# Farrier Pricing



## Santina (Aug 21, 2014)

I have been paying my farrier $30 per horse to trim their hooves. They are barefoot horses so they only require a trim--no shoeing or any other special needs for their hooves besides a trim. Is $30 a normal price for a farrier for a barefoot trim or is it expensive? Should I find a new farrier that has barefoot trims for cheaper? 

I'm located an hour north of Grand Rapids, Mi if anyone has recommendations for farriers....


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## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

$30 is quite reasonable. I pay $45, I don't think I've ever paid less than $40. Price doesn't matter to me as much as the skill of the farrier.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

I'm in Central Texas and I pay $40 per horse for the same thing.

ETA: I agree with what @ApuetsoT said -- skill is more important than price. At least up to a point.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

It’s $35 here in KY. In Texas, I paid $20, but I had almost a full day’s work (21 horses), and he lived 2 miles away. His other clients paid $25 or $30, depending on distance.


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

I pay $40 in Minnesota happily for a farrier who shows up when he says he will!


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

I pay $35 in SE Oklahoma, always act like I don't have exact change so I send the Farrier off with a little more than he charged me simply because I know him and he's taking good care of my horse's feet, so it's probably more like $40 per horse.


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## ChieTheRider (May 3, 2017)

$40 per horse, though it's actually $95 for my mare because she's shod on the front.


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## Slave2Ponies (May 25, 2013)

$50 per trim here.....N. California. My farrier is really good and dependable. No idea what actual shoes cost.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

$60 per horse for barefoot trim in central Vermont


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Central Florida...
I pay $35 for a trim.
$120 for front shoes, trim behind if needed.
No idea of cost for shoes all around...

I know of other farriers who charge as little as $20 - $45 for trim
$60 - $150 for front shoes, trim behind.

Difference is the quality and reliability of the farrier.
My guy competes in national competitions not only as competitor but is a instructor...
He is on schedule, on time and reliable...
Every 5 weeks is my time.
I have my appointment for next visit before he leave my home.

The best though is...
My horse abscessed...it was horrible to watch. He hurt so bad...
Called the farrier in the afternoon...he was in my yard quietly working on my horse to not wake anyone the next morning at 6:30 AM...
Found the pus pocket, opened, cleansed and treated it and came back the next day to change the dressing to his standards...
Sometimes you really do get what you pay for.
Farriers are as much a professional as your vet or own human doctor.

The saying you get what you pay for...don't mess with saving a buck at the cost of your horses health and comfort.
No feet no horse..._truth not fiction._
:runninghorse2:...


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

I pay $25.00 for a trim. That's up from the 20.00 his dad used to charge me. Yup, his father spent his whole career trimming my horses and now I'm on the second generation. I don't know if he charges other people with less horses the same or not but I have 9 so it's a full morning's work for him.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

30$ for trims,50$ front shoes,75$ for all four. Barefoot trimmer is 50$ for a trim also does shoes don't know cost for that..


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## Hackamore (Mar 28, 2014)

Very interesting to see the range of prices in different locations. 
I charge $30 for a trim which is comparable to other farriers in my area of Virginia.


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## Vbrooks262 (Feb 13, 2019)

In SC I pay $35 to trim and $75 for front shoes/trim the back.


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## Filou (Jan 16, 2014)

I've paid between 30-60. One farrier even wanted 75, he had all the credentials and a full book so I guess that's what he could get away with.


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## Walkamile (Dec 29, 2008)

I pay $40 a trim and have had the same farrier for over 20 years. He is on time and always watchful for any potential problems.


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## buggy (Aug 8, 2016)

I pay $35 per trim. My farrier shows up on time on the day she's scheduled. This is one of those things where cheaper is not necessarily better. I have had more expensive farriers that show up hours late, or do a crappy job. If your farrier is doing a good job and shows up when scheduled...Keep them. It is often really hard to find a decent farrier.


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## rmissildine (Feb 1, 2019)

Here in Alabama, we pay $35 per horse for a barefoot trim. As others have said, $30 is reasonable.
And too, our farrier is always on time, respects us and our horses and is a great guy. We've been using him for years, or my wife has anyway.


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## NavigatorsMom (Jan 9, 2012)

Texas here, our farrier charges $45 for a barefoot trim. I feel like that's super reasonable, especially because he does a good job, and it saves my back from having to do it. It is interesting to see what prices are like around the country!


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## ClearDonkey (Nov 27, 2016)

Santina said:


> I have been paying my farrier $30 per horse to trim their hooves. They are barefoot horses so they only require a trim--no shoeing or any other special needs for their hooves besides a trim. Is $30 a normal price for a farrier for a barefoot trim or is it expensive? Should I find a new farrier that has barefoot trims for cheaper?
> 
> I'm located an hour north of Grand Rapids, Mi if anyone has recommendations for farriers....


Oh, hey, my hometown! When I still lived in the lower peninsula (30 mins west of Grand Rapids), we were regularly paying $35 per horse for a barefoot trim. I would not choose farriers based on price, as that is how you end up with a lame or dead horse. The farrier I had no longer takes on new clients, but she was excellent for $35, and regularly went to seminars to advance her training. I personally don't know any farriers that charge under $30 anywhere, and nor do I want to.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

$35 here. I have 2 mares but happily tip as if I have 3 because this guy is a gem and I live inconveniently in the mountains and he has to travel...and I want to keep him!!!!!!


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Dustbunny said:


> $35 here. I have 2 mares but happily tip as if I have 3 because this guy is a gem and I live inconveniently in the mountains and he has to travel...and I want to keep him!!!!!!


Wait... are we supposed to tip farriers? OMG.


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## Cynical25 (Mar 7, 2013)

$40/horse for a basic trim by a reasonably decent/not extraordinary farrier in N Texas. The least I ever paid was $30/horse while boarding, which was a volume discount.


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## mkmurphy81 (May 8, 2015)

$45 for a barefoot trim in Louisiana. I have four easy, well-behaved horses. My farrier is worth every penny he charges. He always shows up on time. If he's running behind schedule, he texts me a couple of hours before he's scheduled to let me know the new time. All of my horses' hooves are in better shape than when I bought them. He's patient with the arthritic gelding. He's never left a horse sore. I can teach riding lessons the same day he trims. If there are other farriers in my area that charge less, I'm not interested.


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## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

I'm in Lancaster county, PA. I have two barefoot trimmers that I'll use. I mostly use a guy that charges $35 whenever I can because 1) he's cheaper, 2) he does an excellent job, and 3) he's a nice guy and I enjoy doing business with him. He just doesn't do trimming and farrier work full time anymore. He has a small client base and doesn't travel far. I had my horses boarded outside his zone for a while and formed a relationship with another barefoot trimmer. She's a little more expensive at $45, but also does an excellent job, and I keep her in mind as a back up, for if something happens and my regular guy can't make it, or if I ever end up moving again.

I am capable of trimming my own horse's hooves if need be, but I'm no pro, so I wouldn't like to do it myself for more than a touch up between trims by someone who knows a lot more about it than I do.

It wasn't really an issue when I had two horses, but now that I only have one horse, price is really a non-issue. My first and foremost concern is that my horse's feet are well taken care of. I'd gladly pay an extra $10 or even $20 to make that happen (just don't tell my farrier that! lol)


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

ACinATX said:


> Wait... are we supposed to tip farriers? OMG.



Considering the 2 hour round trip travel time to do 2 horses, and I want to keep the guy, I do not consider it a tip but a bonus for good service!


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## pasomountain (Dec 19, 2018)

$30-$40 is about right here in Oregon but I save tons of money by doing some of my own trims. My sis had a horse with contracted heels that kept getting worse from a bad farrier so she took lessons on barefoot trimming from a natural trim guy. She taught me how after that and we have trimmed our older horses for years now and they are both 100% sound and ride just fine. Learning the basics is easy--the only hard part is it's backbreaking work so that's why we pay somebody to do our other horses!


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## karens1039 (Mar 26, 2018)

I pay $50 for a trim in Southern California


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## KristinLynnCiscos19 (Apr 9, 2012)

The last three farrier I used charged $30, $45 and $50 (I'm in Ontario Canada). At your rate I would not bother to look for cheaper (I think at $30 they're not making a significant profit when you consider all their time and costs). 

Cheaper will not mean a better job, but more expensive often doesn't correlate with a better job either as I've learned. The $45 guy left my one mare with a brutal hackjob and the $50 guy bullnosed my other mares fronts to fit into shoes. The $30 woman and didn't put on a mustang roll and left on too much. After all this I was horrified. 

I started to do my own trims now, I spent about $1000 on resources and tools, but I have three mares so that was $50x3 plus $10 per horse if i'm not available to bring them in, that's $180 every 6 weeks, so after one year I've made use of my resources spent and will completely know their feet and can make any fixes at any time!


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

It's $35 I believe from my farrier but the ground here has a ton of very hard sharp rock that will chew up horses feet like you wouldn't believe so I keep mine shod all year except for winter after the snow has covered everything fairly deeply and I am not riding again until everything thaws out. So I pay $75 per horse to have them trimmed and shod every nine weeks or so. It's worth it to me to make sure my horses have great feet year round.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I pay $50 for a trim for my horse, and I live in Maryland. My farrier is REALLY good. 
30 is pretty cheap.


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## Whinnie (Aug 9, 2015)

My horse is 25 minutes south of Grand Rapids, MI. I pay $30.00 which is the group rate, cheaper because there are 14 horses at the barn. He does the trims only on one day and comes back the next week for the horses that need shoes. I don't know the shoe rate. I do know others in the area are more expensive, about $45.00


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## DanisMom (Jan 26, 2014)

I would not complain about paying $30. I currently pay $60, which is up from the $50 my trimmer used to charge. But it's hard to find a good trimmer so I don't complain.


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## Amber17 (Sep 3, 2017)

I am in Central MN and a trim is $40- full set of shoes is $130. 

I have been out of the loop so long I remember when a trim was $20- and a full set was $50..


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## Whinnie (Aug 9, 2015)

Amber17 said:


> I am in Central MN and a trim is $40- full set of shoes is $130.
> 
> I have been out of the loop so long I remember when a trim was $20- and a full set was $50..


I remember in East Texas when a trim was $4.00 and a set of shoes was $7.00. Yeah, I'm old.


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## apachetears6 (Jun 7, 2018)

Santina said:


> I have been paying my farrier $30 per horse to trim their hooves. They are barefoot horses so they only require a trim--no shoeing or any other special needs for their hooves besides a trim. Is $30 a normal price for a farrier for a barefoot trim or is it expensive? Should I find a new farrier that has barefoot trims for cheaper?
> 
> I'm located an hour north of Grand Rapids, Mi if anyone has recommendations for farriers....



I'd learn to trim them if your going barefoot.
I use the natural hoof method, I only ride brief stretches of a mile on pavement so since I don't use shoes I taught myself how to trim. I bought a hoof trim gauge, files and rasps.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

I pay $40 for a trim and $65 for front shoes, and that's a little higher than the average around here (N. Alabama). I won't trust anyone else with my mare, though. She had thin dropped soles when I bought her and L brought her back to being able to trot on gravel roads (front shoes). I've used 2 other farriers when L was injured or out of state and both managed to lame the mare to the point we had to start over with her "orthopedic sneakers." 

I'll pay more for quality and know my mare is well taken care of.

And yes, I tip well.


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## BarbandBadgerandPedro (Apr 3, 2018)

Mid MO rates are around $30 for barefoot, About $30 for front shoes plus $20 for farm call. I make sure my horses are good to handle, caught & brushed off before he gets here, & help with holding them while he works. He learned from his dad & I consider him a great professional farrier.


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## The Robyn (Mar 10, 2012)

I've had 4 farriers in 6 years. 

I've paid between $30-$45 per horse. Barefoot all the way around. 

All but one of my farriers were "pros".

My current farrier offers a budget trim for $20 as well. He said he knows some people don't get their horses done on time because they can't afford to. No dressing, just the trim. He charges $40 for the regular trim. 

South Central Alabama


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

$30 - $40 for a trim is standard here. I pay $35.


If my farrier is around when the horses are due, I'll have her come trim them. If they need a trim and she's not in the area, I'll do it myself.


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## bayleysours (Apr 1, 2019)

I'm in Illinois and I pay $35 for a trim, $70 for front shoes, and $140 for a full set.


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