The Northeast Association of Equine Practitioners (NEAEP) is a brand new organization encompassing 13 states in the northeastern region of the United States. The mission of the NEAEP is to improve the health and welfare of horses by providing state-of-the-art professional education and to support the economic security of the equine industry by complementing local associations thereby giving equine veterinarians, farriers, technicians, veterinary students and horse owners a unified voice at the state and regional levels.

Unlike many other organizations, the NEAEP interprets the meaning of "practitioner" as broad, including farriers as full members of the association. Eighty percent of equine lameness occurs within the hoof, while ten percent of horses will experience at least one episode of lameness each year – this alone presents the necessity for veterinarians and farriers to practice complementary to one another.

The decision to assemble an organization which supports veterinarians and farriers alike is a testament to the importance the NEAEP places on maintaining positive working relationships between these two communities, as well as providing top quality continuing education opportunities to further enhance our ability to serve the equine patient.


The NEAEP is proud to announce and cordially invites you to the first annual Farrier Symposium, which is scheduled for September 23-25, 2009 at Foxwood's Resort and Casino in Connecticut. This conference will include a lameness program as well as a farrier program and is sure to include dynamic speakers to help provide new information for both groups.


We hope you join us in supporting this new united endeavor as a long-awaited addition to existing farrier and veterinary groups.

For more information on the NAEP, please visit our web site: www.neaep.net. or call 1-877-355-9994

NEAEP Board of Directors

I am really excited about this group, and the opportunity that it presents for the farrier community. If you have any questions about the group, its activities, or the role of farriers within the NEAEP, please ask away. I am a member of the Board of Directors, along with Dave Farley, CF

Received an E-mail today from them. Just finished reading through their Website.

Hello Pat,

Congratulations to you and Dave for your role as board members of the NEAEP.

Other than the obvious reasons of enhancing communication between all practitioners and having a collaborative voice of practitioners in the NE; can you let us know of other benefits to us at becoming a member.

Thank you in advance,
Esco Buff, PhD, CF

There are three meetings planned for this year, with discounted attendance fees for members. There will be a magazine, "the Clinician" for the membership. The group is still in formation, I'm sure there will be more benefits coming in the near future.

Hey Patrick, what would membership do for those of us that don't live in the Northeast? Is there any chance of the oranization branching out to include the Southeast?

I am not sure of the exact details, but I know there is a Florida Association of Equine Practitioners (although these are not related to the NEAEP). I think the success of the Fl group and the formation of the NEAEP could demonstrate a niche for more regional associations- managable in size, big enough to be effective and small enough to be responsive and accessible to members.
I think the programs are worth traveling to, so as an "outsider" it might still be worth joining. From a "selfish farrier" position, I hope a large farrier membership might help to convince other practitioner groups to consider accepting farriers as equal members.

Pat,
Very exciting! With the direction that I see the foot care industry headed, this type of organization is spot on the nail head! Vet/Farrier relations are becoming more important everyday with lameness consults continuing to become a larger percentage of many farrier practices. (It will be 25-30% of my practice this year). Successful hoof health is becoming a broader whole horse approach that requires an interaction and cooperation between Farriers and Vets.

I look forward to the success of this endeavor!

Dave

Pat,

If this is to be a collaborative effort between vets and farriers why are there no farriers on the Executive Committee and only two on the BOD?

Rick,
Dave and I both declined to volunteer for positions on the exectutive committee (too much going on, and not a position I am comfortable with).

Both Dave and I were asked to be on the BoD before the decision was made to accept farriers as full members. In my opinion, the level of farrier participation on the BoD and exectutive committee can change to reflect the level of farrier participation in the general membership.

As I publicly implored farriers to join, I will resuscitate the thread to update my current position on the group. I resigned my position on the Board of Directors in January, and I have asked that my name be removed from any list of membership. I wish I could state that my time on the Board was productive for the farrier profession, but I do not think this organization is truly a collaborative effort between the veterinarians and farriers. As an example, the by-laws restrict the farriers on the BoD to no more than one- third of the total board (points to Rick B. for his clairvoyance).


If anyone has specific questions, I am willing to discuss my involvement with the group. Call me at 603-490-9992.

reillyshoe wrote:
Pat,

Recognizing farriers as equals is incomprehensible for some veterinarians. It seems to me that those vets who can actually shoe a horse often tend to have a helluva lot more respect for the knowledge and motor skills of farriers than do those vets who are long on theory, but short on actual ability. I'm not much on psychobabble, but I believe the members of the latter group must feel somehow threatened by farriers' specialized expertise.

Whatever the reason, it's been my observation that there is no group on the planet who thinks they know more about shoeing than do newly graduated veterinarians!

Respectfully,

Tom

Tom Stovall, CJF wrote:
Tom, maybe newly graduated farriers. I'm guilty. :)

Phil Armitage in gray, my old stuff in brown

Whatever the reason, it's been my observation that there is no group on the planet who thinks they know more about shoeing than do newly graduated veterinarians!

Tom, maybe newly graduated farriers. I'm guilty.

Not even close.

On one hand, you have all the arrogance that could possibly be crammed into a few weeks of shoeing school; on the other, the arrogance forged by eight years of academia that's untempered by real world experience, a fresh set of letters after their names and "Doc" as a moniker. IME, class valedictorians were the worst, especially those who were city-raised and of the female persuasion.

Like most farriers who have veterinary custom, I have the utmost respect for the majority of equine practitioners, but I'm not blind to their foibles.

Phil, Tom,
While this discussion relates directly to "real world" interaction between farriers and vets, I am not sure it accurately recounts my experience with this group.

At the time the bylaws were passed, I was one farrier on a board of about 10 veterinarians. I cannot tell you why they decided to limit the number of farriers on the board, but I can tell you that they did have the votes to pass the by-laws in that fashion. Perhaps the error was mine for assuming that a collaborative group between our professions would be equal in structure and design.