Seven years ago, Wes Meyer was trimming and shoeing a lot of horses and making good money. Yet, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., farrier’s practice wasn’t doing as well as it should be. Meyer was chasing outstanding payments, his inventory was too high, and his horses were losing shoes. He recognized the need for an improved way of doing business.

Meyer’s fortunes changed when he met Coshocton, Ohio, and Wellington, Fla., farrier Dave Farley and his wife Karen.

“That one dinner that I had with Dave and his wife in Wellington made the difference,” Meyer says. “He was a key factor in stepping up my game. His willingness to share his experiences made me feel comfortable enough to ask him anything, almost as if he were a family member.”

Meyer accomplished that by taking Farley’s advice to determine what it costs to operate his business per horse, putting all of his hoof-care clients on a strict 4-week schedule and switching all of his clients to paying by credit card. The changes that Meyer implemented paid significant dividends.

“Dave helped me to restructure the way we run our business,” he says. “My issue was I was losing shoes, I was dealing with a larger clientele, I was doing more horses and making similar money. The changes allowed me to do fewer horses, cater to fewer clients, carry less inventory, lower my overhead, make more money and give my clients better service.”

1 Determine Your Cost of Business

Farley recommended that Meyer determine how much it cost to operate his business. To facilitate this, Farley pointed him toward the Farrier Pricing Worksheet that was developed by fellow International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame member Bob Schantz of Foristell, Mo.

The worksheet and its instructions can be downloaded here, American Association of Professional Farriers (ProfessionalFarriers.com) and Farrier Product Distribution (FarrierProducts.com) websites.

The easy-to-use Excel spreadsheet includes three tabs — instructions, a sample sheet and a calculation sheet. The sample sheet is completed to demonstrate how the form works. Enter your information in the calculation sheet. It allows you to create, change or delete descriptions that are specific to your hoof-care practice. When completed, the sheet calculates monthly business and household expenses, total expenses and breaks down the total cost to shoe a horse — including wear and tear on your tools. It also determines the amount a farrier must charge per horse to cover expenses or break even.

The exercise was eye-opening for Meyer.

“Initially, I calculated the annual cost per horse based on business expenses such as supplies, vehicle, insurance, taxes, cost of living, employees’ salaries, etc.,” he says. “From there, I determined the necessary price per horse, whether it’s a therapeutic, show or lesson horse. The only change that I made was increasing my price. I was under the impression that I was earning more. It wasn’t until the expense breakdown was on paper that I realized I need to charge more for the service I was already providing.”

2 Increase Prices and Reduce Clients

The most difficult among the four steps for Meyer was increasing prices and reducing the number of clients.

“Dave said, ‘Listen, it’s hard to take that step,’” he recalls. “‘But this is one of the things that you can do.’”

And he did. Meyer prioritized his best clients and kept them at the rate they were paying. When a new customer came on board, he charged them double.

“I was up-front with them because clients talk with each other,” he says. “I told them, ‘This is what I’ve been charging them because they’ve been a client in good standing for 20 years. If you want to be on my books, this is what it’s going to cost because I have to take the time that I don’t have and fit you in.”

As time passed, Meyer implemented annual rate increases to his previous clients, so all of his clients are not paying the same rate.

“I try to carry about 160 horses on my book, and that’s doing about eight horses a day every 4 weeks,” he says. “I thought I’d lose 20%, but I only lost about 5% of my clients.”

The result is a full book with no room to spare.

“I haven’t taken on a new barn in probably a year,” Meyer says. “It’s hard to tell potential new customers that I can’t help them. I feel bad about it. I can only do eight horses a day. When you take on a new client, you’re not making more money. You’re just doing more horses.”

It sounds counter-intuitive, but Meyer explains it this way.

“You might do 300 horses, but if you’re doing them at 6 weeks, how are you making more money?” he asks. “You’re just doing more horses because you end up pushing clients back and you can’t get to them in a timely fashion.”

An added benefit for both Meyer and his clients is there are fewer surprises with the feet he sees each day.

“I found that I’m typically doing the same clientele,” he says. “I love that because I have experience with their horses. I have a rapport with the trainers and veterinarians. The only changes might be when the existing client gets a new horse.”

How much does it cost to shoe a horse? Each farrier will have a different amount. Meyer completed the Farrier Pricing Worksheet and found that he wasn’t charging his clients enough.

3 Switch Everyone to Credit Card

Like many farrier practices, most of Meyer’s clients were paying for his services via checks or cash. Of course, missed payments and bounced checks are common risks that occur all too often. To avoid spending time and energy chasing down unpaid bills, he switched all of his clients to pay by credit card.

“It allows me to keep everyone in a timely fashion,” Meyer says. “My book is scheduled every 4 weeks to the day. I’m not based on who’s paid up and who’s not.”

The disadvantage is paying the fees to the credit card companies for the convenience.

“It costs me a good three horses a month just for the interest on the credit card,” he says. “But, I’m getting paid and allows me to run my book more evenly.”

4 Reduce the Shoeing Cycle

Although all three changes were significant in bolstering Meyer’s business, he counts altering the shoeing cycles from 5 weeks to 4 weeks as the most substantial.

“One significant show client told me that after changing the shoeing cycle,” he says, “we went from losing seven shoes a week to rarely losing one.”

The shorter interval not only reduces the likelihood of lost shoes but also promotes optimal foot balance.1 Although farriers are aware of the benefits, it can be difficult to persuade clients to make the switch. The perception of a heavier wallet goes a long way. For example, Kirstie Le´sniak, senior lecturer at Hartpury University in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, found that the average cost of shoes in her home country is approximately £80, or $104. A change from a 4-week interval to 6 weeks results in four fewer farrier visits per year, resulting in a savings of £320, or $416 annually.2

So, how does Meyer overcome this powerful obstacle? He explains that top show horse farriers, whose clients are among the most successful in the industry, are employing these practices and are having success. He also describes the effects of the longer shoeing cycle.

“My whole strategy was to convey to them that it’s preventative maintenance,” he says. “I believe in positive growth. When you balance a horse’s feet and they’re set up correctly, they’ll grow evenly. The fifth week is negative growth.”

Meyer views the fifth week as negative growth. He has found that extra time of maintaining the horse in balance has paid dividends in the show ring.

“That’s a key week because it keeps them more cutting edge, and they’re competing against the same horses at the higher end,” Meyer says. “The horse can move more consistently and doesn’t have to change the way it moves because it’s not moving from balanced to unbalanced.”

Although the benefits of a balanced horse result in improved performance, the benefits extend beyond achievement. Meyer’s clients experience fewer injuries, fewer vet bills and healthier wallets.

“If we can keep the preventative maintenance approach, the horse is less likely to have soft tissue injuries by going off-balance,” he says. “I tell the client that it might cost them an extra $600 a year in shoeing, but it prevents veterinary bills and downtime from being unable to show because your horse is injured. A veterinarian is going to cost more than $600 in an afternoon.”

Meyer’s anecdotal evidence is supported by Le´sniak’s peer-reviewed research.

“Continued implementation of elongated intervals could result in damage to both soft and hard tissue structures, leading to lameness, veterinary and remedial farriery bills and periods of training or work,” she wrote in the September/October 2018 issue of American Farriers Journal. “Resultant costs would be much higher than the savings made by stretching out the time between interventions.”

While most clients pay by cash or check, switching to credit cards will eliminate chasing unpaid farriery bills, but will cost you processing fees as the business owner.

Yet, when Meyer implemented the change to a 4-week shoeing cycle, there was another profound change.

“What I found is that within the first 6 months, I was trimming more foot off of my horses in the 4-week cycle than I was when they were on a 5-week cycle,” he says. “I believe the feet were growing more because they’re more balanced and happier. The change has helped immensely.”

The reduction in clients and shoeing cycles also means the opportunity to provide better service for Meyer’s clients.

“The key goal in my business is to provide a service that my clients have never experienced in my area,” he says. “If the client needs a service, I don’t care what it is, we take care of it. I trade out a lot of favors by tacking on shoes. I’ll go out of my way to fix anybody’s shoe so that someone gives me the same in return. This means my clients never have to worry about missing a lesson or a ride time. If I’m on vacation, I arrange for someone to cover for me before I ever leave town. That way, the clients know that they always have us to rely on.”

Despite the benefits, there will be clients — particularly those who are new — who are reluctant to a shorter shoeing cycle. Meyer advises against accommodating the client.

“I’ve lost one here or there because they can’t afford it or they think it’s too big of a difference,” Meyer says. “You can’t give in to one because then it offsets your whole schedule. One of the hardest things to do in the industry is to say no to a potentially good client, but if they can’t fit in your books and disrupts everyone else, you can’t do it. I’ve learned that by saying no, sometimes it’s a better thing in this industry. It certainly will be for your books and peace of mind.”

References

1. Leśniak K, Williams J, Kuznik K, Douglas P. “Does a 4–6 Week Shoeing Interval Promote Optimal Foot Balance in the Working Equine?” Animals, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; 2017 Mar 29 [cited 2017 Apr 4];7(4):29.mdpi.com/2076-2615/7/4/29
2. Leśniak K. “The Importance of Regular Shoeing.” American Farriers Journal, September/October 2018, pp 49-53.