We often hear farriers and veterinarians say that the two professions need to work closer together. Many vets and farriers have wonderful working relationships — and their mutual clients and their horses are the true winners. 

However, some members of each group fail to see eye-to-eye, resulting in an inability to work with a counterpart, or that other industry as a whole. This, of course, is to the detriment of the clients and their horses.

It is easiest to identify this problem and deal with it on this micro level. If an individual has a problem with the vet or farrier he or she works with, someone — or both — in that relationship caused the failure. Professionalism must drive a mutual understanding or one of the parties must excuse himself or herself from the situation so as to not cause additional adversity for the client.

Mutual Respect?

Neither side has figured out how to best approach working together on a larger scale in harmony with the other group’s approval. A common perception among farriers is that they aren’t viewed as contemporaries, especially in terms of learning from each other.

This may be an impression, rather than reality, but here at AFJ we have seen some evidence of this. The American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) governs the Registry of Approved Continuing Education, which, as the name suggests, approves continuing education providers and their programs. Each year, we pay the AAVSB to evaluate our International Hoof-Care Summit lineup and…