The past four decades
Much has been written about the veterinarian-farrier relationship which has become more normalized today. Members of the horse’s care team – owners, veterinarians, physical therapists, bodyworkers, chiropractors, etc. – recognize the key role played by farriers in the soundness of the horse. Owners and veterinarians recognize that having the farrier present when questions arise about hoof health has significant value.
Also, an increasing number of farriers have become veterinarians so are bringing both perspectives to the table.
Levels of care and experience
As in human medicine, three levels of care have developed:
- Primary care – where the farrier or trimmer provides routine scheduled care to their clients’ horses with minimal foot-related problems for the exercise they are doing.
- Farriers are trimmers, but trimmers are not farriers. And it is recognized that there is a difference between trimming a horse for application of some shoe protective device and trimming a barefoot horse.
- Secondary level of care – where a veterinarian and farrier or trimmer, who are particularly interested in collaboration, use proper podiatry radiographs and make themselves available to owners and their horses with hoof issues.
- Tertiary level of care – where a veterinarian and farrier possessing significant skills regarding complex hoof issues are available to owners, usually through referral.
Some additional positives that have occurred over the past few decades
- Horse health insurance now exists.
- More hoof shoes, gluing techniques, pads, etc. are now available for the many different types and degrees of hoof issues and their prevention.
- There are some excellent, annual, medically oriented educational meetings in equine podiatry open to veterinarians, farriers, and other interested persons. Two examples of national, annual professional meetings are the International Hoof Care Summit and the National Alliance of Equine Practitioners.
- Because the increasing number of secondary and tertiary care interest groups recognize that NIH-type funding is only minimally possible, we are seeing more biomechanical and hoof disease research being funded by owner organizations (e.g., Grayson Foundation) and professional organizations (e.g., AAEP Foundation).
- Professionals from different scopes of practice have made progress towards finding common terminology for more effective team communication.
Issues that haven’t changed much
- Despite the development of the above-mentioned levels of equine podiatry care, routine referrals within those levels have not become a recognized and regular occurrence.
- There is no licensure for farriers or trimmers – nor for most of the other non-veterinarian professions and horse trainers.
- Today’s horse owners are less knowledgeable than previous generations were about hoof problems and overall horse management. This can also be said about some veterinarians and farriers. Horsemanship is on the decline. The horse owner or their representative is the overseer of their horse’s healthcare team. They pay the bills for their horse’s care. They need to have realistic management knowledge.
Veterinary board specialists, such as surgeons, internal medicine specialists and theriologists, are so focused on their specialty that they ignore the role their patient’s four feet have on the joint or body part that they are diagnosing and treating. - Today’s advanced veterinary imaging can see deep inside the horse’s body and provide a list of imperfections… but it cannot measure pain. This equipment is very costly and that cost is passed on to the owner.
- More work needs to be done to agree on common terminology – members of the care team are still using words that other team members do not understand. Please – when a word or sentence is not understood, stop and ask for an explanation!
The future that is starting now
- More farriers and trimmers are beginning to see themselves as healthcare team members versus simply technicians or mechanics.
- More allied health professionals and paraprofessionals currently working in equine sports medicine will become intrinsic members of horse healthcare teams – licensed physiotherapists, licensed massage therapists, and many others who have completed reputable training and certification programs in equine osteopathy, chiropractic, bodywork modalities, and other holistic therapies.
- Equine Sports Medicine is recognized as important for all moving horses, since every horse is an athlete (and not only the elite equine athletes). Specific preventive and rehabilitation exercises and programs are being developed.
- With the past few decades of increased specialization, the opportunities for “holistic” medical thinkers can accelerate. Maybe generalists and specialists will work more closely together?
- Work continues to have AVMA recognize equine podiatry as a veterinary specialty board. This would allow for rigorous podiatry training programs to be developed along with the required research – a great benefit for all horses.
In closing
The future is bright… as long as egos (“or my-way-or-the-highway” thinking) stay in check and we choose a team approach and the continued development of special hoof care skills – all aimed at the total welfare of the horse.
https://equinepodiatryrehab.com/
dickmansmann@gmail.com