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Crosswinds Farrier Services

INTRODUCTORY RATES: Our introductory rates for this new service are minimum donations of: New rates as of 1/1/08: $35/horse for light horse trim $45/horse for draft horse trim shoeing, corrective shoeing, and other care are also available. Please contact us for quotes. Travel fees charged for distances over 10 miles from CWER, near Villa Grove IL. Discounted for multiple horses in a single location. Please contact us for details. Trimming training: Have a horse that is not managable for your farrier? Consider sending him/her to a 2 week ground school here at CWER! Your horse will learn to have his hooves handled, including farrier tools and a trim while at our facility, along with other ground manner training if needed. All done gradually, gently, using the same techniques we use to recover abused & unhandled rescue horses. Cost: $150 for up to 2 weeks ground school. Owner responsible for transportation costs and grain, or can reimburse CWER for using our feed.  Farrier training is also included as part of our regular horse training services! -- NO CHARGE -- as part of the regular $300 monthly training fees. Need an easy going, patient farrier who understands that your horse may have arthritis, health issues, foundered, or simply hasn't had good farrier experiences in the past? Who better than a full time rescue manager to trim your horse?

History: Mike Cross, one of the founding officers of Crosswinds, has just completed his basic farrier training, and is now offering hoof trimming, and basic and corrective shoeing. Mike is a horseman who is experienced in working with frightened, previously abused, nervous and high strung horses, and offers a quieter, softer, gentler approach than most. Mike has also seen a lot of unusual and unique lameness and conformation issues with the horses here at Crosswinds, helping him to have a more careful eye to look for causes to unusual problems. By providing farrier service, Mike is able to provide this critical care to the Crosswinds' herd on a daily basis, and also able to help other horse owners provide their horses with this important care. Hopefully by working with others' horses, we can help make sure that lameness problems don't develop which might otherwise result in early retirement or other concerns. We at Crosswinds believe that, when possible, barefoot is the preferred condition for a horse's feet; however, we also are very aware that there are certain situations where shoes are needed for safety (ie road riding), excessive wear, and corrective or preventative reasons. All of the horses in Crosswinds care at the time of this writing are maintained with barefoot trimming, without any shoes. Several horses previously in our care have been shod for corrective reasons.

Please call (217-649-7915) or email us today to schedule an appointment!

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