Yeah, no personal attacks site wide. Horse owners section will stay strictly on the subject. Farriers section should stay mostly on the subject. Off topic is the place to go off course. And won't be moderated much. Still no personal attacks in there either. Eric Russell
Hi, Well I've made my way over here and it's great to see a new Forum set up with some old faces and names. With regard to the topic in hand. I hated what happened to the old forum and mainly because I was of the opinion that it was a VERY valuable resource for farriers, owners, trainers etc alike. I didn't want that resource to be killed off and I said as much to others. It's obvious to me that there's folks about that are committed and determined to spread the word and do it in a way that can reach horse owners. IMO, education is something that's incumbent on professionals in the equestrian industry. I think it's the right thing to do to make this an open forum and where owners can ask professionals for advice on matters relating to hoof care and management. But we have to be realistic about this. It's an internet forum and the nature of internet forums is that there'll be all sorts turn up. We'll NEVER be all things to all men and we'll never be able to dictate the manner and style and subject that people post in. At least NOT without heavy moderation and editing and not without dumbing it down and making it bland and boring. In my opinion. I personally think it's unrealistic to think that an internet forum can set objectives for folks to be professional role models. It doesn't happen in real life and it sure as heck won't happen over the internet. Likewise I think it would be a shame if the forum were moderated in such a way whereby there was no intellectual debate, disagreement and banter. Again it's not realistic to expect total harmony on any internet forum. In my opinion be darnright boring ! Internet forums exist for a host of reasons and folks visit them for entertainment, relaxation, interchange of ideas, opportunity to express views, to argue, share experience, to de-stress, learn about culture etc etc etc. There's no point having one where it's all just professional advice with no disagreement. The evidence is that those forums are not frequently visited. They just don't get the members or the hits. Testament to that is "contentious posts". Get a bit of disagreement and opinion and the hit rate goes out of the window! I'm hoping that this will be a forum with articulate and opinionated group of adult members who have got the battle scars from working in the real horse world. I'd like to think that in common with all forums it won't suit everyone and those who don't like it won't stay around to read it and some will become addicted to it. One man's "negativity and argument" is another man's "challenging debate" I used to find Horseshoes.com informative, amusing, challenging, entertaining and somewhat addictive. I actually enjoyed the personal challenge and banter and exchanges. I knew damn well if I posted crap facts there that I'd get jumped on and personally I like that. I find this stimulates the mind and focuses ideas and thought and forces you to justify and think carefully when you post. When it comes to moderation then I'm of the strong view that it's best left as "light touch". So normal standards of taste and decency with regard to bad language. No bigotry or nasty stuff or stereotypes on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, colour, religion etc. No nasty name calling. So to be clear the comment mentioned about "illegal immigrants" would IMO be wholly unacceptable! I liked Tom Bloomer's suggestion for owners and farriers "guidelines". They seem pretty much common sense.... though of course I know common sense isn't so common! I'm of the view that everyone who is offering advice should at least have to post something about themselves on their user profiles. If someone is offering advice and claiming to be a professional... whether it's a farrier, a vet, a trainer, whatever... then IMO they should be posting with their real name and their location. IMO owners ought to be able to ask what they want and if they want to hide behind anonymity then fine.... We take that for what it is. It's incredibly naive though to think that professionals won't ever disagree with each other and will always be terribly nice and polite and never get frustrated by someone giving misinformation or intent on terminal stupidity. I've had decades in the profession and know damn well that there's more disagreement than concensus and a huge variety of strongly held opinions. I've said many times that horse riding is a multi-opinionated discipline and the same can be said for farriery.
Thankyou, Eric. I accept the job of moderating the farriers (oops), editing the horse owner disclaimer. I do need some guidance as to what exactly you're looking for-rules? Ask your own farrier first? Let me know. I also apply for owner-moderator. One thing I can say about myself is that I'm fair, and I know what is not allowed, and agree with those rules. And if anything comes up in the future, it will have to come to you. Does that seem okay? There are website forums I believe in enough to give back what I get. To me, a forum like this is priceless. Karen
I'm delighted to be here and glad I found the invite sitting in my junk mail.... Slightly worrying considering it was sent via my own web site!
LOL, I've done almost everything I can to get emails go to inbox's. I find it bizarre that some from here are still making it to spam!!!
Thomas, I've never been of the opinion that people should have to let everyone know who they are. People have their reasons for not wanting to post their real name on a forum. If everything checks out on the back end I have no problem with anyone who doesn't want to show there real name. One thing I really don't like is people on proxy servers.
so how do you get to be anonymous here then? i don't think i selected a user name. just my real and given name and that's my forum name. i've no problem with forum names but if it's someone claiming to be a pro then they need to put their money where their mouth is... don't mind if that's just on their profile page but for me it doesn't work unless they're open about who they are.
Well I have been a fan of you all for a long time. And I talk often with my farrier about feet. I think farriers are people, too. More than anything else, these forums where you "talk the talk" has given me a deeper appreciation of what my farrier does and how much talent, brains and bravery it takes to do the foot of a horse. It ain't just a foot you guys are fixing. ANd I think you all know that. Most incredible to have the likes of good horseman like Thomas aboard any board. I vote Karen as owner moderator. She is a very nice good hearted person. Can I put up an Xray? I have been promissing to show Karen... and I keep forgetting to send it...
Hi MaryAnn. I would think you could put up an xray under owners section. But if it's a lousy xray, I may have to delete it.
When you signed up you could've type whatever name you wanted in. It tells you that directly below the message box. I can change your username if you want. There is no way to verify that somebody is a Farrier. There is no way to stop someone from using a fake name. Besides the fact that nothing can be verified, there are Farriers out there that, either for personal or professional reasons, do not want there name associated on a public forum. You gave plenty of reasons here http://farriersforum.com/threads/horse-owners.47/page-3#post-1142 why someone may not want to have their name public. I'm happy to take another look into this down the road but for right now, especially with a whopping 2 horseowner topics, there are plenty of other things to do.
I hear you and at the same time this is a place to have fun, decompress.......... There are plenty of people who would like to enjoy their time away from work on here and not have to deal with possible repercussions from people who they work for after they did a Google search for them.
@Karen - Look! I got you something to moderate!!!! http://farriersforum.com/threads/xray-long-toe-low-heel-and-other-stuff.139/
