Hall Of Fame Farrier Urges American Colleagues To Learn Common Veterinary Terms, References

The relationship between veterinarians and farriers is a common topic of conversation in both camps. While efforts have been made to bridge gaps between the two, there’s one area that farriers have some room to improve upon, says a member of the International Horseshoeing Hall Of Fame.

“One of the most important and fundamental aspects is that farriers actually have a responsibility to learn to communicate with other paraprofessionals,” Mark Caldwell told American Farriers Journal in a recent podcast. “That means to communicate in a common language. It’s not difficult for farriers to learn common veterinary nomenclature and planes of reference, for example, so you can have a reasonable, professional discussion about a case in the same language as a veterinary surgeon.”

The Alsager, England, farrier notes that the divide between vets and farriers is much like the differences in phrases used by the English and Americans, such as sausages and mashed potatoes being called bangers and mash in England.

“That’s the veterinary-farriery relationship, and we need to address it,” Caldwell says. “In your own country, it’s one of the amazing features that stick out — very few people have a basic understanding of common veterinary nomenclature, anatomy and planes of reference.”

That’s not to say that American farriers should start brushing up on the original prefixes and suffixes.

“They don’t need to…