Being a farriers wife

So I thought it was about time that I wrote a post about being a farriers wife, what it’s really like, the good and the bad. Some people have the perception that it’s quite glamorous, god knows why?!

One of the first things that a lot people say when I say my husband is a farrier is “oh I bet that’s great, all those free sets of shoes!” however, us farriers wives are at the very bottom of our husbands list of priorities when it comes to shoeing. The amount of times I have had a phone call that goes along the lines of “Sorry darling, I can’t do your horse today, got to fit someone else in. I promise I will get it done this week at some point…” You very soon realise that of course paying clients come first. Your horse will get new shoes, it might just have to lose a shoe to make it happen.

The smell!! One of the first things I noticed when I started going out with Ben was the smell! Oh my goodness, if its been a wet day or he has been working in a barn this smell in intensified 10 times. It’s not the “nice” smell of a farrier working outside on a horse, it’s disgusting, it lingers, and his clothes no matter what they are washed in always have a tinge of eau d’farrier.

His phone going off at all hours, and I mean all hours. Some clients don’t care if its 10pm on a friday night or 7am on a Sunday morning they will still try to call to make an appointment, find out when their appointment is booked for, or to say they are desperate and have a show to go the following day and need him out first thing.

Rough hands. Every farriers wife will tell you that their husbands hands feel like sandpaper (unless they wear gloves). When the kids were babies and Ben would be trying to burp them of course he would be patting and rubbing their backs, this destroyed their baby grows! They were completely bobbled up.

Like a lot of jobs, farriers work long hours. In the summer they make the most of the daylight, which means Ben often misses bedtime for the children. FaceTime comes into play here so he can “see” them before they go to sleep. Like anyone being self-employed it means that it’s really hard to take time off. We haven’t had a holiday for a couple of years but we are going away for a week soon (which i can’t wait for!) But the week leading up to and after are always super busy fitting people in before we go and catching up with stuff when we are back. And the phone still rings whilst we are away.

So far all I have done is point out the not so good bits about being a farriers wife but there are good bits of being a married to a farrier too, I promise! They understand our passion for horses. They don’t mind us spending time with our beloved four-legged beasts. Ben doesn’t mind at all about ferrying me around to shows/hunt meets/competitions, playing groom for the day (best person to stud up your horse) and watching me do what I love too.

He also doesn’t mind doing the odd day mucking out when I’m not well/completely shattered by the kids. I have no worries that they won’t be done properly or that their will be an escaped loose horse in the Worcestershire countryside haha.

He has the best network of connections. If I need to find a dentist, vet, physio I always turn to Ben for recommendations of who to go to. Also, when we need to find new ponies he already has them lined up or knows where we can get a good one.

Hearing people singing his praises. It’s always so lovely when I hear from his clients how their horses have improved since using Ben, or hearing people recommend him to their friends.

Going to competitions and watching him compete is great fun. I won’t lie, it is tough with two young children in tow. Especially as they don’t want to stand still for very long, but I do love watching him compete as I know it is something he really enjoys doing. It’s also so nice going to the different county shows and seeing whats on offer there. You can quite often find me and the kids at a pony show ring when they have had enough of watching daddy.

So there you have it, being a farriers wife can be tough sometimes but I wouldn’t change it for the world and I wouldn’t want to change Ben either. He is so passionate about his job which I absolute love and I know he wouldn’t want to do anything else. Why would he when he is so good at it.