The American Farrier Association is currently pushing for farrier licensing against the wishes of most members. Some people seem to think that licensing will improve the standards of farrier work and reassure the horse owning public about the farriers out there.

Mind you, there is already a voluntary certification system in place for farriers. Any farrier who wants to can take the voluntary test and add that certification to his or her resume.

In addition, surveys of the horse owning public shows that certification and/or licensing is NOT their first concern when they are searching for a farrier. Things like "caring about my horse" and "keeping appointments on time" tend to be far more important to the average horse owner.

Furthermore, no matter what any individual thinks about their horse, the bare fact is that horses are private property. Yes, to those of us who work with them every day, they are individual beings. We come to recognize them as personalities in their own right. Legally speaking, however, they belong to us.

When does the government get the right to tell a private property owner who they can hire to do what to their property? I know they already do to a large degree, but that still doesn't make it right.

In addition, horseshoeing is an art. It CANNOT be standardized, it often cannot be scientifically studied, and results can often not be reproduced from horse to horse. Each horse is different, and each shoeing job is different. In order to create a "test" there will have to be some very arbitrary standards. The ability to hit a completely arbitrary standard on a given day does not make either a good artist OR a good horseshoer.

Licensing will happen because there are people out there who are constitutionally incapable of failing to interfere. There's not much I can do about it, but I can be publicly unhappy about it.

Thank you for putting up with my rant, and I'll try to get back to happier subjects the next time.