In 2020, during the first COVID-19 lockdown when I started this Podcast the whole idea was to reach out to my students who could not attend college due to the pandemic. since then, it has turned in to a bit of a monster being listened to in over 75 countries.
So, this episode it's all down to the students..........
Teaching and learning and learning by teaching. Sometimes learning can be done by presenting a subject to your peers. At the school of farriery Hereford, we used this technique to get students to research, study and present information to their peers as a way of learning and also embedding the used of I.T. and communication skills. These are valuable behaviours for the modern professional farrier.
Group 45S are a group of Trailblazer apprentices currently attending their 4th block at college which is in the second year of their apprenticeship.
They were given the task of presenting 2 lessons, one half had Thrush and Canker, and the others had Seedy toe and WLD. When they presented, we mic'd them up and after giving their full consent we agreed to let me publish their work here. Well done to all that took part the work they put in in a short timeline was very impressive.

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This discussion is about a recent article in the Forge magazine. It is not about imposing rules but it is about protecting ourselves and all those involved (including the equine) at farriery competitions and forging best practice for future generations.

What is Social License to Operate (SLO)

Social license is increasingly important in horse sport and leisure. This is the general public’s interpretation of equine welfare and professionalism. We must be seen to be always putting equine welfare FIRST. When a social license is lost, this is when the general public’s opinion decides that the activity we are doing falls below their expectations of animal welfare and/ or professionalism. This means that the welfare of the horse must be put first, and be seen to be put first, all the time. It is the responsibility of everyone involved with equines to demonstrate this. Sometimes, mistakes will be made. However, if all of those involved in horse sport and leisure can learn from these mistakes and demonstrate that they are always striving to do right by their horses, wider society is more likely to trust that equine welfare is genuinely being put first and it is more likely that equestrianism’s social license will be maintained. We have all seen the potential damage one video can make to a sport. During the build up to the 2024 Olympics, one video of one person connected to a sport, made headline news leading to a large swing in public opinion. This in turn reignited the question - should equestrianism be included as an Olympic sport? Worryingly, one public vote resulted in 49% of the voters being against. This is concerning and is evidence of what damage one viral video can do. The equestrian world needs to maintain and strengthen its social license for it to have a future.

Horseshoeing Competitions

As a competition, we must treat this activity as a sport utilizing the equine, and where live equines are used, their welfare MUST be the primary concern. Most horseshoeing competitions held within the UK are organised in conjunction with a bigger event, such as a county show. These are very public facing events and due to the nature of the spectacle provided, they are a huge crowd pulling part of the event. We are exposed to many members of the public that may have little or no knowledge of what they are watching. Some of these spectators may also be members of organisations or have opinions opposed to the use of horses in sport and may be looking to publicly evidence this. To this end, we as organisers and competitors need to utilise this industry spotlight to educate, communicate, and actively promote best practice and professionalism. The competition environment can be stressful for both equines and competitors due to several different factors, but with proper organisation, contingency planning and common sense, this can be kept to a minimum

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Simon is a renowned lecturer and works as a referral and collective farrier for vets in Devon and Cornwall.

His particular are of interest is in foals, performance horses and their individual shoeing solutions.
He sat his Fellowship exam a few years ago and is very proactive within the Farriery industry.
We sat down for an informative chat about the subject he researched for his thesis.

Read Simon’s dissertation here:
https://www.wcf.org.uk/fwcf-thesis?tid=c1d78f062752b4e994b1ace6716885baf8680f93f8983291b5e8db8fb374d262

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Sarah Brown FWCF was the first female farrier to achieve Fellowship Status.
Now her husband has achieve his FWCF, they are the first Fellowship household too.
Sarah did her FWCF in 2015 and her thesis title was An Investigation into the effects on heel morphology following the insertion of 3° proprietary plastic heel wedge pads.
In this episode we sit down and chat in simple terms why she chose this subject and how she planned it, and the results.
Click here to read her actual Thesis
https://www.wcf.org.uk/fwcf-thesis?tid=08486d8d3da597db069abb945186f25f30119d9ce13e6cac9b2f6310142729c8
Click here to access all the FWCF Thesis's
https://www.wcf.org.uk/fwcf-thesis

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I was recently asked to do a webinar on be half of the British Farriers & Blacksmiths Association explaining the concept of social license to operate in the equine sector. This is a term which has been banded around for a few years now and there have been many who have misunderstood what this actually means.

This is about public approval, for us to carry on doing what we do. Although this is mainly aimed at the equestrian world, we do play a part in it, and with out it we have no job.

Thank you to the BFBA for asking me to do this and for allowing me to publish the audio here to share. This recording is of me talking via a online webinar, of which there were a few technical problems of which I have done my best to edit out.

If you are not a BFBA member please check out their web site to see the members benefits available and sign up.

Sport Chat (The BJ Show) will cover all AFL games, quiz and more. Subscribe today.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify