I have yet to meet a member of either the farrier and veterinary trades who believes it isn’t beneficial to maintain good relationships with members of the other profession. So if a good working relationship is generally agreed upon, why does the perception of a need for improvement exist?

I don’t ask this on an individual basis — there will always be those individuals who are difficult to work with. Instead, what about the differences generated on an institutional level?

One symptom of this is a sense of superiority regarding education on the veterinary side. I have a personal experience regarding this.

Certifying Education

Every year the International Hoof-Care Summit applies for continuing education (CE) credits from the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB). Its panel, the Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE), has approved the Summit as a source of continuing education for veterinarians and vet techs every year — well, until this year.

The form letter announced a reason: “Presenters for a given topic should have at least the same level of education or higher as the individuals to whom the program is to be presented.” No agenda-specific explanation was given, nor would be.

There is an appeal process. In addition to the handsome non-refundable amount already paid, a rejected applicant can pay $1,500 — also non-refundable — to have the same folks who rejected the CE applications re-review them.

That’s a heck of a racket. Usually, shakedowns as brazen as this involve waste management and someone…