I am looking for a farrier/trimmer in Northern Virginia (Lorton, Fairfax) or Maryland. My horse is barefoot, is not a draft, and does not have laminitis or P3 rotation.
I have used farriers from the AFA, including those with CJF certifications and haven't been pleased. I have looked on ELPO's list, but it seems like that list is outdated. Anne Buteau is in central Virginia, Natalie Cruz moved to Indiana, and Paige Poss moved to Arizona. I am not sure who else to ask.
I have read/watched a lot of research by some of the "greats" (Pete Ramey, ELPO, Gene Ovnicek, etc.), but I am not comfotable trimming myself.
Thanks.
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Mary Smith
Virginia, USA
November 2019

After an appalling experience with our trimmer who is local to us, I contacted Anne Buteau. She’s coming to us (in NC) from central Virginia every 10-12 weeks to insure that we stay on track with doing the in-between trims ourselves. She has a travel rate and for us it’s not cheap but there are very few trimmers in our area right now who understand the kind of trimming we want.

Anne has been wonderful and it has been a huge relief to us that she’s willing to come such a distance.

Best,
Billie in NC

Hi Mary,

I wish I could help you but I don’t go that far east and I am not taking on new clients right now. I would recommend you call Patty Lynch, who is fantastic. She’s in Maryland and I’m not sure if she comes your way. Her number is (301) 693-3866 - you can tell her I sent you. If she can’t help you, I will try to think of some others I’d recommend.

Kate Domanski
Member since 2020
Rowan - PPID

When I lived in Aldie, VA, I used Chip Langston and was quite happy with him. He did good work, was on time, and didn't mind coming out for just one barefoot horse. Last time I used him was 2014 when I moved out of state.

Prior to him I had been through three other farriers (two because I moved Yankee, one before Chip was because he was unreliable)... none of them were as good as Chip, IMHO.

I recently started a barefoot hoof practitioner worldwide database, however, I have no way of vetting anyone on it beyond those I know personally. 

The database is a Google doc that allows trimmers to add their own information so I don’t have to maintain every aspect of it. This link will always take you to the most recent version of the database:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vS6gwS-LhMZlVwGuPd8lfuEsZr3iydYaDi4Zk9khYEP7fGBGvmOzYuTh7lb21Q2uEsUr8kY2BmkDfjo/pubhtml

Lisa Mittler
Bare and Balanced Hoofcare
South and Central Texas
January 2019