I say go for it. I used one of those licks to teach my horse to stand tied. It essentially conditions them to associate the activity (getting trimmed, standing tied, etc) with good things and the horse may not need it forever.
What about a break in the middle? Is there a point when your farrier is making up shoes that you can stick him in his stall for 5 min to decompress?
Thatās what I do with all my young horses. Hold them to be trimmed and approximately measured for shoes. Toss in stall and bring back out when farrier is ready to burn the shoe on and nail.
I would try that before using treats or licks. I want the horse focused on the farrier under him, not in a trance like state licking on something.
My horse can be a little squidgy for the farrier. Not bad but shifting his bum from one side of the aisle to the other.
What works best for me is I either ride him beforehand or (if I donāt have a ton of time) 20 or so minutes on the lunge line or in the round pen. When I lunge or round pen it is work. Walk, trot, and canter, both directions, with upwards and downward transitions. Not a run/buck/fart activity. As I bring him into the barn I will halt, walk forward, ask him to back up, wait, etc randomly to ensure he is still in listening mode. (This is all groundwork that he knows and understands and practices) Heās perfect then.
He is also better if I either DONāT stand at his head or hold his lead but stand several feet away (further than he can reach with his nose). I do have to stand close when my farrier rasps the fronts. Ponysaurus tries to play with the belt of his farrier chaps. 
I did use to let him lick my hands, as a pacifier of sorts and similar to a āmolasses lickā like you mention. But he would tune me and the farrier out. Maybe not pick up a foot, not step over when asked if the farrier needed more space, decide to put his foot down, etc. So we nixed that.
A little work ethic goes a long way.
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Thanks for the tips. I will most definitely try some. 
