UK Laws On Hoof Trimming Under Review

Meowy Catkin

Meowy Catkin

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Scary stuff. :(

http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/natural-hoof-care-in-the-uk/uk-laws-on-hoof-trimming-under-review

In the United Kingdom, owners of barefoot horses are facing an uncertain time as it has come to light that the FRC (farriers registration council) are seeking to regulate hoof care in its entirety and are proposing a change to the current law. Currently, the FRC regulates farriers (the definition of farrier in the UK being a person trained and qualified to trim and fit a metal shoe) but currently anyone can trim their own or someone else's horse or pony. Everyone that trims is governed by the animal welfare laws within the UK, and hoof care professionals must also demonstrate they are in line with the NOS (national occupational standard) which ensures that anyone working with horses feet has a duty of care and can be prosecuted if negligent. The proposed changes appear to challenge the right of horse owners to trim or maintain their horses hooves, and seeks to regulate any professional trimmer no matter where they learned their skill. - See more at: http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/na...of-trimming-under-review#sthash.x5rIoLeW.dpuf

However, the National Farrier Training Agency has lost its funding from the Skills Funding Agency after an appalling Ofsted report in June this year, and the NFTA is not currently taking on new apprentices (http://www.farrierytraining.co.uk/n...se-on-the-future-of-the-delivery-of-farriery/). It should also be noted that there is currently no module in the course to cover the trim and importantly the diet and management of barefoot horses. This obviously raises the concern as to how qualified the FRC are to regulate non-farriers.

We also have great concern that they wish to control the types of hoof protection we are allowed to use, they already deem an Easyboot Glue-On hoof boot to be a 'shoe' and hoof casts have also recently been added to the list of prohibited footwear (http://www.farrier-reg.gov.uk/information-and-resources/farriery-and-modern-materials). At present, removable hoof boots are allowed but with all the exciting developments in the world of hoof protection we feel it is important to maintain the freedom to protect our horses as we see fit. Sadly, the EasyShoe is one such new development that only a registered farrier is allowed to fit in the UK, yet the trim ideally suited to its use is clearly different from that required to fit a metal shoe!

- See more at: http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/na...of-trimming-under-review#sthash.x5rIoLeW.dpuf

In order to keep people informed, and form a case if required to defend our right to choose how we manage our barefoot horses, we have created a Facebook group and invite anyone from any country that has an interest in barefoot in the UK or feels they could help with our cause to join The Right to Trim: www.facebook.com/groups/TheRightToTrim. - See more at: http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/na...of-trimming-under-review#sthash.x5rIoLeW.dpuf
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OMG!! How topical is this! I just had a conversation with my farrier today about caring for my barefoot to be horse (Day 1 with all shoes off today) His feet are appaling and that has been under the care of vet and farrier very closely for last 6 months due to low grade lameness, now MRI conformed collateral ligament desmitis. Was originally diagnosed as an abscess or stone bruise!! My farrier basically admitted he didnt have any expertise on how to look after a barefoot horse. He told me he felt sorry for my horse as his feet were poor and he was walking on his sole! His fronts have been off 2 weeks now after x rays. I explained the concept of building a stronger hoof capsule and more supportive caudal hoof and digital cushion, but he said horses like mine didnt have those sort of feet, basically I was wasting my time. My vet told me not to talk to him about shoes any more as he had told me his opinion (to shoe in heartbars and box rest). My vet also told me to get a farrier to trim him if I was insisting to go barefoot as they were properly trained. My farrier just confirmed he doesnt know how to care for a rehabilitating barefoot horse! So I currently have no professional to help with my horses care. I find it slighly worrying and very lonely although I fully understand that this is how they are trained. I guess if horses go lame, they have to have shoes to get help and advice from vets and farriers?? Very scary.

Thanks for posting, it is very interesting.
 
Oh dear jessieblue, what a horrid situation. Perhaps your vet could recommend a farrier who has hard working barefoot horses on his books?
I commend your farrier for telling you the truth in his case rather than just carrying on.

Until all hoof professionals and vets can put their them and us egos aside, this acrimony isn't going to help horses or their owners.
It's time for fundamental change so why wont everyone embrace it and make UK the leading country in horse/hoof care?
 
jessieblue said:
OMG!! How topical is this! I just had a conversation with my farrier today about caring for my barefoot to be horse (Day 1 with all shoes off today) His feet are appaling and that has been under the care of vet and farrier very closely for last 6 months due to low grade lameness, now MRI conformed collateral ligament desmitis. Was originally diagnosed as an abscess or stone bruise!! My farrier basically admitted he didnt have any expertise on how to look after a barefoot horse. He told me he felt sorry for my horse as his feet were poor and he was walking on his sole! His fronts have been off 2 weeks now after x rays. I explained the concept of building a stronger hoof capsule and more supportive caudal hoof and digital cushion, but he said horses like mine didnt have those sort of feet, basically I was wasting my time. My vet told me not to talk to him about shoes any more as he had told me his opinion (to shoe in heartbars and box rest). My vet also told me to get a farrier to trim him if I was insisting to go barefoot as they were properly trained. My farrier just confirmed he doesnt know how to care for a rehabilitating barefoot horse! So I currently have no professional to help with my horses care. I find it slighly worrying and very lonely although I fully understand that this is how they are trained. I guess if horses go lame, they have to have shoes to get help and advice from vets and farriers?? Very scary.

Thanks for posting, it is very interesting.
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Sorry, off topic but I read your post and wanted to say something - don't be lonely! There are loads of us out there that have been in similar situations - I was very lucky my vet was supportive if a little bemused - it sounds like you're trying to do the best for your horse, even if it is scarey. Well done you and good luck. Maybe you could tell us what area your in and see if anyone can recommend a trimmer, or even just a fellow barefooter who can help hold your hand?
 
Thank you. I am in essex. Very happy for any info. I really do want to do the best for my horse, that is my only interest.
 
If a farrier is worth his salt, then he will know how to trim a barefoot horse! As it is, most people have 2 or all 4 feet shod, so some farriers maybe dont have to trim barefeet very often..:)
 
Would like to just add that or though there may not be any assigned module on the course for trimming.. They in fact do learn about trimming throughout the 4 years at college - it's just coincided with other areas.
They discuss new and old methods each block and the trim is the most important aspect of foot care - whether that's a field, working or prep for a shoe trim.

As said above, if your farrier is any good he will know about a working trim (barefoot trim).. My oh offers a working or a field trim and always offers his opinion on dietary requirements..
 
There are excellent Farriers out there - I'm not disputing that at all. In fact I have finally found a good one (they are outnumbered by terrible Farriers that shouldn't be in charge of a piss up in a brewery in my area :().

The FRC needs to get it's own house in order.

I agree that professional BF trimming needs to be properly regulated (are UKNHP and Equine Podiatrists already doing this?), but not by the FRC.

Also I believe that owners should be able to touch/file their own horses hooves.
 
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Why is a "working trim" different to "a field trim"? Surely the trim and other advice given depends on the individual horse and the current health of their hooves? A trim wont make a horse with thin soles able to go anywhere for eg.

I believe the consultation begins in earnest in the Autumn.
 
i have a number of horses, one is shod (cant cope with barefoot) and the rest are trimmed all by my farrier, he's happy to trim and honestly does a great job of them, if they dont need shoes he doesnt believe in putting them on. he also helps and guides me in trimming my two mini shetties, they are currently living away from home at friends and farrier doesnt travel that far so i go and trim every 6 weeks. he's watched me for the last 2 years trimming them at home and is very happy with what i have done with them, he's there if they need him but he says that they are easy to manage by me so doesnt have any problems with me doing them.

it just goes to show it so depends on your farrier, he's fairly young and keeps up to date with things. the one thing he does disagree with is trying to keep horses barefoot when they struggle with it, some are just not meant to be ridden on roads etc without protection (my one shod horse's feet dont fit the shape of any of the hoof boots, i've tried a few !) -

totally agree with making sure some order / registration / training / qualifications are used to manage barefoot trimmers, but to stop it all without going to a farrier is ridiculous, lets hope they dont get their way and we keep control of what happens with our horses! way too much interference with things !
 
Hi Jessie

Firstly well done you, it's a brave thing to trust your gut and go against vet and farrier, my boy is about 14wks barefoot and doing well, I too have had the vets groan when I told them I was taking his shoes off due to poor farriery as he has had a KS op so not thought to be a good idea from the keeping him in work point of view if he has sore feet but so far he's been brilliant apart from one small episode of soreness!

I wanted to add that at my yard this is a huge topic of conversation and the yard manager's other half has just qualified as a DAEP, we are all hugely concerned as we use properly qualified trimmers and are anxious that they may not be able to practice and properly look after our horses feet in future if this all goes ahead. I am in Kent and use a DAEP called Ashley Harwood if you want his tel no pm me or if you look at these websites and locate him on the qualified list, you may find another qualified trimmer like him who covers Essex, he is very into looking at balancing the foot correctly rather than just trimming the edges and my horse seems so much brighter in himself, I would def use a properly qualified podiatrist rather than a farrier for trimming as they seem to understand much more/ or are more aware & concerned perhaps about the changes to ligaments etc your horse undergoes as he grows his new foot and seem happy to spend the time advising on work levels & diet. I am not against shoes, just against bad or lazy farriery and have been utterly frustrated at the lack of understanding and knowledge that most farriers seem to show when you telling them your horse isn't moving quite right! Also, why not do a quick post asking for a recommendation, as I have had some fantastic support on here and there are a few barefooters who also use UKNHCP's which at present don't seem to cover Kent.

Try reading the following sites, I have found them very useful, good luck and I hope this helps:

http://appliedequinepodiatry.org/
http://www.epauk.org/
 
I think the FRC are simply trying to force back all the clients they have lost because they have found either a lack of farriers, Un reliable farriers, ones who never communicate about hoof health or structures or do a one size fits all trim to a barefoot horse which is only suitable as a pre shoeing pare everything job.

To me, the answer would be to take a long hard look at training, communication skills, customer service and coverage in the UK and work with trimmers and trimming organisations rather than trying to bully and regulate them out of existence.

There are lots of brilliant farriers out there but far too many people have walked because of the ones that are not good or not reliable or not supportive and it's outrageous that the answer to this is seen to be to ban this option.

I don't mind trimmers trimming other peoples horses being regulated, but I don't think the farriers organisations are fit for purpose running their own affairs let alone muscling in elsewhere! And I don't think it's appropriate to ban self trimming especially in remote areas as there can be shortages of all types of farriers and trimmers in the highlands and islands and horses may be left completely untrimmed through no fault of the owner. I would be happy for extreme/Strasser type trimming to e outlawed, but it's already an offence to cause suffering anyway.
 
Lachlan, I agree with everything you say - just for starters in my own case when I suggested to my farrier and his newly qualified apprentices that I was concerned about the foot not being balanced properly as my horse's movement was deteriorating and he had a shortening gait change and further down the line a complete inability to bend left, it was clear they didn't understand the implications of what gait change meant and told me (my horse has always had wonderful feet!) that my horse did have rather inside out feet! I replied that they had only become inside out since they had shod him as his feet were rather good before that point! I rest my case! Decent training scheme required for apprentices I feel and a continuous progressive development program would help keep them up to speed!
 
Does anyone else find it interesting that the FRC has chosen to pursue this now, so soon after they had their training funding slashed? Seems to me that they're just trying to recoup their financial loses which arose as a result of the disastrous ofsted report.
 
I'd like to see a standardised training programme. Full time apprenticeship that all hoof care professionals begin training with. After that they could specialise in whatever they chose, shoeing or the different trimming organisations.
At the moment the only option is to use a farrier or take a risk with a trimmer who has done a part time course and has limited experience.
My horses are unshod, I prefer to keep them that way but if trimmers had a training that was standardised, full time and examined by a national board, I'd probably use the trimmer.

There does need to be regulation to prevent anyone being able to trim a horse's hoof regardless of competence. A friend has just taken on a horse absolutely crippled by a previous owner who did her own trimming. Something needs to be done to stop idiots causing such pain.
 
horserider said:
There does need to be regulation to prevent anyone being able to trim a horse's hoof regardless of competence. A friend has just taken on a horse absolutely crippled by a previous owner who did her own trimming. Something needs to be done to stop idiots causing such pain.
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Easily said, but I have a horse which cannot cope with being trimmed on a 6-8 weekly basis. He needs little and often, so I give a little trim once a week. To have a trimmer do that would cost me £173 per month. The horse is sound and happy with me trimming him. If the owner you mentioned is damaging her horse, surely she is culpable under animal welfare legislation?? Why do owner-trimmers with sound horses have to pay the price for garden variety imbeciles like her?
 
TwoStroke said:
Easily said, but I have a horse which cannot cope with being trimmed on a 6-8 weekly basis. He needs little and often, so I give a little trim once a week. To have a trimmer do that would cost me £173 per month. The horse is sound and happy with me trimming him. If the owner you mentioned is damaging her horse, surely she is culpable under animal welfare legislation?? Why do owner-trimmers with sound horses have to pay the price for garden variety imbeciles like her?
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There's a difference between maintaining trim and having total responsibility. There are too many idiots like her.

Its a bit like using a vet. The vet assesses and prescribes treatment and oversees the condition while the owner does daily maintenance.

Surely, it would be acceptable for a professional to over see hoof care every 3-4 months if there was no problem.

PS. Why would it cost £173 p/m ? How much does a trim cost ? I pay £20 a trim.
 
amandap said:
Some assumptions there and I suggest you read the "position statement" on the EPA home page. www.epauk.org/Options_for_Regulation_v1.0.doc




Couldn't agree more and that includes all professionals and owners.
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Yes, should probably read the stuff but just drawing on personal experience of trimmers I know. Hence using Farriers. I would love to use a trimmer if they sorted the training out and as farrier's very good, have no reason to change really.

Agree that there are bad professionals both in trimming and farriery. Heck, modern training is so dire, I can't even find a decent hairdresser these days. What are these money making training courses teaching students ?

And, yes, some owners do a good job but that doesn't save the horses being lamed by idiot owners.
 
horserider said:
There's a difference between maintaining trim and having total responsibility. There are too many idiots like her.

Its a bit like using a vet. The vet assesses and prescribes treatment and oversees the condition while the owner does daily maintenance.

Surely, it would be acceptable for a professional to over see hoof care every 3-4 months if there was no problem.

PS. Why would it cost £173 p/m ? How much does a trim cost ? I pay £20 a trim.
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My trimmer charges £40 per trim. If a farrier was willing to look and never touch that would be fine, but I find professionals tend to get itchy fingers, and want to do things like remove supportive flare and bevel through the white line. If legislation is passed, should my trimmer/farrier decide that their intervention was required, I'd be obliged to allow them to lame my horse.
 
TwoStroke said:
My trimmer charges £40 per trim. If a farrier was willing to look and never touch that would be fine, but I find professionals tend to get itchy fingers, and want to do things like remove supportive flare and bevel through the white line. If legislation is passed, should my trimmer/farrier decide that their intervention was required, I'd be obliged to allow them to lame my horse.
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That would be a ridiculous situation.

Surely the owner trimmers who cripple their horses are breaking the welfare act? Why ban all owner trimming because of a few idiots? Also how many horses are lame or sore after professionals have done them? Nail prick, nail bind, radical trims or just a bit too much taken off etc...

Don't forget the the Farrier who cut the shoes off two horses (two weeks apart IIRC) and crippled both as a revenge on their owner only got three months suspension.

Here's the link. http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co...tory-16161621-detail/story.html#axzz2UPYRYm69

I just don't believe that horse welfare is at the top of the FRC's agenda.
 
TwoStroke said:
My trimmer charges £40 per trim. If a farrier was willing to look and never touch that would be fine, but I find professionals tend to get itchy fingers, and want to do things like remove supportive flare and bevel through the white line. If legislation is passed, should my trimmer/farrier decide that their intervention was required, I'd be obliged to allow them to lame my horse.
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Don't know what area you're in, but surely you have some good farriers locally ? However, I do have to say, that in my old county we were spoilt for exceptional farriers. The county I moved to last year seems to be very different on all aspects of horse care and I'm currently on my 3rd farrier in a year. I don't accept anything other than the best where feet are concerned, it's just too important.
Still looking for a good EDT but that's another story.
 
I think, like everything else, those who are responsible will be affected by this (if it happens) and those who are not responsible will just keep doing what they are doing now. I trim my own horses but under the direction of a very good barefoot trimmer who comes every 10 -12 weeks. I trim a few days before her visit and would be very pleased to pay her the full amount (£40) if she says she needs to do nothing! (that hasn't QUITE happened yet, but she does less every visit!)
I don't know of a farrier in my area to whom I would entrust my horses feet. They seem to do what the client wants as long as the client doesn't want anything too difficult and all the ones I know deny that there is any difference between the 'paddock trim' they provide and the 'performance trim' my barefoot trimmer provides.
Farriers used to be excellent (I'm going back 20 years or more now). I used to have a farrier that had won an apprentice medal at the Royal Welsh in the 1940's and still made all the shoes himself, especially for your horse, the evening before he came to shoe. He was still shoeing in his seventies. All gone now...
 
horserider said:
Don't know what area you're in, but surely you have some good farriers locally ? However, I do have to say, that in my old county we were spoilt for exceptional farriers. The county I moved to last year seems to be very different on all aspects of horse care and I'm currently on my 3rd farrier in a year. I don't accept anything other than the best where feet are concerned, it's just too important.
Still looking for a good EDT but that's another story.
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After spending upwards of a month trying to get one of the decent farriers round here just to call me back, I gave it up as a bad job. I don't see the point in expending so much effort to secure the services of someone who I will essentially be paying to do exactly as I say (and therefore, exactly as I can do myself). I only use my trimmer for one of my horses because I'm hopeless at letting people go :o. Oh... and because trimming is really hard work and his feet are big and seriously tough! :p

Don't get me started on saddle fitters...
 
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horserider said:
I'd like to see a standardised training programme. Full time apprenticeship that all hoof care professionals begin training with. After that they could specialise in whatever they chose, shoeing or the different trimming organisations.
At the moment the only option is to use a farrier or take a risk with a trimmer who has done a part time course and has limited experience.
My horses are unshod, I prefer to keep them that way but if trimmers had a training that was standardised, full time and examined by a national board, I'd probably use the trimmer.

There does need to be regulation to prevent anyone being able to trim a horse's hoof regardless of competence. A friend has just taken on a horse absolutely crippled by a previous owner who did her own trimming. Something needs to be done to stop idiots causing such pain.
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No there seriously does not I take responsiblity for my horse care I don't need the state to stick its oar in.
Farriers are regulated and laming horses all the time so regulation is clearly not the answer.
If want to trim my own horses feet I will I want the right to choose the professional I pay to do it in my case not a farrier.
I certainly do not want to pay someone who has a fiancial interest in shoeing to advise on trimming.
Owner damage their own horses all the time bad saddles Inapporiate work and diet, turn out in unsuitable field the horses feet are no different.
 
I've heard the term performance trim and paddock trim, but don't know what the difference is -and do the self trimming owners know the difference or do they just do DIY jobs to save money.

On forums there are lots of owners who are well informed, but in RL, they seem to be a rarity.




I haven't come across anyone using a trimmer around here, but many do trim their own horses and its probably better to do a DIY trim, than to save money by leaving shoes on too long, but I do see people doing their horses feet who I wouldn't trust to hold a dandy brush let alone a rasp.

I doubt the farrier who does my horses knows about the term performance trim, but he certainly keeps them sound and in full work.

I wouldn't like to stop DIY trimming but something should be done to stop the All The Gear, No Idea owners. Unfortunately, most legislation comes about because of a stupid minority and we all pay the price for their behaviour.

Better to reach a compromise before legislation becomes too heavy handed.
 
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