It became clear that this was a target market.”

While many farriers limit travel when possible by providing hoof care for a large number of horses at one barn, Moshier prefers shorter stops.

“It’s physically difficult for me to stand doing horses at one barn all day,” he says. “I like to break up my day going to various clients and working on one to four horses, doing about four to 20 horses — or 4 units — per day. I usually do what I refer to as less than 1 to 1½ units per stop, in my ‘Dean math.’”

What are units? Not all hoof-care appointments are equal. Some are trims, others might need shoes, while another might need therapeutic work. Moshier quantifies them to better organize his work schedule.

“One unit equals one horse shod all around,” he says. “In my world, five trims equal one unit. This way of looking at it lets me physically go to only a certain point each day.”

Backyard clients also enable Moshier to fulfill another preference.

“It works out well for me because I enjoy working one-on-one with owners,” he says. “I don’t shoe for trainers because this puts the trainer’s wallet and intention ahead of the owners, the horses and the farrier — and we are not all necessarily on the same page. Farriers who shoe for trainers might be asked to or might get sucked into some shoeing fads that might not be in the best interest of the horse.”

His backyard owners give him free rein, and if he needs to do something specific or different or therapeutic for that horse, he is there to educate the client about what needs to be done.

“I can explain what I am doing to the horse,” Moshier says, “and they want that knowledge.”

Solving soundness issues and providing quality footcare will bolster your credibility with clients and they will be more willing to respect your opinions, Ashley Gasky says. Photo: Ashley Gasky

Skill And Knowledge Still Required

Working on backyard horses doesn’t mean that a farrier won’t face pathologies.

“When you first start out, you often get a few backyard horses, and it seems pretty simple, but eventually these horses can get as complicated — with navicular disease, laminitis, hoof cracks, etc.,” Quinn says. “You’ll see some serious problems that need the best professional care and treatments.”

A backyard horse farrier needs as much knowledge and expertise to take care of some backyard horses as one might for elite Olympic champions.

“If your only aspiration is to be a backyard horse trimmer/shoer and you haven’t tried to be well-educated and have all the clinical experience possible, working with veterinarians, you won’t be a successful backyard horse farrier,” Quinn says. “You won’t be able to do them justice. Your backyard clients will end up firing you, or you will become frustrated because you won’t know, for example, how to glue a shoe onto a horse that’s lost a significant part of a hoof capsule.”

His advice is to acquire a complete education in every way possible. Quinn has a bachelor’s degree in biology and went to grad school to study medical biology. He has the background to talk with veterinarians on a level that might be more difficult for someone who merely aspired to get out of high school and tack on shoes or trim. He also completed the Doug Butler Mastery Course in Farriery.

“To look at this as a career and be successful, you need to be able to handle all kinds of situations,” he says. “As I slow down and taper the number of clients I work for, I want to continue with just the horses and people who are really nice. I’m transitioning into being primarily a backyard horseshoer because I want it that way. The only reason I can do that, however, is because I have the expertise and have built some really good relationships.”

To gain the necessary knowledge and experience, he recommends being part of groups such as the American Farrier’s Association or the American Association of Professional Farriers.

“There are many great people who will help and advise you,” Quinn says. “I can call almost anyone in the highest levels of farriery in the world; they know me and we can communicate if I run into something I haven’t dealt with before.”

It’s also important to develop good horsemanship skills and understand the horse.

“You need to know if that horse is fighting you because it is overfed, under-exercised and has too much energy, or is afraid and nervous, or in pain, or dangerous because it is spoiled,” he says.

A horse that’s scared or in pain shouldn’t be reprimanded, but sometimes a farrier encounters one that needs a firm hand.

“You also have to read the personality of the client to see what you can or can’t do in reprimanding a bad horse,” Quinn says. “A little poke in the ribs may let the horse know he shouldn’t be yanking on you. After the horse learns that and quits yanking, you feel him relax, but some clients don’t like you doing that.”

Setting Rules

Communicating with the backyard client is integral to a profitable and safe business relationship.

“I try to explain everything to the client and make everything as predictable as possible,” Quinn says. “I make sure the client is standing exactly where I want them to be. If I’m working on a front foot, I want the client on the other side of the horse. That way, they have one side controlled and I have the other controlled, and I can see where the client is. Then if things go bad, I know I can back out of the situation and not run over the client; the client is not in my way.

“When I’m working on a hind foot, I like the client on the same side. If they are on the opposite side and the horse does something silly, usually the horse runs you over. I am emphatic about each situation and how the client holds the horse for me.”

Communicating your preferences ensures that the client can be a help rather than a hindrance.

“It’s important to set limits early on,” he says, “so the client knows what I want him or her to do.”

Once a farrier has a good rapport with a client who trusts your judgment, you can usually help educate him or her on how to be more helpful when working with their horse.

“One of our roles is to be the educator,” Quinn says, “so the client not only understands what is going on with the foot but also the whole horse in terms of training and behavior.”

Working Conditions

Not every backyard horse owner has a good facility.

“The farrier has to make do with the best the client can provide,” Moshier says. “In one situation, my client’s horse was tied to a post ladder in the barn. I had a fairly flat place to work, but there was nothing fancy about the surroundings, and I was often accompanied by goats and chickens.”

Communicating your needs can pay dividends. Moshier finds that most of his clients try hard to make it work. For instance, one owner had two horses on pasture with a run-in shed for shelter. When arriving for an appointment, he couldn’t see the horses while driving past the paddock.

“I got out of the truck and was about to ask where they were when I heard boom-boom-boom coming from her trailer,” Moshier recalls. “The two horses were in the big stock trailer they use for hauling pigs. I must have looked puzzled, so she told me that she knew the horses would be horribly muddy, so she started early and hosed them off, and put them in the stock trailer to keep them clean and dry! This is a great example of having the worst possible scenario, but a client who wanted to make it better for me.”

Another client has three off-the-track Thoroughbreds.

“She was going to make an appointment for me to do them but said they hadn’t been outside in several days and it might be better to wait until another day when they hadn’t been confined and eager to blow off steam,” he says. “She was very aware of the challenges and wanted to keep me safe.”

In the Ballston Lake, N.Y., area where Ashley Gasky lives, nearly everyone has a retired Thoroughbred in their backyard.

“Someone who brings home a horse for their daughter might just buy fence posts at Tractor Supply and literally have a horse in the backyard,” she says. “These clients present challenges, like finding a place to work, or having someone even remotely competent to handle that animal when I come to take care of its feet.”

These conditions require patience and can be an educational challenge.

Educating The Client

Some clients come up to speed because they care about their horse and really want to learn, but others won’t.

“I try not to overstep my area of expertise, however,” Gasky says. “I have a pre-law degree, so I am careful about what is within my jurisdiction and what is not. I might tell someone their horse is overweight and that they should probably talk to their veterinarian about their feeding regimen. People might ask what kind of supplements I recommend and I’ll tell them what I use for my own horses but I don’t tell them what their horse needs. I’m just offering suggestions because I am not a nutritionist.”

Gasky is deliberate with the words and tone she uses when communicating with clients.

“I am trying to educate in a way that encourages people to be receptive, rather than ordering them around regarding what they should be doing with their horse,” she says. “If you are combative, people don’t want to learn from you.”

Of course, providing top-quality equine footcare goes a long way toward building credibility with your clients.

“If I show up and the horse’s feet are neglected or the horse is unsound, and I can make it better in the 20 minutes or an hour I am there, it gives me more credibility with that owner,” Gasky says. “They can see the difference with their horse. If they see that much difference with the feet, then maybe what I talk about with the diet or whatever, they tend to respect my opinion and suggestions.”

Taking care of backyard horses entails a lot of hand-holding and helping the client learn.

“It can be a little frustrating,” Gasky says, “but if they are getting better every time, and when I show up the horse is tied up waiting for me and his feet are picked and he’s fly-sprayed, I realize I have a great client.”

She has made improvements for that horse because the owner is learning how to take care of it.

“I am not a horse trainer or human trainer,” she says. “I am just a farrier, but I can still help my clients. If you take the extra time today to help them, it saves you in the long run, and you also develop client loyalty.”

It’s important to understand whether a horse is fighting you because it’s overfed, under-exercised, nervous, in pain or just plain spoiled, Patrick Quinn says. Photo: Patrick Quinn

Scheduling Challenges

Some farriers struggle with making the one-horse stops profitable. To make a schedule such as this work, it’s important to cluster your appointments.

“I have certain days I go east, and another day I go west, to do all those horses on my route,” Gasky says. “I tell my clients I can do their horse on that day, at a certain time. If they can’t do that, I can’t be their farrier.”

That doesn’t mean she’s inflexible.

“I try to be as flexible as possible to make it work, and can show up at 7 p.m. if that’s the only thing that works for them,” she says. “Sometimes clients take a long lunch break from their work to hold their horse for me. It all comes back to respect. They want me to work on their horse, so they try to work with my schedule and vice versa. We all try to be reasonable and it works out. I keep everyone on a schedule and grouped by geographic location.”

There are several points she emphasizes while working with backyard horse clients, which include providing organization and a structured schedule.

“Not letting time slip away due to poor scheduling will keep feet looking better and money flowing,” Gasky says. “If you educate and explain to owners why things need to be done a certain way for the farrier’s and horse’s health and safety, this allows you to customize the environment and client base. These factors can help generate clients who are loyal to you as their farrier, not as a matter of convenience, and you can build positive relationships with the horses and humans, without high-pressure situations.”

July/August 2018 Issue Contents