In an ideal and unrealistic world, horse owners would be model clients with mounts that had perfect conformation and feet. Rather, it’s necessary to ask questions and gain some knowledge about that horse and client before saying “yes.”

From his time as a farrier serving the Finger Lakes region of New York, Cornell University farrier Steve Kraus developed a list of questions to gather the right information when a potential client inquires about your services. This list might help you take on clients who best match your practice or avoid those who don’t.

Kraus has different levels of information that farriers should gather. First is the “need to know” information, which is essential to being able to get to the worksite and get the job done.

The next tier is “knowledge is power” questions that will provide information to help farriers prepare for the job and know exactly what’s expected of them.

The final set of questions is “client assessment” based and will give you an idea of the reliability of the client.

Kraus says asking the right questions early can save you headaches later.

“I learned to ask these questions through experience,” says Kraus, a 2016 International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame inductee. “There have been many times when I showed up to shoe four horses for what sounded like a good client. Instead, I found a run-down place where they expected the farrier to work under poor conditions. Plus, they said that they couldn’t pay until next month.”

Essential