Central Coast Farrier Services

05/04/2024

Just curious:

Who would like to learn how to trim their own horses hooves?

25/01/2024

Sometimes I feel sorry for all the other farriers — I have all the best clients— Thanks, Helen.

15/04/2023

Every now and then, you get a client that says: “you’re too expensive”.

Firstly, by the time a farrier is 50 his career is mostly over, the body is worn out, making a full time income is no longer feasible.

Secondly, Farriers get no holiday pay, or sick leave, and; injury insurance is ridiculously expensive!!!

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, the average farrier charges $150 for a new set of shoes, with the more expensive farriers charging around the $200+ mark.

So let’s break these costs down so that we can dispel the myth that farriers “make a fortune”!

$150 Shoeing price

Direct Cost of goods sold — Expenses:

Shoes — $34
Nails — $3.50
Rasp — $3.50

Total direct cost of goods = $41
Profit less direct costs $150 - $41 = $109

That’s the direct costs, but there are also operating expenses also…

Operating expenses (car costs, insurances, accounting, gas for forge etc). Operating expenses are best looked at as a percentage as they’re averaged across the whole year.

Operating expenses average around 17%

17% = $18.53 of $109

$109 - $18.53 = $90.47

But what about Super and TAX!!!!!

GST = 10%
SUPER = 12%
INCOME TAX = 32.5%

$90.47 less GST = $81.42

$81.42 less super = $71.65

$71.65 less Income tax = $48.36

FROM $150 THE NET PROFIT THAT THE AVERAGE FARRIER GETS TO KEEP ”IN HIS POCKET” IS:

$48.36

Hardly the millionaire in the making!

Oh and let’s not forget a lot of clients expect their lost shoes fixed for free, reducing this final profit price even lower!!!

P.s most farriers don’t pay super because they can barely afford to live as it is.

Most farriers do it because they love it, love being around the horses, love seeing a horse walk away better than they walked in.

Do you still believe a farrier over charges?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

04/04/2023

“An experienced, competent, reliable farrier just might be the most important member of your horse's health-care team. Experience and competence are the attributes you should look for when choosing a farrier not "cheap" or even just "a really nice guy."

An excellent farrier may cost a little more, but in many cases, you get what you pay for.

Moreover, if you do have to spend a bit more to have your horse well shod, chances are you'll wind up saving even more on vet bills by avoiding soundness troubles.”

Take aim against seven common hoof-care mistakes that can put your horse’s health and soundness at risk.

12/10/2022

This horse presented offset at the carpus and turned in at the fetlock. As a consequence, was lame going in a clockwise direction. In a straight line she landed substantially harder on the lateral side. I decided to bump/wedge the medial heel quarter with some handmade aluminum shoes to help her land more level. This is her second month now with these shoes, and she is going great. A reminder, that it’s not always just about keeping the toes short, pathology is not just limited to the Dorsal-Palmar plane, it can also be medio-lateral.

The moral of the story… simply cutting the toes back and slapping some shoes on might appeal to some clients, but is it really serving the horse? Leveling the hoof to the “text book” norm can often be inadequate also. Our most powerful weapon is watching behavior and body language, the horse in motion can give us great insight in reducing pathology, or even preventing it.

08/08/2022

Apparently we’ve all been scratching our bellies wrong all this time!!! 😂😋

07/07/2022

I definitely started young 🙌

The first pony I ever shod, his name was Yella! I think I was around 10 years old 😂

07/07/2022

Ouch!!!

06/07/2022

Possibly the ugliest shoe I’ve ever handmade haha 🥴
But the horse is sound 🙌
It’s not all about looking good!

27/06/2022

Glorified nail salon 😂

24/06/2022

Head down ass up—perhaps that’s where that age old saying comes from!

It’s nice to back at the office 🙌

Photo Courtesy of the amazing Susan Shipway