I donât read anything in the article that says itâs required. "offering a diploma ", as optional "the course, which has six modules and concludes with an in-person practical and theory assessments, is accredited by UK Rural Skills and the CPD Group. "
I donât see it as any different from any farrier organization in the US
Just folks creating an âusâ group to differentiate themselves from everyone else. I would guess for marketing - either of their claimed horse hygiene skills, or of the course itself.
Yes, thatâs how I read it. âHey, we have âapprovedâ training, we are accredited, we have the latest knowledge and skills to safely clean your horse, and know when to leave things alone, not to mention we are also trained to see things that might need your vetâs attentionâ
Not really sure if itâs mad or not. But manâŠwhat a job. What do you say when someone asks you what you do at a party? 
In the United States, this would garner an eye roll because none of our âaccreditationsâ with horses have any clout. Short of things like medicine, no one cares if you do or donât hold credentials.
But donât they take these things more seriously in England and Europe on the whole? In which case, OMG, yeah, I think this is going a bit too far. Next you will need to be accredited and insured to pull a mane (or is that already banned?).
They do take these things more seriously in the UK. After requiring that Farriers have credentials, laws were passed to prosecute âIllegal Farrieryâ.
Thereâs a woman who cleans a lot of the geldings at my yard (including my gelding⊠I am more than delighted to pay someone to do this). Iâve always imagined her at a party, answering that question after the other person has said something like, âIâm an accountant.â
I have a friend who started a mobile sheath cleaning business about six or seven years ago. Business is very good. She travels throughout her home state and to five surrounding states, as well.
Yikes. I am not, nor do I ever aspire to be a farrier, but I certainly keep my horseâs feet tidy between trims, including < gasp > occasionally using nippers to properly trim a chip or flare that is fixing to become a chip or crack. My farrier is happy with this, but I wonder if the law could be thrown at me in the UK?
Huh? Youâre not shoeing your horse, or preparing the hoof to be shod, so no âillegal farrieryâ going on.
Farriery does NOT = routine hoof care for an unshod horse
Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I guess thatâs where my background of farrier = equines, and trimmer = bovines comes in, even though I perfectly understand the etymology of the word farrier. Lol. It was a long day among cow people yesterday. Thatâs my excuse for my stupid post!
Haha. No. First of all, I have no problem with owners doing their own trimming. I do a little myself now and then.
However, barefoot trimming is the f*cking Wild West out here. Maybe it is in the States as well. Farriery is obviously strictly regulated, but barefoot trimming is not a significant enough part of that education, so whether or not a registered farrier does a good trim is a total crapshoot. I currently use a farrier to trim my two barefoot horses, and he does an excellent job, but I have had less-than-ideal barefoot experiences with other farriers.
There is no legal requirement for accreditation for people calling themselves barefoot trimmers or equine podiatrists or whatever. I could advertise myself as one of those things tomorrow. There are, however, training and accreditation courses for barefoot trimming. Not required by any government oversight legislation, but supposedly gives people peace of mind that the person is trained and knows what theyâre doing. My experience with someone whoâd been through one of those courses was not promising. They made both of my horses and a friendâs horse footsore. These were three very different types of horses (Highland, PRE, and Friesian), who had been barefoot all their lives and never had foot issues before.
I wish you could get a farrier or an equine podiatrist in to trim your barefoot horse and feel confident that they were trained and capable of following best practice, the best science. Living the dream. Itâs a total gamble. When I was between trimmers, my mare was more comfortable after my half-assed radial rasp job than she was with the âprofessionalâ who definitely over-trimmed her.
Yeah, that is my impression too. I have never used anyone for a trim on a barefoot horse who is not a farrier I trust and who also has a history of good trimming and good shoeing.
