A vet we used years ago was expensive in general and would nickel and dime us for everything. Calling her for anything at all always meant a big bill. I had a sick horse once that needed a penicillin shot every day for 10 days and she refused to teach me how to do it and instead charged us a farm call fee for every day plus the shot plus a charge to give the shot each day. She lived 3 miles from us, by the way, and drives past our house to visit many of her clients on a daily basis, yet wouldn't give us a break even on the farm call charge every day. She would also send a bill if you called her and she gave any advice at all over the phone. The last year we used her I don't remember how many horses we had but I DO remember we spent $1,700 having her do all the shots, coggins, etc. Whatever the breakdown was, that was the last straw because I do remember it worked out to be a LOT of money per horse. She also told me, by the way, that unless she does the "well-horse" care like shots, coggines, etc. that she wouldn't do an emergency call.
t was after that big bill and my conversation with her and her refusal to teach me to do shots that I looked for another vet and reconnected with one we'd used long ago that I thought had moved out of our area and I was thrilled to learn she still had many clients around us. She taught me how to do shots and sold me the shots at the same price as ordering them online. I think we spent about $400 buying the shots the next year for about the same number of horses. Her attitude is completely different from the other vet and she is very willing to teach me to do shots and is always educating me and always looks at options for saving money when we can.
She does know all of our horses very well -- well enough that she remembers ALL their names and other little details about each one -- and also does their coggins and health exam every year and is always a phone call away and available for emergencies, etc. So now she gets the majority of our business and the other vet gets nothing.