Farrier told me it is illegal for me to trim/rasp my own horse

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Anna2015

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The thing is... I know it isn't illegal. A lot of people trim their own or neaten them up before farrier visits so I was speaking to him today about this as I was about to ask if he would mind showing me. But he interrupted me saying it's illegal and if I were to do my own horse and something went wrong I would be prosecuted.

This was the first time i had him as my previous farrier has retired. Would you consider looking for a new farrier for a more helpful and honest one?
 
I'd want to engage in a candid discussion with this one before firing him. He might have witnessed willy nilly, damaging trimming and be cautious about wanting to discuss owner's trimming ... Who knows.
My farrier actively encourages me to trim my horses between 5-weekly visits. He showed me exactly what he wants me to do to help keep balance on my unbalanced horse, and he knows I don't take that as an endorsement that I now know what I am doing. I don't. I know a few little things for these specific horses and it has made a real difference to my horses' feet (esp my rescue who had very poor feet but now grows so much hoof that he needs a little rasp 1-2 times a week)
 
It's not allowed for a non qualified person to rasp a foot that will be shod in the UK.

Relevant bit here http://www.wcf.org.uk/faqs.php#Q4

And really not worth doing. Can really mess up the feet by rasping them if you are unqualified, unless in an absolute medical emergency.

If farrier tells you to rasp a particular bit then kind of fine, and blunt rasping to get horse used to it is also fine, but not recommended in any other circumstances really.
 
Kylara said:
It's not allowed for a non qualified person to rasp a foot that will be shod in the UK.

Relevant bit here http://www.wcf.org.uk/faqs.php#Q4

And really not worth doing. Can really mess up the feet by rasping them if you are unqualified, unless in an absolute medical emergency.

If farrier tells you to rasp a particular bit then kind of fine, and blunt rasping to get horse used to it is also fine, but not recommended in any other circumstances really.
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Can I trim and shoe my own horse?
Under the Farriers (Registration) Act 1975, as amended, only: Registered Farriers, Approved Farriery Apprentices, Veterinary Surgeons or Practitioners, trainee vets working under supervision or persons giving first aid in case of an emergency to a horse, may practise farriery. You may only practise farriery on your own horses if you fall into one of these categories. For others to do so is a criminal offence which can result in a fine of up to £1000, plus legal costs and a criminal record. Farriery is defined within the Act as "any work in connection with the preparation or treatment of the foot of a horse for the immediate reception of a shoe thereon, the fitting by nailing or otherwise of a shoe to the foot or the finishing off of such work to the foot". This means in practice that trimming which is not going to result in the application of a shoe to the foot of an equine is not covered by the Farriers (Registration) Act and is therefore not regulated. However, horse owners should be aware that although, simple trimming and rasping of horses’ feet is allowed by lay persons under the Act to permit maintenance of foals’ and other unshod horses’ feet, it should not be attempted by anyone who is not qualified. Where more radical trimming and reshaping of horses’ feet is contemplated there is the potential for creating severe lameness. Experience has indicated this is particularly so where such 'therapy' is not undertaken by qualified farriers or veterinary surgeons. It is recommended that owners should only carry out minor work on feet of a cosmetic or emergency nature and that any significant trimming should be carried out by a Registered Farrier or a veterinary surgeon who will have been properly trained and strictly regulated by a code of conduct.
 
It's not so much that I want to so I'm going to get rid of him.. it's more of the fact that he told me it's illegal when it isn't? Should I care that he's either uneducated or just lying to me? When his job is to trim my horses hooves which he does a decent job of?
 
Kylara said:
It's not allowed for a non qualified person to rasp a foot that will be shod in the UK.

Relevant bit here http://www.wcf.org.uk/faqs.php#Q4

And really not worth doing. Can really mess up the feet by rasping them if you are unqualified, unless in an absolute medical emergency.

If farrier tells you to rasp a particular bit then kind of fine, and blunt rasping to get horse used to it is also fine, but not recommended in any other circumstances really.
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It is illegal to prepare a foot for a shoe. It is not illegal to trim or rasp your own horses feet. I do all of mine at any time it is necessary (6 of) just the same as I do hundreds of sheep and cattle when necessary.

It's not rocket science and quite possible to educate yourself on feet very well if you so wish.
 
Only if the horse is not going to be shod, and it also says (and knowing a lot of the people in charge of the farriers) and is highly recommended that the average joe doesn't attempt it unless as I mentioned above, blunt rasping to get horse/foal used to it or in an emergency. You can very quickly ruin a foot. The farrier is well in his rights to say no, especially if horse is shod. So if your horse has shoes, it is illegal to do anything to them, if barefoot, you can rasp, but highly recommended against (hence the WCF problems with barefoot trimmers with no qualis).

Just because a lot of people do it, doesn't mean it is ok. You'd be surprised how many people break the law doing it too ;)

Is your horse shod OP?
 
Kylara said:
It's not allowed for a non qualified person to rasp a foot that will be shod in the UK.

Relevant bit here http://www.wcf.org.uk/faqs.php#Q4

And really not worth doing. Can really mess up the feet by rasping them if you are unqualified, unless in an absolute medical emergency.

If farrier tells you to rasp a particular bit then kind of fine, and blunt rasping to get horse used to it is also fine, but not recommended in any other circumstances really.
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Completely legal to rasp a foot that is not going to be shod.

On a straightforward horse it's not rocket science.

Many horses can reach a stage of not needing to be trimmed at all, by matching work on tough surfaces to growth.

LOTS of us trim our own or don't trim at all.

OP, if the guy trims well, his ignorance is irrelevant, but annoying. If you can stand the annoyance, keep him, if not, ditch him.
 
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My farrier wants me to learn and has been demonstrating and is going to give me a rasp so I can do odd bits between his visits. His visits are like undertaking training and an exam at the moment ........
 
As I said quite a few times (which people are ignoring) illegal to trim a shod horse. Barefoot is loopholey and you can ruin a foot.

Barefoot, if farrier shows you and suggests you do so between visits then that should be fine, as is not trimming if your horse wears them down evenly.

Farriers go through an awful lot of training, so unless they suggest you trim between visits I really wouldn't recommend it. This all comes from chatting with the people that run the WCF and those in their education bit.
 
Kylara said:
And really not worth doing. Can really mess up the feet by rasping them if you are unqualified, unless in an absolute medical emergency.

If farrier tells you to rasp a particular bit then kind of fine, and blunt rasping to get horse used to it is also fine, but not recommended in any other circumstances really.
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Such a lot of nonsense people talk about rasping a horses feet.

FfionWinnie said:
It is not illegal to trim or rasp your own horses feet. I do all of mine at any time it is necessary (6 of) just the same as I do hundreds of sheep and cattle when necessary.

It's not rocket science and quite possible to educate yourself on feet very well if you so wish.
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This ^^. I'm not talking about rehab jobs on horses with laminitis, navicular, badly neglected feet etc. (which are obviously best left to the professionals). Maintaining your average, sound, horses feet in the same state they started in is really not as complex as all that.
 
Kylara said:
As I said quite a few times (which people are ignoring) illegal to trim a shod horse. Barefoot is loopholey and you can ruin a foot.

Barefoot, if farrier shows you and suggests you do so between visits then that should be fine, as is not trimming if your horse wears them down evenly.

Farriers go through an awful lot of training, so unless they suggest you trim between visits I really wouldn't recommend it. This all comes from chatting with the people that run the WCF and those in their education bit.
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To be frank, you don't really know what you are posting about, do you?

The farrier syllabus contains nothing whatsoever about trimming horses for work without shoes.

I don't know anyone who has 'ruined' a foot by trimming and not shoeing, and I personally know dozens of horses who work with no shoes on.

I do, though, know of many, many lame horses which been restored to work barefoot against the advice of their fully trained farriers.
 
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Anna2015 said:
This was the first time i had him as my previous farrier has retired. Would you consider looking for a new farrier for a more helpful and honest one?
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If it was me then yes, I probably would be looking around to see who else is available. Assuming your horse is unshod then you could also look at trimmers. I would because I'm a bit of a "hoof nerd" and its important to me to be able to have a proper discussion with whoever I am paying to help me look after their feet.

Personally when I moved away from my very helpful, knowledgeable, good with horses farrier who helped me take my cob barefoot I wasn't able to find a replacement. After three tries with farriers and three massive fails I ended up using a trimmer who was very good, but a lot more pricey and had to travel quite a distance to me. Since moving again I now do my own with just an occasional check from a professional, who hasn't had to do anything for over a year.
 
Anna2015 said:
It's not so much that I want to so I'm going to get rid of him.. it's more of the fact that he told me it's illegal when it isn't? Should I care that he's either uneducated or just lying to me? When his job is to trim my horses hooves which he does a decent job of?
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If he turns up, does a decent job and rebooks you regularly, just let it go. My boss had an amazing farrier few years ago, she started telling him his job, asking him to do this and that and try this. It drove him mad and I got the brunt of it as I was there and she never was. In the end he left her a rasp and told her to do it herself. Farriers do not like people interfering or 'doing' their job for them. If he is good hold onto him!
 
Kylara said:
Only if the horse is not going to be shod, and it also says (and knowing a lot of the people in charge of the farriers) and is highly recommended that the average joe doesn't attempt it unless as I mentioned above, blunt rasping to get horse/foal used to it or in an emergency. You can very quickly ruin a foot. The farrier is well in his rights to say no, especially if horse is shod. So if your horse has shoes, it is illegal to do anything to them, if barefoot, you can rasp, but highly recommended against (hence the WCF problems with barefoot trimmers with no qualis).

Just because a lot of people do it, doesn't mean it is ok. You'd be surprised how many people break the law doing it too ;)

Is your horse shod OP?
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No she isn't. Hasn't been in over 2 years.
 
Kylara said:
As I said quite a few times (which people are ignoring) illegal to trim a shod horse. Barefoot is loopholey and you can ruin a foot.

Barefoot, if farrier shows you and suggests you do so between visits then that should be fine, as is not trimming if your horse wears them down evenly.

Farriers go through an awful lot of training, so unless they suggest you trim between visits I really wouldn't recommend it. This all comes from chatting with the people that run the WCF and those in their education bit.
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I'd politely suggest also chatting to and observing barefoot performance or even non-performance horses with feet cared for by their owners rather than just chatting to WCF people and those in their education bit and solely taking their slant on this. Re the 'farriers go through an awful lot of training' AFAIK farrier training still, even in the more enlightened 21st century, does not include trimming the barefoot performance horse or learning about hoof boots.
 
I'd love to know how anyone could rasp a shod foot and "cause damage".

Here is one of my ruined self trimming feet, care to comment further? She hasn't been touched by anyone except me (rarely) in 18 months. Covers 70-100kms a week, sound, rock crunching and competing.

20FFA695-5993-4732-98BF-DFF1308EF0B5_zps1aldhfoj.jpg
 
FfionWinnie said:
I'd love to know how anyone could rasp a shod foot and "cause damage".

Here is one of my ruined self trimming feet, care to comment further? She hasn't been touched by anyone except me (rarely) in 18 months. Covers 70-100kms a week, sound, rock crunching and competing.

20FFA695-5993-4732-98BF-DFF1308EF0B5_zps1aldhfoj.jpg
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Beautiful.
 
A highly 'trained' well reccomend TRIMMER Crippled my mare never ever again will I allow anyone but a FULLY QUALIFIED FARRIER touch a horse of mines feet.
 
It's quite easy to ruin a shod foot by poor trimming. I've seen a fair few.

Qualified barefoot trimmers are fine, I personally know a lot of farriers who know a lot about barefoot trimming. I have nothing against people keeping on top of their own barefoot horse's feet, but generally the people that do so research a lot and take advice from people with knowledge and XP.

My posts were factual and contained knowledge relating to the OP's question, and I added in information I have gathered from my own experience with the WCF, not expecting to be attacked about it, just because the points were slightly different from the rest. I have no intention of being drawn into an argument so will be leaving the thread. I've said what I thought was helpful and linked to the relevant part of the WCF which I hoped would clarify and at no point did I do anything more than say I personally wouldn't recommend it, due to my personal XP, not knowing any of the posters or their horses, or their feet.

I'll ignore the more personal attack on my knowledge and experience and leave the thread in peace :)
 
Wrongly trimmed feet put themselves right in days, or at worst in weeks, imo. My experience is extensive but not exhaustive.
 
No qualifications needed in NZ, and certainly not covered by law. You can shoe, trim, rasp etc to your hearts content and many do. We get the odd cowboy, but people talk and anyone who is truly useless (or worse), doesn't last long.
 
NZJenny said:
No qualifications needed in NZ, and certainly not covered by law. You can shoe, trim, rasp etc to your hearts content and many do. We get the odd cowboy, but people talk and anyone who is truly useless (or worse), doesn't last long.
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Same here NZJ, except for shoeing, and I would fight to keep it that way!
 
ycbm said:
Wrongly trimmed feet put themselves right in days, or at worst in weeks, imo. My experience is extensive but not exhaustive.
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Depends how invasive it is, I've had a couple of farriers leave a horse needing boots and pads for weeks.

The reality is an owner would be much more likely to be really conservative in what they do, usually just tidying edges. It takes a certain level of overconfidence to go in and radically change things with one trim.
 
criso said:
Depends how invasive it is, I've had a couple of farriers leave a horse needing boots and pads for weeks.

The reality is an owner would be much more likely to be really conservative in what they do, usually just tidying edges. It takes a certain level of overconfidence to go in and radically change things with one trim.
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Ain't that the truth!
 
criso said:
Depends how invasive it is, I've had a couple of farriers leave a horse needing boots and pads for weeks.

The reality is an owner would be much more likely to be really conservative in what they do, usually just tidying edges. It takes a certain level of overconfidence to go in and radically change things with one trim.
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With you there!
 
Kylara said:
My posts were factual and contained knowledge relating to the OP's question, and I added in information I have gathered from my own experience with the WCF, not expecting to be attacked about it, just because the points were slightly different from the rest.
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I'm sorry you feel attacked, but TBH quite a few "barefooters" have seriously negative feelings when it comes to the WCF and so I expect that is where that is coming from. In my experience and opinion they concentrate on maintaining their monopoly above all else and horse's welfare is a long way down their priority list.
 
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