While a new farrier’s top priority is the care of hooves, you’ve got to be equally concerned with earning a living and dealing with the numerous business aspects of the profession. This means knowing what it really costs you to trim and shoe horses.

The obvious answer includes the price of shoes, nails, pads, adhesives and other items. But there is much more to it than just those costs. In fact, many farriers fail to fully understand how the prices they charge should be determined.

Troy Kerr, who handles 1,500 trimmings and shoeings per year in the Pueblo, Colo., area knows he’s already spent $48 to trim and shoe a horse before he ever climbs out of his truck at the barn. That figure includes his costs for supplies, equipment, fuel and other items such as a retirement plan along with life, health and liability insurance.

“This means you have to figure out what it’s going to cost you for working on each horse in your area and go from there,” says Kerr.

Kerr says too many farriers fail to treat their work as a business. While they see the number of dollars being earned every day, paying attention to expenses is critical.

Wrong Approach

“We tend to set prices for the wrong reasons because our pricing structure is limited by our own narrow-minded thinking,” he says. “Farriers don’t think highly enough of themselves or the service and expertise they provide. This thinking gets in the way of establishing the true value of farrier work.”

Having shod horses for 29 years, Kerr says it’s important to calculate both your fixed and variable costs for trimming and shoeing.

“At the beginning of the year, I take all of my expenses for the business and divide by the number of horses I work with,” Kerr says. “That helps me figure out my base price for trimming and shoeing just one horse.”

With each footcare visit, he starts with the flat charge and then decides what else the horse needs. Sometimes a horse only needs to be trimmed while other times it may need clips or pads along with the shoes.

He suggests that farriers forget about any pre-conceived notions of what they want to earn or what customers can afford. Instead, look at the pricing issue objectively in order to assess the true value of your footcare work.

Much like professional athletes, farriers are compensated because they possess unique skills. Both athletes and farriers need a high level of physical endurance since they may only be able to do the work for a fairly short period of time.

Since a farrier’s body can break down prematurely due to the hazards of the business, you need to figure out a way to place a price tag on your health. As a result, health costs have to be added to the cost of trimming and shoeing.

“You can shoe 10 horses a day if you want to make lots of money, but you won’t be shoeing 10 horses a day for the rest of your life,” Kerr says. “Your financial situation should allow you to be able to make a decent living while shoeing only three to four horses a day.”

Several years ago, Bob Smith of the Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School calculated that his students would have fixed costs of $58 per horse if working in California’s Sacramento area. He would also add the value of a 2-week annual vacation when determining his annual fixed costs.

Understanding Farrier Finances

As with every business, the difference between total income, fixed and variable expenses determines the profitability of your operation. Even so, many farriers fail to recognize all of the factors that add to the overall costs.

To be competitive, farriers need to spread their fixed investment costs in tools, vehicles and other items over a number of years to reflect the annual life of these items. A good rule of thumb is to figure on the use of a farrier truck for 7 years, 10 years for the farrier rig body or trailer and 5 years for tools and computers.

Know Cost Differences

Esco Buff says fixed costs represent business expenses that are not dependent on how many horses you trim and/or shoe during the year.

“These are expenses that have to be paid regardless of the amount of your generated income,” says the Webster, N.Y., farrier. “Fixed costs are not permanently fixed, as they will change over time, but they are fixed in relation to the quantity of production for the relevant period of time — usually a year.”

The veteran farrier says it’s fairly easy to overlook some of the smaller fixed costs. This includes items such as mailing invoices, paying bills, keeping track of taxes and the hours involved in scheduling appointments.

On the other hand, variable costs are the purchase prices for rasps, horseshoes, nails, pads, boots and other items that vary based on the number of trims and/or shoeing you handle during the year.

2017 Getting Started In Hoof Care Contents