The most common question farriers discuss is how much should they charge. The answer is never simple. Guidelines provided throughout this issue, especially those of Shelbyville, Ky., farrier Pat Broadus, show how complicated the formula can be.

Oversimplified, what you charge should be determined by your costs and how much income you want to keep. However, there are many variables that influence the reality of that amount. The chief among these is location. Take a look at the chart on this page. This shows the 10 largest horse populations by state. Texas, the largest state in the Union after Alaska, has the largest horse population in the country. Based on size and the Western tradition in the Lone Star state, this shouldn’t surprise anyone.

But it doesn’t mean settling anywhere in Texas will bring success to your fledgling business. As with the rest of the United States, large horse populations are located around densely populated metropolitan areas. Of course horses are scattered throughout the country, but if you want to run a profitable business, you must be efficient in your execution. For example, if your business is built on one horse stops spread across a large area, there are fewer horses you can do in a typical day or more driving you will need to do, which increases your fuel costs. You will commit to more hours of work and hamper your efficiency.

A Texas A&M study of the state’s horse industry shows the most densely populated areas for horses are in the counties in the metro regions of Dallas-Fort Worth (9,200 square miles) and Houston (10,062 square miles). No surprise there, being the largest populations in the state. Other cities such as San Antonio, Austin and Lubbock have large horse populations.

This does not mean that you can’t have a successful business elsewhere in the state. Make sure you sincerely consider where you live relative to the goals for your business. More horses mean more clients with less driving than required in a sparsely populated area. And more farriers who can be mentors for you.

If you want to command top dollar for your work, be patient and put in the years. It won’t come easy.

Other Factors of Region

Will the area you live and work support the income you want to earn? A large horse per square mile population like New Jersey may sound great for establishing a business, but the cost of living in New Jersey is relatively high compared with most other states (ninth highest overall by state, according to a Missouri state government study of all 50 states). Your rates will need to account for the cost of living or your area.

Even within a single state, the income of clients can differ greatly, which in turn affects the ability to pay you. In Wisconsin, the home of American Farriers Journal, the two counties with the highest median household incomes surround the Milwaukee metropolitan area. However, the two lowest counties, about 3 hours away by car from the wealthiest, are less than half that amount. So economic well-being within the same state can differ greatly.

Where you live is important in relation to the types of horses you want to work with. The Thoroughbred plater will have ample opportunity in North Central Kentucky, as will the sport horse farrier who works in densely populated Mid-Atlantic states compared to other areas that may lack these horses.

In 2020, we conducted the Farriers Business Practices Survey. This bi-annual survey is an economic barometer for the farrier industry. In the following sections you’ll find insight gleaned from this.

Section 1: Backyard Horses Backbone of the Industry

With any type, style, discipline or population of horses, you can make a list of pros and cons concerning that part of the market. Chris Gregory of the Heartland Horseshoeing School in Lamar, Mo., advises writing these down will give you an idea if you want to shoe that type of horse.

“As I went through the process of making my list, I found that I shoe a fair number of backyard horses, and I really enjoy this portion of the market,” he says. “I’ve worked on hundreds of backyard horses — many that I reminisce about with mainly good memories.”

Consistently over the past 20 years, we’ve seen more than 92% of United State full- and part-time farriers manage at least one backyard account. Though not technically a discipline, this is the largest category of horses in the country. The majority of farriers who work on backyard horses also work on other disciplines, so it is difficult to determine how many of these horses make up the overall percentage of a farrier’s practice. However, for those who responded to our survey, the average portion of the book composed on backyard horses is 28%.

Based on the horse population of Texas, you would be correct to assume the largest number of backyard farriers reside in Texas. The average age of the horses they work with mostly fall within the 11-17 year range.

An important takeaway with backyard clients is that they like to be communicated with in various ways, with these farriers relying on text messaging more than any other method. So with a majority of backyard clients, it seems texting will keep them aware of appointment reminders or changes in the schedule. Poor communication tends to be leading reason why clients change farriers.

Section 2: English Disciplines Tend to Earn Farriers More Money

The disciplines of hunters/jumpers, dressage and eventing are commonly rounded up as sport horses. The average income of these farriers climbs dramatically compared with backyard horses. Remember, gross income doesn’t account for expenses incurred, so it could be a reasonable assumption that net income is affected by product usage (shoes, pads, shoe type, etc.) to keep these athletes competing. The average amount spent on United States full-time farriers who shoe sport horses is more than $26,500.

The largest area showing the largest incomes are full-time farriers based in the Northeast, and the most expensive shoeing among these farriers in therapeutic or specialty shoeing at an average of $188.71.

Section 3: Western Disciplines Seeing Growth

Western performance horse shows are a fascinating combination of events that include competition in tasks that a working ranch horse might face every day, as well as events that rival dressage and other disciplines for the precise demands they place on horse and rider. These include Western pleasure, reining, cutting and barrel horses as the most commonly used horses in this survey under the Western disciplines.

What might be most interesting in comparing this data to previous years is the growth of farriers serving these horses outside of the stalwart states of Western disciplines. Among the four most popular Western disciplines, we see a growth of at least 3% in each compared with 2016. So, you may see more opportunity with these horses in coming years if this tend continues outside of the more traditional regions.

Western horse farriers see larger amounts spent than the average United State full-time shoer, it is close to the national average for all full-time farriers at $21,667.