reillyshoe in gray
Who appoints the State vet Board of Veterinary Medicine in Texas?
The vets who are members of the State Board are political apointees, as are the vets on the State Racing Commission.
Have you heard any complaints regarding how they operate? It seems only the most aggregious of offenses will cause a vet to loose their license. Why couldn't the same processes apply to farriers?
If licensing were mandated and enforced, a few of the hacks would be out of business, the price of farriery would increase greatly when the demand for licensed farriers quickly exceeded supply, the same owners who complained about not being able to find a decent farrier would be caterwaulling about the cost of farriery, and a market for black market farriery would be created, thereby insuring that any hack willing to break the law would still be in business. Realistically, about the only place licensing could be enforced would be in urban areas, shows, and race tracks. Licensing farriers won't change human nature: it didn't in the UK and it won't here.
As far as farrier certification, understand vets are not certified by most states in terms of practical exams, there is a written test and completion of schooling at a certified school. Again, why can we not learn from them?
Apples and oranges. Every vet student has lab practicals during the course of their education and a degree is a prerequesite for taking the state boards.
Educating owners to search for a CF has not worked, for whatever reason.
To my knowledge, educating owners on the AFA's certification program has never been attempted, much less "not worked."
He**, we can't even get the farriers to agree! Why do you think that is the path to respectability?
"Respectability" is your word, not mine. I believe the public yearns for competency and I think the public would be quite content to know a farrier's competence has been tested and not found wanting when they choose a farrier. It's a start - and a helluva lot better place for a horse owner to start than the feed store bulletin board or it's online equivalent, COTH.
Remember, nobody is checking to see if a young vet can block a coffin joint correctly, even before being handed a diplomma from their institution. They are tested on understanding the book version of how and why to block a coffin joint. Smart? The process seems to work for them.
Perhaps at UPenn and Cornell, this may be true, but at Texas A&M and LSU, I'm told that blocking joints is part of a lab practical - and if a student doesn't pass the lab, they don't graduate. Harsh? Perhaps, but the process seems to work for them.