Should Farriers wear helmets ?

putasocinit said:
Do staff leading horses to fields and putting them on walkers wear hard hats, do we when we groom, i dont
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I have a friend, who is a member on here, albeit an infrequent poster like myself, who works part time on the yard where she keeps her horse.
Her YO insists on hats being worn when turning out and bringing in (I believe for owners as well as staff). Not sure about grooming etc, but definitely when leading around the place.
 
I'm sure any farrier who felt he needed to would wear a had hat without being told to by the silly H&S!!
our local road sweeper now has to wear a hard hat after a risk assessment by Balfour beatty!! all these years he's managed without being knocked out by a flying crisp packet but now he has to wear one, no safety goggles though but he's more likely to suffer from grit or dirt in his eyes in his job than lethal litter!! H&S is killing common sense!
 
Alphamare said:
If it's the same farrier as the one I know he was kicked full in the face (by a horse known to be bad to shoe) and a helmet would not have helped.

I asked once about safety gear (not just helmets) and my farrier said they would be too restrictive and prevent them getting out the way of harm plus would probably freak the horse out. Helmets are too large given the places farriers have to put their heads and they can't see enough in them so making their job more dangerous.

I had a chimney sweep charge me danger money once to put a twirling thingy on my roof. I bet if farriers charged danger money a lot of horses would be suddenly trained to stand well.

Most farriers will say no and walk away from a horse that is bad to shoe in the end. As it's just not worth them risking their lives. I know farriers who have had their neck broken, other bones broken, organs damaged (from a kick to the abdomen) and brain or head damage, comas etc.

And then you get threads on here lambasting farriers for disciplining their horses. I wonder if they ever stopped to think about it. And yes there are those who take it too far. Personally I would be in there disciplining the horse myself except mine were trained to stand properly for his safety ANDfor mine! Funny thing is the horses had with farriers... Often their owners can't pick feet out or put boots on and do nothing to train the horse.
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Well said. I've held a number of "difficult" horses over the years for vets and farriers on their request. I held one last year for "retraining" and even though she is no longer a problem the farrier (who had not even thought of it as an option before) has made it a condition that he will not touch her unless I am attached to the front of her. My job is not only to manage the horse but to monitor the situation and to warn him if I think she is gearing up for silliness or if something in the environment is likely to cause us a problem. So effectively the owner is paying "danger money" although with the benefit of doing something positive towards keeping the farrier safe and educating the horse.

I think this is another of those situations where the owner has to take responsibility,too. One owner I know changed farriers and the horse became increasingly more difficult to shoe, ending in a particularly drama filled, dangerous visit. There were also a few concerns about the shoeing so she went another way with a farrier the vet recommended. The horse was fine for him. Interestingly, she's now switched to someone closer to home - on the second farrier's suggestion - and the horse is not as good for him but not as bad as she was for the first guy.

As I am fond of saying about riding, the most important piece of safety equipment is not what is ON your head, it's what is in it. If a farrier can find safety equipment that suits, I think that is a great idea, but I think most often the best plan might be for them to stand up and walk away.
 
Oh for goodness sake! Yes, horses are very dangerous beasties, all of us who work with them or handle them should know and respect this. But the perception that everything can be prevented is false, accidents will happen no matter how many layers of protection you think you have on. The best protection of all is preparation, training and common sense. I don't normally wear a helmet; the worst injury I ever sustained came about while I was wearing one at an owners insistence (kicked in the face - not the horse's fault, it was the silly owner). The silliest thing of all is presuming you are safe because you are wearing a helmet.
 
I would imagine that most of us that own horses put our heads in the same high risk position every time we pick their feet out, brush their legs, clip them, boot them, bandage them etc and while I am all for trying to prevent accidents wherever possible I don't think I see myself putting on a crash hat every time I do something with my horse
I did read about this accident and it was an awful thing to happen but I somehow cant see all farriers wanting to wear protective headgear - if they choose too they can.
 
I asked my EDT the last time he was here whether any horse dentists wore helmets when working. I had two young horses, a 2yo and a 3yo for him to rasp who were both first timers, I was wearing my crash hat as a precaution. (I'd prepared them as well as I could for rasping over a period of weeks, and it went fairly smoothly).

He replied 'If one did, we all would!'. He's a proper horseman and very rarely has problems with his equine clients as he fills them with confidence, so I thought that was an interesting response.
 
I think the farrier in the OP is a local one to me, if so he has tons of support which is lovely to see, if I have been told right the horse was well behaved and not one that normally kicks. But could of been told wrong. I'm sure in years to come there will be a hat that is slim fitting and won't block the view, hard hats of which ever type are fairly bulky, someone in some sport will make a thinner one in time which a lot of people will be able to use without rescrition.
 
Tiddlypom said:
I asked my EDT the last time he was here whether any horse dentists wore helmets when working. I had two young horses, a 2yo and a 3yo for him to rasp who were both first timers, I was wearing my crash hat as a precaution. (I'd prepared them as well as I could for rasping over a period of weeks, and it went fairly smoothly).

He replied 'If one did, we all would!'. He's a proper horseman and very rarely has problems with his equine clients as he fills them with confidence, so I thought that was an interesting response.
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I believe vet schools mandate that students wear helmets while working on teeth and I have seen a few EDTs wear them. The chances of getting clocked by a jawbone or, worse, a gag are quite high and likely to cause injury. Also, there is really no reasons not to wear one in that situation. Not really the same thing as farrier work.

I know a groom who sustained a serious head injury being kicked into the wall of an indoor arena whilst taking off a horse's bandages before it went in the ring. As Cortez said, horses are big, fast and potentially lethal. All the safety gear in the world won't change that and believing otherwise is dangerously delusional. In SOME situations the right safety gear can give someone the confidence to ride or handle a horse a bit more directly, but that is hardly the case here. In others the equipment has no risk and potentially great reward, so why would a sensible person decide otherwise? But many other cases simply come down to personal choice.
 
pip6 said:
Alternatively owners should train their horses in good manners so these professionals are not put at risk!
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This is the best response - If your horse is well mannered and you have spent the time training him then there should be minimal risk for the farrier.

It is not the farriers job to train the horse to behave - it is the owners job. Most farriers have the sense to refuse to work with a known kicker.
 
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