What value is farrier certification? If the horse owning public doesn’t know what it is, how difficult it is to do the accurate work necessary to obtain it, and the value it has for their horse(s) – it has little value. If it becomes nothing more than a fraternity initiation which includes hazing, it has no value.

 There is no argument about the merit of the idea. It could really help the new horse owner determine if a farrier is qualified. Most important, it could assure that a horse is humanely trimmed and shod. It could be a valuable way to promote horse welfare.

 The public needs to be sold on the value of farrier certification. This requires education. Horse owners must understand how hard it is to accurately trim and shoe a horse and what an accomplishment it is to have passed a credible certification exam.

 Certification should motivate a farrier to improve his or her knowledge and craftsmanship. If certification fails to do this, it has little value. How the candidate is treated – with courtesy and respect – as opposed to augmentation and abusive intimidation – makes all the difference in how the process is viewed by farriers and non-farriers.  

 AFA certification could be more effective

Although the American Farriers Association has the most credible exams of any American farrier certifying organization, the AFA published standards are not consistently followed. I have observed some testers that apparently made up their own standards, rather than use those in the AFA Certification Guide. A few have used the certification process to intimidate and even discourage candidates from taking further exams. 

 I have been told that American certification exams are considered jokes in Europe. I have observed that they have little respect in America. The current proliferation of certifying associations, especially those of the “natural” and barefoot people, would have even less credence today if voluntary AFA Certification had become the accepted standard. But, AFA Certification will not be universally respected until it is consistently administered by qualified examiners, following consistent standards.

 Licensing is not an acceptable alternative.

Then why not license farriers? If the testing procedure can’t be administered with any more class and credibility than is demonstrated by some AFA Chapters and examiners and testers at present, licensing exams patterned after AFA Certification would have little value. In fact, it would only create more cronyism and bad feelings as well as put in place an intrusive and ineffective bureaucracy.

 Some argue that licensing could be a valuable tool to protect horses and unknowing horse owners from charlatans. This could be true, if the current voluntary certification examination was consistently administered and agreed upon as the standard to measure by. But, anyone familiar with the independent nature of farriers should also know that this may be an impossible dream.

 Since licensing agencies would likely use current AFA Certification exams as a model, the problems with the system must be corrected before licensing could ever be a respected and viable option for our fractionated industry.

 Certification candidates must be prepared.

Candidates must be advised to be adequately prepared for the examination. A good exam is difficult. I believe the current AFA exams are good skill tests. However, I have observed that many candidates come to the exams unprepared. They are unaware of or unwilling to put in the hours of practice and study necessary to do a qualifying job.

 After the exam, the examiner needs to explain and demonstrate corrections of any deficiencies that caused the candidates to fail so that he or she knows what to work on to be better prepared for the next try to pass the exam. 

 Horseshoeing schools should help students prepare by requiring difficult exams at the end of each class that serve as a preview of respected certification requirements. Schools should offer exam preparation (called revision courses in the UK) short courses for farrier school graduates and practicing farriers.

 Exam standards should be for the benefit of the horse and the owner.

Specified standards for shoe configuration and fit should be for the benefit of the individual horse, not (as they are now) structured such that a horse may have to be reshod before returning to its work after the exam. Such a necessity has the effect of killing the credibility of the exam in the eyes of the horse owning public.

 British Worshipful Company of Farrier examinees are told to shoe the horse with shoes suitable for specified working conditions. The candidate must take into account the individual horse’s conformation and use. This makes more sense than the current AFA standards for shoe fit which only consider shoeing the foot.

 Examiners should follow the specifications in the published rulebook.

Exams should be consistent from place to place and follow the specifications in the rule book. The whole event should be conducted in a professional manner. Style should not be penalized, only function. There are many styles or ways of accomplishing the same goal – for example, the forming of clips. Time limits should be strictly adhered to.

 The full range of the score sheet should be used. If a procedure couldn’t have been done better, it should receive a top score. If it is unacceptable, it should receive a bottom score. A Yes or No indicating the specified standard has or has not been met appears to work better than arbitrary numbers assigned to denote degrees of achievement for a skill test.

 Certification must be current. It is of no value to the public unless those that are certified can consistently do the job to a standard. Farriers should be retested every few years by their peers to prove their ability to their clients as well as themselves.

 Examiners must be qualified and respected practitioners.

Examiners should be requalified every few years at a mandatory meeting where standards are reviewed. If examiners fail the skill test, then they should be suspended until they can do it. Only a few persons who can do the job, and score it to the same agreed upon standard, should be approved examiners – perhaps two in each region of the country.

 There should be no need (as there is now) for candidates to carefully choose examiners and regional association hosts – as some areas have gotten the reputation to be avoided due to unqualified and unprofessional testers. For example, in at least one case, a person who (by his own admission) had barely passed the AFA Journeyman exam the previous week was allowed to be a tester with authority to pass or fail a candidate the following week.

 Probationary examiners should be required to observe for a period of time, score a test with supervision, and then be approved by two other qualified examiners, when he or she is confident in making consistent, rapid and accurate decisions. Testers should become probationary examiners and not be responsible for scoring decisions independent of the examiners as happens in some cases now.

 Approved examiners should be equivalent in status and authority to association officers. Members who have gone to the trouble of becoming certified should be proud of having proved to a respected person(s) in the industry that they are competent.

 Examiners are volunteers. They should at least be paid a minimum per diem and travel expenses from the exam fees. Liquor should not be part of their expenses as it has been at some certifications and competitions.

 We need to correct the deficiencies in the system.

Certifications should start on time and be held in a suitable place. Taking a written test in a grass field, using untrained horses, and working in an unsafe environment is unacceptable. Examinees should be treated with courtesy and respect – not intimidated or hazed as has been done at some certifications.

 The exam should be between the examiner and the examinee. All other unauthorized persons should be excluded from the working area.

 After the exam, the examiner should demonstrate and then score the test for the examinees to show it can be done to the standard within the time limit and then discuss it. This would give added value to the process.

 The AFA began certification in 1979 – 31 years ago. Every client survey since has shown that the decision to hire a farrier is not based on skill certification, rather on character. Before we can convince others that our farrier certification is valuable, we must correct its deficiencies and believe in it ourselves.