Farriery

The making and fitting of horseshoes, as well as looking after the health of a horse’s foot.

Farriery encompasses the assessments of the equine’s Hoofcare requirements, trimming and balancing the hoof and the shoeing of horses and similar animals, and is believed to date back to the Roman Empire. Originally the farrier and the blacksmith were the same person, but each required specific skills and the crafts separated over time. A farrier works with horses but needs training in blacksmithing in order to make the shoe properly; a blacksmith is a smith who works with iron and may never have any contact with horses. As well as an understanding of blacksmithing, a farrier must also be knowledgeable about the anatomy of horses, and the differences between horses used for draft, riding or racing.

Farriery became a registered profession by way of the Farriers (Registration) Act 1975, which defines farriery as ‘any work in connection with the preparation or treatment of the foot of a horse for the immediate reception of a shoe thereon, the fitting by nailing or otherwise of a shoe to the foot or the finishing off of such work to the foot’.

• British Farriers and Blacksmiths Association
• The Farriers Registration Council
• The Worshipful Company of Farriers