The full impact of a German court ruling announced yesterday is difficult to understand but I will tell you what little I know. As I announced in my presentation at the laminitis conference in Palm Beach two weeks ago, a major governmental change has been planned for the farrier profession in Germany, a country where regulations are part of professional life.
Until now, farriers have been educated like blacksmiths, under the metal trades division of the labor force in Germany. After completing blacksmithing training, farrier candidates then go on to horseshoeing school.
Current German law defines farriery as the application of steel (metal) shoes with nails.
As I understand it, when barefoot hoof trimming began to gain popularity in Germany, trimmers could practice without any standards or regulations because they were technically not covered by any law; i.e., they didn't use shoes or nails. A second group of professionals, called "soft shoers" also sprang up. These people were sympathetic to barefoot principles but saw the need for shoes in some cases; these semi-farriers also worked outside the law and the requirements of formal farrier education by applying only hoof boots, plastic or aluminum shoes or by glueing shoes.
All that was to end now. Under a new law, anyone engaged in the care of hooves would be grouped together under an agricultural profession and all would be educated under one system. In addition to anatomy, horse physiology, hoof function, etc. all would demonstrate proficiency in traditional shoeing, soft shoeing and barefoot trimming. Everyone would be technically capable of shoeing a horse, even if he or she chose not to.
The government approved the new professional structure, but the barefoot trimmers and soft shoers sued the government, claiming the law was unconstitutional because it forced them to learn forging skills, which they would not use.
Martin Schenk of the Erster Deutscher Hufbeschlagschmiede Verband e. V. (EDHV or "German Farriers Association") has been very helpful to
Hoofcare and Lameness for the past two years with translations and interpretations of the law through the government system. Formation of the law began with open meetings with all three professions invited; from what I was told when I was in Germany a year ago, very little input was received from the shadow professions, yet a curriculum evolved that included and respected their skill sets.
Martin writes in an email today, "One of the arguments of the German Constitutional Court judgment is: If the person is only trimming hoofs it would be an 'over-qualification' to ask the person to learn shoeing. We just got the statement from the court yesterday, but we will have it checked with our lawyers first before we can give any statements. The German Federal Ministry for Agriculture is responsible to take further actions. They also just got the judgement yesterday. They now check if the law will just be altered or if we get a new law. But now it is definitely too early to give any statements."
Well-known dressage farrier Uwe Lukas, who is director (head officer) of EDHV, concurred with Martin's evaluation of the situation in a separate email.
In Great Britain, hoof trimmers are also allowed to work because of a technical loophole in the farrier law, which makes it illegal only to apply a shoe. Trimming and applying alternative shoes are not covered by the law. Only a registered farrier can nail on shoes, in most legal situations. However, in Great Britain hoof trimmers have been prosecuted for animal cruelty in the way that some cases of laminitis were handled.
Where farriers are regulated, they are protected by law in some instances, and have their arms tied by law in some other instances. What may be most important to consider is how legal and educational standards may affect the decision of young people to enter the hoofcare professions at all. Why go to the effort of a long apprenticeship to learn traditional shoeing? On the other hand, why go the shorter route and learn softshoeing or barefoot trimming if the government may declare that an illegal profession?
Stay tuned for updates from Germany.
Here's one of my favorite images from the new book "Hoof Problems". Do you have your copy yet? We sold out at Cornell vet school's farrier conference but have plenty more in stock now!
Dr. Dyson specializes in sport horses at a leading diagnostic referral clinic in England.
I am posting a research brief from Dr. Pollitt that should be of interest to every reader of Hoofcare & Lameness Journal. I think a brumby's hoof data would make a great Christmas present! Above: Australian feral horses ("brumbies") photographed from the air by Dr Pollitt in July of 2007 while conducting preliminary research.
Domestic horse wearing a collar with GPS tracker attached.
Tracking data (3 days) from horses grazing a large 40-acre forested paddock
Dr. Hilary Clayton will lecture on the nature of footing, in all its depths and shapes and surfaces, at the United States Dressage Federation Convention this week in Orlando, Florida at the Disney Coronado Resort. Hilary will speak on Friday, November 30, both in the morning and again in the afternoon. The title of the lecture is "Impact of Arena Footing on Soundness". The USDF convention has an extensive program on horse health, and lameness in particular, this year.
The author is meticulous about the fresh specimen prepared for his photos. He used mostly white feet. All the photos of cadaver limbs are identified as such, and all photos of limbs have been vignetted so there is no distracting background except when living horses are shown. This photo of the laminae making their hairpin turn at the heel is coupled with a photo of a corn seen from the solar surface.
This view shows the height of the teeth that grip the wall. This is the foot surface of the shoe.
Thanksgiving makes you stop and think. You look around the table and see the ghosts of those who aren’t in their seats. Or maybe there is no table this year at all. It’s a good idea to stop and give thanks for those are there, those who make your world what it is, and those who have inspired you to keep going, whether they are at the table or not.
As you sit down to the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce this Thursday, consider that it will be a historical day for the world of classical equestrianism.
Maybe it was my head cold, but it seemed like a tableau off the wall of a British art gallery. I had just finished selecting a series of Murfin paintings for the next issue of Hoofcare and Lameness; they depict the sights and sweats of the Shire Horse Show shoeing competition held in Peterborough, England each March.
About the paintings: These Murfin images are posted for viewing on this blog only. You may double click on the image to see a larger version. You can see more from this series in the next issue of Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. No downloading or reproduction of these images without permission of Hoofcare Publishing and the artist. They are protected by both British and American copyright.
Rider Sigurdur Oli Kristinsson, farrier Sigurdur Sigurdsson, and Cornell's Michael Wildenstein pose with a furry Icelandic horse (don't call them ponies!) after an in-depth seminar on shoeing and gait adjustment on the Icelandic horse. The farrier speaker brought a top rider with him to illustrate the fine points of gaiting the fast little island-bred horses that have become very popular in the United States. Below are the finished front feet on this horse. The fine art of adjusting a horse's gaits was covered; the Icelandic horse has five natural gaits, including the four-beat "tolt" which can be trotty or pacey. Adjusting shoe weight behind or in front can have a big effect on the horse's tolt, as illustrated by Siggy and Siggy on two horses worked on the indoor matted horse run at Cornell. The farrier's job is to make sure that the tolt is a true four-beat gait. "Siggy Sig" is director of hoofcare studies at Holar University College, Iceland and is very active as a rider in international competition. Many farriers from the Northeast attended to learn about these horses that are showing up in their practices. It was an outstanding presentation; it's a rare treat to see a farrier pleased enough with his work to ride the horse and there were many points that would have been valuable for trainers or farriers. No one in the audience could say "been there, done that". You know it's a good clinic when I'm not the only one taking photos.
America's "Mad Scientist" of farriery received the lifetime achievement award at the Fourth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot in West Palm Beach, Florida on Saturday. Sigafoos's career has spanned more than 20 years of innovative thinking that culminated in his important role in the team working on Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro during the colt's long stay at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, where Sigafoos has been staff farrier for more than 20 years.