Veterinary and Farrier Federations Join Forces to Promote Best Practices for Equine Welfare Across Europe

The Federation of European Equine Veterinary Associations (FEEVA) and the European Federation of Farriers Associations (EFFA) have joined forces to promote best practices in farriery across Europe.

The initiative, according to a press release issued today, is the result of recognition by both organizations that "equine welfare is best served with the use of only properly trained farriers, working closely with veterinary surgeons as and when needed."

Professor Slater of the
Royal Veterinary College (UK)

The main aims of the new partnership include:

• Improving the welfare of the horse by encouraging the highest standards of hoof trimming and shoeing by means of a certified farrier;
• Encouraging close working between farriers and veterinary surgeons on the therapeutic treatment of horses’ hooves; and
• Encouraging the education of the horse-owning public to make use of certified farriers who guarantee the art and science of farriery.

The President of FEEVA, Professor Josh Slater of Great Britain was quoted as saying: “We look forward to working together at European level and encouraging member associations to do the same at national level, with the primary intention of enhancing equine health through first-class farriery.”

FEEVA and EFFA have 17 and 15 member nations, respectively. EFFA was formed in Paris in 1997 while FEEVA was created in Strasbourg in 1998.

EFFA sanctions the Europe-wide qualification of "Certified Euro-Farrier" as announced by Hoofcare and Lameness in 2008. Some individual nations have designations of qualifications as well.

Certified Euro Farrier statistics for Europe at the end of 2011 were: Austria 58; Czech Republic 8; Denmark 115; Finland 78; Germany 108; Netherlands 261; Spain (Catalonia) 8; Sweden 17; Switzerland 87; and United Kingdom 29, for a total of 769 qualified Euro Farriers across the continent.

In late 2011, EFFA also approved the Irish Farrier Education and Qualification Program for Euro Farrier designation.

In most EFFA member countries, farriery is regulated; only France and the Czech Republic have advanced farriery to a protected professional level. Only one member nation, Hungary, has no regulation of the practice of farriery.

Photo of Professor Slater is from the Hoofcare + Lameness Journal archives.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  
 

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.