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Horseshoers Debating Competency Standards That Could Protect Horses

May 13, 2005 -- Most horseshoers concede that many of the roughly 7 million horses in the United States risk anything from discomfort to severe pain and lameness from incompetent hoof trimming and shoeing. In the worst cases, such hoof problems can lead to euthanasia.

   


But now a group of farriers is pushing for the creation of training and competency standards that they believe would raise the professionalism of the industry to the benefit of both horses and horseshoers.

   


Toward that end, the American Farrier's Association plans to survey the 65 horseshoeing schools in North America about their qualifications for teaching farriers. The survey is the first step in a much broader, still-tentative proposal from the AFA's Farrier Education/Registration Task Force.

   


The full plan - which has not yet been approved by AFA members - would establish and monitor curriculum standards for the schools, offer school accreditation, demand minimum competencies and testing among farriers and require them to register with newly created state boards.

   


However, any such moves face an uphill struggle in a business traditionally practiced by strongly independent individuals who oppose any sort of regulation or outside intervention. They believe bad farriers are eventually driven out of the business by market forces.

   


The AFA task force disagrees. Its report says steps are needed to "protect the competent, well-trained farrier from having to compete with the continuous flood of under-trained beginners, incompetent hacks and unscrupulous scam artists." It says some of the shoeing schools are merely "diploma mills."

   


Through implementation of the full plan, the task force says, "Better-trained farriers will provide better horse care. This is an animal welfare issue."

   


Currently, there is little if any regulation of farriers in the United States. However, the task force notes that Arizona and Florida recently adopted state laws affecting the duties of farriers. The group warns that farriers must take steps to regulate themselves if they are to maintain control of the farrier industry.

   


The industry "is at risk for takeover by people who have only the most superficial knowledge of our work and abilities," according to the task force. It adds, "We believe the future of farrier practice is at stake, and that time is not on our side."

   


Although the AFA and the two other national farrier organizations in the U.S. offer voluntary certification programs, the task force notes that there are no publicly recognized certifications to assure horse owners about the competency of farriers, few of whom earn certification.

   


The AFA includes 3,300 members. It is the largest of the three farrier associations in the U.S., though it represents just a small portion of the country's estimated 28,000 to 40,000 full- and part-time farriers. The task force proposal was considered by the AFA's Executive Committee, which approved the survey and directed the task force to continue its initiative with "latitude and forbearance" while "forging the way into this uncharted territory."

   


No schedule or criteria have been set by the AFA for the school survey, but the efforts are already controversial. Leaders of the two other farrier associations have spoken out against the plan, as have many of the group's own members. Also, the AFA has no legal authority to require the schools to comply with the survey, which an AFA spokesman said would be completed through on-site visits.



(Note to Editors: Detailed reports from the May/June issue of American Farriers Journal are available online by request. Contact the editors at 262-782-4480 or at e-mail protected from spam bots. Also, the full text of the AFA task force proposal is available at www.americanfarriers.com.)



For More Information, Contact:   


Frank Lessiter, Editor & Publisher

American Farriers Journal

(262) 782-4480, e-mail protected from spam bots

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