--- In ECHoof@... , Abby Bloxsom wrote:

Have we not all seen
> misguided practitioners of just about every skill known to man?  Is
> there any benefit to taking any kind of certification at face value?
> Any reason NOT to spend time performing an appropriate interview,
> checking references, and discussing both methods and practices?
>
> I don't think so.
>
> -Abby

Abby
Exactly my point!!!
A certification or 20 years of experience does not necessarily a good
trimmer/farrier make.
If someone has been doing things poorly for 20 years, they obviously
aren't learning their lessons along the way. I know people who have
had horses for 20 years and are still feeding straight alfalfa and
grain to their pleasure horses. They've had the same shoer for 20
years because after all he was Daddy's shoer too. They don't see that
their horses toes are way too long and heels left too high...or that
their hooves are very contracted. Because why change, after all that's
the way they've done it all their lives.

And here's another thing ...the barefoot movement has made out all
farriers to be bad guys. A GOOD farrier knows how to do a good,
balanced trim before he applies a shoe. If his trim is off balance,
his shoeing job will be too. The sad part is the horse won't be able
to wear down the imbalance. By shoeing the horse he has perpetuated
the imbalance.
When looking for a trimmer to trim your barefoot horse don't
automatically dismiss a farrier.
There are good ones out there.....just hard to find.
JMHO   :-)
When I was interviewing trimmers last year I actually had a list of
questions to ask and when I ran out of candidates I had a plan of
action of where to look to find more candidates.
But the best thing a caring, responsible horseowner should do is
educate her or himself.
Learn to recognize a good, balanced trim.
Learn to recognize the signs of a bad trim.... I had a list of these too.
I'll get off my soap box now.......
Claire from AZ