--- Judy Ryder <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> One of the guys went to Iceland and did their farrier course for a > few > months, came back to the states and advertised himself as a Master > Farrier. > It takes years and years to become a Master Farrier (including > tests and > certifications). > > Maybe they lead him to believe he was a Master Farrier; maybe he > placed that > title upon himself; not sure.
It does take years and years and many tests and certifications to become a master farrier by AFA standards. Unfortunatley the AFA focuses on making horseshoes...heating keg shoes and shaping them....they focus on time...and they do have some written tests as well...but the AFA Masters farrier protocol really pushes metal shoeing and the use of a forge to gain Master farrier status. Most farrier schools focus on forge work and metal shoes. A good farrier school you might get to work on 2 mabye 3 horses a day and the focus is on the metal. Sally took a very different approach in her farrier schooling...she went to an apprecticeship based school, worked on 8-12 horses per day, and does extra farrier studies every year and studies anatomy of the horses and is really into researching the new studies on founder and navicular on her own. The AFa still pushes jacked up heels and metal shoes for both problems. She will never become a master farrier because she does No forge work, but she helps horses all across the island because she is informed and educated on the newer idesas and studies on horses and their feet. We just talked to a new farrier who just moved to the island....he went to a farrier school for 6 months in georgia.....he loves the forge work and he said they spent 2/3 of their time on forge work...not the horses or learning technigue...but learning how to manipulate metal. So the term Master Farrier does not neccesarily mean what I think it should mean...... Storme ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't get soaked. Take a quick peak at the forecast with the Yahoo! Search weather shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#loc_weather
