Hi, I'm a 3rd year college student looking for an research project topic for my Principles of Entrepreneurship class and would be interested in doing it on farrier safety helmets and the reasons why they don't currently wear them and is there a market for them. I would appreciate any feedback. Elaine
Many of the barefoot trimmers (not farriers) wear helmets. At several Gene Ovineck clinics (a provider of continuing education to farriers and also to those who only trim) I observed the trim feet only practitioners wearing helmets. When I questioned them about why they thought this was necessary they said "If you have ever been thrown from a horse while trimming you would know why". I have never been thrown by a horse while trimming so that did not answer my question. As the clinic proceeded I observed that when a horse tried to take his foot away from the farriers they would resist mild opposition by holding on but if the horse was really committed to taking that foot away they released the foot and then treated the issue as a behavior problem. A training technique would be applied to get the horse to let go of the thought of not cooperating and work would resume. In contrast when the trimmers met great resistance they would hold on for dear life. When a 1,200 lb animal enters into a test of strength with a 120 lb female hoof trimmer the one who outweighs the other by 10X generally is victorious. The result was that the hoof trimmers were indeed thrown a fair distance and hit their heads against the walls in the barn aisle. However since they were wearing helmets they emerged without head injuries. So I would say that given the level of training that farriers receive when the attend farrier school (8-12 weeks of training or longer depending on the school followed by one to two years of apprenticeship with a master farrier) and that a fair amount of the curricula is devoted to keeping the horses behavior under control that helmets are not necessary. The issue may have come to your attention as the hoof trimmers generally attend one weekend of training and then immediately begin to practice their craft. That would be why they have been spotted wearing helmets for protection. Hope that helps.
I believe that head trauma is somewhat of a prerequisite for a Farrier. I got mine at age 15 when a couple of buddies and I drove my Dad's car through a house. George, 120 pound women trimmers? You must live in a nicer neighborhood than me.
Life is to short to work on horses that would require wearing a helmet. My Number 1 goal is to go home every day, not to the Krankenhaus. So my answer is No. I am also of the opinion that if you tell a farrier he must do somthing, he will rebel even if it would be in their best interest.
We (farriers) already got brain damage as it is. How may people in their right mind would do the kind of work we do, put up with the people we have to put up with while working on spoiled horses for the pay we get? So how does a helmet help? No I don't wear one.
I believe if people want to wear a helmet to work on horses feet, then by all means let them buy a helmet and wear it. I'd even be willing to share in the profit from selling the things to those who want them. Heck I know a few guys that are pretty witty fellows, I bet I could get them to come up with a snazzy slogan to sell them better. But I personally will not wear one. I sweat way too much already with just a ball cap on, I'm not putting a helmet on too. I am like most of the guys here and I will refuse to work on one if I think its that dangerous. But before I do that walking away thing, I would refer to my "Who wants to be a millionaire" guide book of life...phone a friend. I have the vet clinic on speed dial and I am a firm believer in "Better Living Through Chemistry"!!! If they are so wicked they would make me think about wearing a helmet...then I say dope those wicked things till they can hardly stand. I find them much more docile when they are thinking about standing rather than thinking about how they can hurt me. Seriously though if a horse is so bad to make me think about wearing a helmet I am going to charge for my time and mileage getting there, then I'm going to go home and wonder about which poor sap will need money bad enough to try doing such a beast. There is my two cents.
I'm all in on this one. We can sell "Natural Head Gear for Holistic Equine Hoofcare" to all the BUA babes. They can have lights on'em for dark barns, Sharpie holders for mapping feet, magnets for those little rasp things you hold in the palm of your hand. The possibilities are endless. Professional and horse owner models. Ray can handle wholesale and distribution, 'course he'll need to get a bigger warehouse and hire staff. I can not imagine thinking "Gosh, I better put on a helmet before I get under this one". What about body armor?
Before y'all go all in on this, wait for the final results of the poll. Looks like so far you only have one potential buyer. I'm guessing Ray's warehouse could handle the extra inventory. Regards
We don't often(ever?) hear about farriers suffering a head injury as a consequence of getting under a horse. We do hear about broken bones, sprained/strained muscles/tendons/ligaments, DJD, infrequent damage to internal organs, steel particles in the eyes, herniated discs, etc. I'm pretty much in agreement with Shane. The only difference is, perhaps, that on the bad ones, if I decide I am going to work on one, it must be chemically restrained. And, even with that, if I feel the situation is still dangerous, I just say "No". To paraphrase a great literary and cinematic phrase, "Helmets? We don't need no stinkin' helmets"
I think Rejean Neuron's Safety Sphere is applicable to a horse blowing up while shoeing him. While the sphere's intended application is for a motorcycle crash it should also suffice for protecting a BUA when they antagonize the horse provoking an attack upon their person. View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQr8YkzEEWQ
Hi George, Thank you for your detailed reply. I am from Ireland and not familiar with the term 'hoof trimmer' could you please elaborate on this term. I am assuming, probably incorrectly, that it is trimming the hoof before shoeing. Elaine
George are you being for real when you say you seen someone working on feet with helmet on they head... A helmet for shoeing is absurd...
Elaine my understanding is a hoof trimmer never applies shoes, they believe it is bad for the foot, believe all horses should be bare foot as they are in the wild and attempts to trim the foot the same way horses feet wear in the wild. They do not accept that some horses do work that means a shoe is necessary. They seem to forget in the wild horses with bad feet died where as we breed for for racing/jumping ability etc so breed these weakness's .Thankfully we only have one of the gob shites in ireland so far, that im aware of, hopefully it will stay that way, although we do have thousands of horses happily living without shoes being trimmed by farriers. Good luck coming up with a product but i dont think a helmet will take off, if it ever did the last place you will see it used is Ireland so be sure to patent it worldwide.
Not a joke really happened. When the horses pulled their feet these ladies would not let go but as they did not weigh much they got tossed into the wall of aisle. Sort of like a sport for the horses. Instead of "dwarf tossing" they were trimmer tossing. Elaine, There is a large group of barefoot trimmers in many countries and there are do it yourself learn to trim your horse clinics. So there may in fact be a market for protective armor for amateurs. By the time however that they purchase tools, protective armor, and pay their medical expenses it would be cheaper to just hire the farrier to do it. I do not see much of a market for protective gear for farriers. Our aprons and protective shoes seem about right.
I've seen way more mucho macho male farriers fight with horses than I've seen the sweetness and lightness brigade of barefooters fight with horses. Most of the female barefooters I've seen are smart enough to know there's no winning in fighting and are usually not strong enough to even hold on long enough to get tossed.
no then thats when they come begging and crawling to the professionals farriers to put the job in order , they should put a bag on their head and do the equine world a favour
Denise being a barefoot trimmer do you have a helmet... Or any protective gear like elbow pads..knee pads..shin guard ..chest protector ..mouth guard ..fingerless gloves..... If you have seen farriers fighting horses chances are they are not very professional most farriers I know never fight or have the will to fight a horse..I seen many iron hanging over the top ego guys and gals that feel the need to prove her self
