Q. With lower-income backyard horse owners, how do you balance recommended therapeutic shoeing in cases of lameness with the reality of what they are willing to pay for your services?

-Indiana Farmer

A: Many years ago, a farrier friend of mine had just finished shoeing several horses and a pony for a client and was waiting for his check. The woman said, “You’re not going to charge me the same for the pony are you?” Without hesitation or a smile my friend said, “Well yes ma’am, it wouldn’t seem right to charge you more.”

I have been asked to discount my services more in the past 2 years than in the past 20. The thing I have to constantly tell myself is that owning a horse is a luxury, not a necessity.

Early in my career, I learned a hard lesson doing a favor for a friend. I had known this family most of my life. They had seven or eight horses and constantly complained about how broke they were. They asked me, as a friend, for a price break on my farrier services. I complied, but the more I gave the more they expected.

Eventually they bragged to their friends — who were also my clients — about the great deals they were getting. You can imagine how my other clients reacted.

When I picked my head up and looked around, I noticed that these people had many horses while I had one. They had a six-horse living-quarter trailer…