A sculpture honoring the relationship between a master and apprentice above the Craiglockhart Primary School in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo by Kim Traynor.
The Disciplinary Committee of the Farriers Registration Council (FRC) in Great Britain has announced the removal of a long-established farrier from the nation’s Farrier Register. The decision to “strike off” the farrier--thus ending his ability to practice farriery in that country--came after a much-publicized hearing in London in March, when the FRC publicly investigated complaints of bullying behavior lodged by an apprentice the farrier had agreed to train.
This horse and rider attempted to do something no other horse and rider had even come close to doing: win the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping. And they did it. Was there a hoof angle to the story of the world's best show jumper, Hello Sanctos? The Hoof Blog wanted to know. (photo by Kit Houghton courtesy of Rolex Grand Slam)
The whole world was watching on Sunday, September 13, as an unpretentious rider from Scotland rode his high-jumping horse into history. World #1 ranked rider Scott Brash and World #1 show jumping horse Hello Sanctos have done it before: They won a gold medal at the Olympics in 2012, the European Championship in 2013 and almost everything else in bdetween.
In December 2014, they won the tight-cornered indoor grand prix in Geneva, Switzerland and in May the expansive grass-field grand prix at CHIO Aachen in Germany, two of the most difficult jumping events in the world. That made Scott Brash and Hello Sanctos the first horse and rider to win the two consecutive legs of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping. Think of it as winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
And on Sunday, the test was to see if they could become the American Pharoah and Victor Espinoza of show jumping by winning the third leg at Spruce Meadows in Canada. The thrill of it all? Not only has no one ever done it, no one has even come close!
Hello Sanctos and Scott Brash have already made history by becoming the first to ever win two consecutive legs of the Rolex Grand Slam. They are blazing a new trail in equestrian sport. No one has ever even attempted to do what they did on Sunday, September 13 at the Spruce Meadows Masters in Calgary, Alberta.
Rolex added an extra $1 million or so to the bonus, if they could win the CP International Grand Prix at the 2015 Spruce Meadows Masters CSIO 5*. The only problem was that many of the world's top show jumpers also showed up. But with two double clear rounds, Hello Sanctos was unbeatable.
“Winning one of the equestrian Majors was an incredible achievement, to win two was a dream come true, but to go on and complete the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping is beyond belief," Brash said after the event. "I have a very special horse in Hello Sanctos, and some amazingly supportive owners in Lord & Lady Harris, and Lord & Lady Kirkham. This close partnership has enabled Hello Sanctos and myself to achieve success that will never be forgotten, and I would like to thank all those who have played a part in making this happen.”
This horse is so impressive and is so much fun to watch, it seemed imperative that his hoof story be investigated. But tracking down a rider who is in a different country every week isn't easy.
When finally tracked to his lair, Scott Brash, MBE, was happy to talk about his farrier. "I have had him shoe Sanctos since the day he came into my stables and I wouldn't use anyone else. He is a fantastic farrier and I'm privileged to have such a man shoe my horses.
"(Gary) is an enormous key in our success and I would be lost without him. I moved to England near London and I still fly Gary down (from Scotland) every time my horses need to be shoed."
Scott Brash, MBE
Gary Hood, FWCF, is originally from Ayrshire, Scotland but now lives in Fife. He moved there to do his farrier apprenticeship as a teenager and never left.
In a phone interview, Gary Hood said he has been shoeing for Scott Brash for about ten years. He received a call one day in 2005 to consult on one of Scott's jumpers, and has been doing his horses ever since. He only travels to the major championships; a trip to Kentucky for the World Equestrian Games in 2010 was the first big international trip for Gary.
Hello Sanctos joined Scott Brash's string in December 2011; Gary went south to London for the Olympia show at Christmastime to shoe him for the first time. "He's a true star and an absolute gentleman," Gary said of the 13-year-old Belgian-bred warmblood gelding, who is owned by Lord and Lady Harris and Lady Kirkham.
Farrier Gary Hood, FWCF, of Fife, Scotland
The first thing you'll notice about the shoeing scheme for Hello Sanctos is that it appears completely uncomplicated. The shoes could have leapt out of the box and onto the horse's hooves.
But as with most high level athletes, the horse is tuned as much as he is shod. Simple shoeing rarely is on horses at this level. It is something that the best farriers aspire to reach, shoeing by shoeing, to get things out from under the horse and simplify each and every phase of the stride until or unless support or relief changes are needed as injury or conformation dictate.
Side clips were about the only embellishments that Gary Hood could list for this horse's feet, and that they are "set under the foot with enhanced breakover". If you look closely, you will see some subtle variations between the feet, such as the fact that the left front only has four nails. The e-head nails are either Derby or Maddox slims.
Look a little closer and notice the difference in shape between the two front feet, which is somewhat camouflaged by the (at first glance) symmetric shoes.
Video highlights from Spruce Meadows on Grand Slam Day
An interesting part of Gary Hood's shoeing process is the use of slow motion video on every horse he shoes. "I like to know if there are any wee changes or changes in landing," he said. Gary keeps notes on each horse, recording if they are landing high on the inside or some other change that might indicate either an injury or strain to the lower limb or a compensation in landing from soreness or injury elsewhere.
Farriers of high-level horses are also acutely aware that any changes in stride characteristics or even posture can relate to injury or strain impacting the limb where the change is seen, or that that limb is compensating for a condition in another limb.
Gary has been shoeing Hello Sanctos for almost five years now, but many jumpers change hands often, and they rarely come with hoofcare histories documented. These farriers, whether they are aware of it or not, become practitioners of what Sherlock Holmes calls "the science of deduction"; they are acute observers of small events and changes.
"In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards...Most people, if you describe a train of events to them, will tell you what the result would be. They can put those events together in their minds, and argue from them that something will come to pass. There are few people, however, who, if you told them a result, would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were which led up to that result. This power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning backwards, or analytically."
--Sherlock Holmes, from A Study in Scarlet,
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
A farrier taking on a new horse has to try to read the mind of a previous shoer who is often half a world away, doesn't speak the same language or whose clients now have to compete against the horse they once owned. The demanding schedule and travel requirements adds more pressure.
"I've learned over the years that my eyes can deceive me," Gary admitted. "At the walk you can just about see (the landing) but at the trot, it's impossible." Gary lectured on slow motion video analysis at the6th Scottish Farrier / Veterinary Conference at the University of Glasgow veterinary college last year.
This short video from Longines is a biography of Hello Sanctos, as told by Scott Brash, and fits well with the excitement surrounding today's Spruce Meadows Masters.
Gary recalled removing the shoes from Hello Sanctos after he won the Olympic gold medal. "I had each of them framed...both owners, Scott and myself have one each."
The story ends here, for now. Gary and his wife are in Calgary with Hello Sanctos and Scott today. Gary said he wasn't planning to do anything to Hello Sanctos but wanted to be there. He had a front row seat, while the rest of us watched around the world.
Congratulations to Gary, Scott, Hello Sanctos, and the entire horsecare and ownership system that supports this horse. Thanks for the thrill and for the care taken to insure this extraordinary horse does his job so well.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: The Hoof Blog (Hoofcare Publishing) has not received any direct compensation for writing this post. Hoofcare Publishing has no material connection to the brands, products, or services mentioned, other than products and services of 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.
A government survey of British veterinarians is taking no prisoners and leaving no stones unturned. While the clear goal of the newly-launched Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ("Defra") online survey is to collect veterinarians' comments on what they have seen and thought about barefoot hoofcare practices in the field, it's obvious that farriers are under this microscope as well.
No one has ever said it in quite such succinct words, or asked from so many angles, however.
Congratulations to the six-man farrier team shoeing the Thoroughbred racehorses of top trainer Richard Hannon in Wiltshire, England. The shoers have yet again won the Victory Magnum and no doubt sent Atlantic Equine’s champagne bill into orbit! Notice that the magnums bear special Victory Racing Plate theme labels, and each bottle has the name and silks of a different stakes-winning horse from Hannon’s yard on the label.
The following information is being printed verbatim, except where noted in italics and where spelling has been Americanized. This is a document created by the Farriers Registration Council in the United Kingdom. Hoofcare Publishing requested a copy of this document today and was kindly sent this for publication.
On 2 October 2014, Mr Ben Street of Hixon, Stafford (England) was found guilty at Stafford Magistrates’ Court of causing unnecessary suffering to a horse, and failing to take reasonable steps to ensure good practice in protecting a horse from pain, suffering, and/or disease by gluing and sealing hoof boots.
If London was the Twitter Olympics, Normandy is the Instagram WEG. Never have we seen so many images, thanks to our phones. Never have our thumbs been so sore from scrolling through so many images.
The image above is embedded from Instagram. It was posted today on the official account of The Games but no credit is given to the farrier who forged it--or who took the photo or how they managed to take it with all three letters hot! Perhaps official Games farrier Luc Leroy masterminded this?
Here's an interesting collection of photos of a farrier in World War I that has come to light. In a key image, you see a squadron of 200 local men and their horses departing for war from Shepton Mallet, Somerset on 14 August 1914. And the first man on the first horse is the farrier.
A new study published today in Great Britain sorts out what is likely to send horses to vets and farriers for treatment there, and you have to look pretty far down to find hoof-related problems (other than laminitis) on the list.
Great Britain's National Equine Health Survey (NEHS), held annually every May, has confirmed for the second year that lameness is the most common syndrome affecting the UK’s horses and ponies. This year’s top results, compiled in this report, have also revealed an apparent increase in laminitis compared with previous years.
Today the Farriers Registration Council in Great Britain announced that that country's governmental Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), jointly with parallel teams in the Scottish and Welsh Governments, have opened a period of consultation for regulatory reform of the Farriers (Registration) Act (of) 1975.
For as long as there have been farriers, there have surely been apprentices, because that is how the skills and knowledge were passed down through the ages. There was secrecy, and some would say there was magic. While in the United States, apprenticeships are free-form and unsupervised, in Great Britain they are part of a government program that charged an alphabet soup of agencies, colleges and organizations with running a modern training system based on an ancient tradition.
They stock the truck. They sweep the floor. They're something left over from a Charles Dickens novel, and yet they are the future of the profession. Everyone was one, once.
They are apprentices. And their role in British farriery is about to change.
We hear so much these days about emaciated, abandoned, undernourished and/or "unwanted" horses left to fend for themselves. But today we have a video of a pony from the opposite end of the (weight) scale and the welfare scale.
One of the best things about the Hoof Blog is hearing from people inspired to share how they would use different materials or methods to achieve the same thing.
Graduate farriers in Great Britain recited the inaugural pledge to their profession.
On February 28, the Worshipful Company of Farriers and the Farriers Registration Council, held a ceremony in the Long Room of the Honourable Artillery Company, London. That day, 44 new farriers – including two women – were admitted to the Farriers Register of qualified farriers allowed to shoe horses in Great Britain.
A hoof trimmer at work on a horse. Both hoof trimmers and farriers wear aprons, use hoof stands, and carry knives, nippers and rasps. How much of the similarity ends there may be determined in court. (Photo by Jean-Pierre)
It’s just part of the horse. A few cubic inches at the end of a leg. But who’s in charge of it, anyway?
In Great Britain, the furor surrounding sovereignty over the hoof just won’t go away. In other parts of the world, including the United States, it may seem like it’s much ado about nothing. But when decisions and news about the definition of a profession are made half a world away, it potentially makes a difference everywhere.
In September, the Hoof Blog reported on a court case in Great Britain in which a hoof trimmer pleaded guilty to illegal farriery because he applied what is commonly called “hoof casting tape” to a client’s lame horse.
Hoof injuries are often treated with hoof casting tape. (Extension.org photo)
Information for that article was provided in the form of a press release from the Farriers Registration Council, a statutory body in Great Britain with powers to inititiate legal processes against non-farriers; the agency is charged with enforcing the Farriers Registration Act, an Act of Parliament passed in 1975 which defines farriery for that nation and prohibits anyone but a registered farrier or veterinarian from shoeing a horse.
How do you get to be a farrier in Great Britain? It's not easy. A four-year-and-two-months apprenticeship and examination are required; farrier education and training are the province of a separate body, the Worshipful Company of Farriers (WCF). Only "Approved Training Farriers" are allowed to have apprentices.
For a long time, the FRC’s dominion over the hoof was more or less unchallenged, except by the occasional unregistered farrier plying the trade on the sly. When barefoot trimming came along, the new professionals were tolerated outside the dominion of both the FRC and WCF because farriery's definition in the UK describes it 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’.
Hoof tape is a popular hoofcare product in the United States and is sold in different forms by different manufactures. The British campaign does not specify particular brands or applications but rather cites the use of the product on hooves. (Hoof Blog archives graphic from first report on hoof tape prosecution)
No shoe? No problem. At least that is how the barefoot trimmers viewed the law. They were free to conduct business. In a move that most freethinking Americans would consider evidence of a nanny state, the British government agency LANTRA set up a government body to develop training and testing systems to manage the new trade.
But perhaps everything wasn’t spelled out as clearly as it needed to be. The professional standards for barefoot hoof trimming don't mention the use of shoes or the application of support materials.
Is hoof tape a shoe? The FRC seemed to think so, and in the recent court case, the legal judgment concurred. But the tempest in the British hoof tape teapot might be a bellwether for legal tests of farriery around the world.
The hoof trimmer pleaded guilty to illegal farriery and was charged a fine and court costs. But he wasn’t the first: Less than a month before, another hoof trimmer was charged for using hoof tape. Her charges were dropped.
Horse owner and hoof tape advocate, Annette Mercer
But one of her clients doesn’t want to let it drop. A horse owner named Annette Mercer from Bath, England has established a legal defense fund for barefoot trimmers who run foul of the definition of farriery; she has published a manifesto to topple the power of the Farrier Registration Council and re-write the Farriers Registration Act.
Annette Mercer credits the work of her hoof trimmer and the effects of wearing hoof tape for the remarkable recovery of her horses from a variety of hoof-related complaints.
The immediate aim is to put a stop to the FRC (Farriers’ Registration Council)’s prosecution/persecution of barefoot/podiatry practitioners, such as Lindsay Cotterell and Tom Bowyer;
The medium term aim is for the community of barefoot owners and practitioners to take up the LANTRA challenge to put in place a nationally recognised program of training and qualifications for barefoot care.
And finally, we would like the current legislation that governs the definition of what is a shoe – The Farriers (Registration) (Amendment) Act 1977-- to be repealed and replaced with something that recognizes both our growing understanding of the miracle of horses’ hooves, and also the technological advances in products to support the barefoot horse. The flexible hoof wrap, featured in current FRC prosecutions, is just one example of such products.
"We don’t believe in telling anyone they must take their horses’ shoes off and allow them to go barefoot, although it’s clearly worked for us. But nor do we accept the right of the FRC, a trade body that represents the interests of farriers who shoe horses, to tell us that we can’t use a barefoot hoof care provider to care for our horses and to threaten us with prosecution if we do," Mercer writes on her new website.
Attorney Lawrie has pledged to defend the next hoof trimmer charged with illegal farriery. (web site photo)
The “Fighting for the Barefoot Horse” campaign has pledged 15,000 British pounds (US $24,000 ) to defend the next trimmer who is accused of performing illegal farriery by applying hoof tape. The money is pledged to the research expenses of Ian Lawrie QC, described as a “top UK lawyer”, who has agreed to represent the barefoot faction on a pro bono basis, minus those research fees, apparently.
Mercer writes that the privileges of the Farriers Registration Act "prevent the progression of the barefoot movement in the UK and mean that owners like us are forced to employ farriers to look after our horses' hooves. It is a blatant case of bullying by the FRC; the big boys thinking that because they have money behind them they can abuse their statutory powers and push people into doing whatever they want."
In reality the FRC is not in business just to ruin a barefoot trimmer's day. The most recent case before the FRC’s Disciplinary Committee was to chastise one of its own. A farrier performed what sounds like excavation of an abscess in a horse's sole, but the horse became more lame. When the vet was finally called, the horse was diagnosed with quittor on its pastern, and the farrier was prosecuted for failing to recognize that condition, as well as failure to seek veterinary treatment of the lameness. Judgment will be forthcoming.
In another case, a farrier convicted in a court of law for drug possession had his professional status reviewed by the FRC. He was not "struck off the register"--banned from working as a farrier--but his judgment will also be announced at a later date.
It sounds like the British governing bodies need to define one of two things--or more: What's the definition of a barefoot horse? Or, what's the definition of a shoe? Must a barefoot horse be literally bare? Is alternative hoof support--whether removable or fixed--a shoe by another name?
In Germany, the situation was even worse, since farriery there was defined with the inclusion of applying steel shoes. Alternative farriers started businesses using plastic shoes, glue-on shoes and hoof boots, as well as barefoot hoofcare, and were not required to go through long apprenticeships the way that farriers did as long as they didn't use steel. An effort to reform farriery there failed to combine the two professions, after proposing that everyone learn to both shoe with steel and use alternate materials. The barefoot faction simply refused, saying that they should not be forced to learn a skill they wouldn't use.
Barefoot hoof trimming worldwide has evolved so that a percentage of horses are being "equipped" with alternative materials like hoof tape, or wearing hoof boots, which are removable hoof protection and could be technically argued to be a type of shoe in a courtroom context.
From far across the Atlantic, it looks like the British missed an opportunity to define barefoot trimming as an adjunct form of farriery so the trimmers would be protected by law instead of being victims of it.
The word "barefoot" may come back to haunt the new profession, just as the word "shoe" pigeon-holes the farriers. Unfortunately for horses and the advancement of hoof science, the British problem continues to divide people into camps and hold back progress, rather than carry hoofcare forward.
If you asked anyone from either camp, they would say that that is what they want: progress in understanding the foot and improving the care they can offer. But, the way things are set up, each camp wants it on their terms.
And if you ask anyone who's been there, decisions made in court rarely clear the air and usually benefit the lawyers involved more than the people on either side who will be affected by even the most well-intentioned efforts to interpret, reform or create a law.
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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.
This weekend, the British Farriers and Blacksmiths Association hosted the 33rd International Team Horseshoeing Championships at Stoneleigh, England.
Gill Harris, editor of Forge Magazine, has kindly sent the complete results with the exception of the apprentice team event, which is being double checked.
Apprentice Individual International Class
5 Kenny Little
4 Stuart McGaffin
3 Phil Smith
2 Robbie Watson Green
1 James Elliott
International individual reserves
5 David Sutherland
4 Gregoire Fauquembergue
3 Ben Casserley
2 David Lynch
1 Cody Gregory
33rd International Horseshoeing Championships - Team Gas Forging
Best specimen shoe - Edward O'Shaughnessy
11 Germany
10 France
9 Norway
8 Switzerland
7 Canada
6 Brirish Army
5 Wales
4 USA
3 Scotland
2 Ireland
1 England
Team Horseshoeing Day 1
Beat dressed foot - Steven Beane
Best shod foot - Steven Beane
Best specimen shoe - Jon Atkinson
11 Germany
10 Switzerland
9 France
8 Norway
7 Canada
6 USA
5 British army
4 Wales
3 Scotland
2 Ireland
1 England
Team Shoeing Day 2
Best dressed foot - Paul Robinson
Best specimen shoe - Steven Beane
Best shod foot - Paul Robinson
11 Germany
10 Norway
9 Switzerland
8 British Army
7 Canada
6 France
5 USA
4 England
3 Ireland
2 Wales
1 Scotland
Individual award
(Most accumulated points award)
5 Matt Randles
4 David Green
3 Ian Gajsjak
2 Steven Beane
1 Paul Robinson
International team best competitor over three classes - Paul Robinson
International combined team horse shoeing championship
11 Germany
10 Switzerland
9 France
8 Norway
7 Canada
6 British Army
5 USA
4 Wales
3 Scotland
2 Ireland
1 England
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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.
