A friend of a friend is starting up farrier school … a farrier being someone who puts shoes on horses. He claims that a fully-certified farrier makes $400 per horse. That means farriers who shoe just one horse a day are making a fairly decent income. Does he have that right? Am I in the wrong profession?
“So You Want To Be A Farrier”:
I think your friend is really, really optimistic.
I agree. It’s been about 10 years, but the last time I had to have a horse shod, it was about $40 for a trim and cold shoeing. That was in No. CA.
Someone might be able to get $400 for corrective shoeing, if all four hooves were very bad, but I doubt it. Figuring you have to trim the hooves about every 6 weeks, very few people could afford it.
I pay $25 for a trim, and $50 for hot-forged front shoes and a trim behind. (every 6 weeks). Another boarder at my barn got 4 hot-forged shoes with borium studs for $75 by the same farrier (he is on the inexpensive side for our area).
Still, even with a more expensive farrier, $400 is a hella big shoeing job… I’m thinking major corrective work.
The trim takes him 10 minutes and the shoes about a half-hour. A pretty fair hourly wage but it is HARD work.
As the brother-in-law of a farrier and the son-in-law of a farrier who actually operated an internationally reknowned farrier school, I will note that no one averages $400 per horse.
Both of my in-laws have made a decent living at their craft, but it is long, hard work in terrible heat and bitter cold, in which they must purchase (or manufacture) all of their own equipment and purchase their own insurance–and any day they “take off” they do not get paid. They work 20+ hour days before a big show or fair and may go a week or more with no calls if the weather turns bitter around Christmas. They are also expected to be the first line first aid guys when people are too cheap to call the vet (and their reputations can suffer when the client ignores their advice, then blames them for whatever goes wrong).
It can be a good life for someone who truly loves the work. (Both my in-laws and the six or ten of their brothers and cousins who have gotten into the business supplement their farrier income with farming, welding, or other work.) However, I just attended my FIL’s funeral, where 80% or so of the Michigan farriers were in attendance, and I did not meet a single rich person, there.
That $400 sounded extremely optimistic to me too. Maybe Saudi oil barons who are bad at math might pay you that much. You won’t get jobs like that often and have to work your way up to it. Few jobs like that and far more low paying tasks like floating teeth and cleaning sheaths. it’s not all glamour/