Help! My horse is difficult with the farrier — what should I do?
Here Jason gives one H&H forum user advice on how to get her horse more settled while being shod by the farrier
Go straight to the latest news about farriers
Farriers have to undertake a four-year apprenticeship to learn how to trim, balance and apply shoes to the horse’s hooves. If they pass their exams, they are then qualified to shoe horses without supervision. Farriers learn blacksmithing skills in order to prepare horseshoes, but a blackmith is NOT allowed to shoe horses under UK law.
The farriery industry is regulated by the Farriers Registration Council in the United Kingdom. The National Farriers Training Agency used to oversee the farriery apprenticeship, but was shut down following a poor OFSTED report in July 2013. The apprenticeships are now run by a handful of colleges around the country.
Horse & Hound followed the ups and downs of apprentice Roland Thompson as he retrained to become a qualified farrier in a regular blog, Roland’s Nags and Nails from 2011 to 2013.