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Farriers of Idaho Guild Spring Clinic

Submitted by Bruce Worman, CJF

 

  The Farriers of Idaho Guild (FIG), based in SW Idaho, had our Annual Spring Clinic on April 10-11 featuring Kenny Lyon, CJF.  Our attendance for local clinics in the last few years has been low, so the FIG Board put our heads together and said, "What can we do differently?"  We looked first at what has worked in the past.  We like forging, and all of us have a few horses that have intermittent to chronic lameness, and each of us has a story of a clinician that really stood out and one that just fizzled.  We haven't had many fizzles, but those that did, usually came without a plan and just ran out of steam by the second day.

  When we contacted Kenny Lyon, CJF, our new AFA Region 1 Director, we asked him to provide an agenda.  He agreed and within a week he returned his plan:  Study three different variations of lameness and how best to trim and support each.  This of course, automatically calls for forging different shoes.  Additionally, we got the help of Madison Seamons, DVM, and his digital x-ray machine for the first day, and Danny Borders, DVM, for the second day.  Then we called and/or sent mailers to every hoof care expert (Farrier, Barefoot) we could find and invited them to our clinic.

  On the first day of the clinic, Kenny explained his plan for the next two days.  Rather than take a lot of time, he instead wanted to get right to our subject horses.  Each day, each Vet took multiple x-rays and then we would discuss them.  One way I rate interest in a clinic is participation of attendees and how many people wander off to their own little group.  Every time our Vets took x-rays, most attendees would step out of the area to insure the horse would stand quietly.  It's times like these in the past that I have noticed attendees wandering off and losing focus, but not this clinic.  As soon as the x-rays were ready to view, we all immediately gathered for the discussion, then forged and nailed on shoes, the entire package from beginning to end.  Kenny worked so well with each Vet that it would have been easy to believe that he had worked with each one on a regular basis.  He commended our Vets and said to us, "You are so fortunate to have Vets that will work with you like this!"

  The clinic was nonstop information and energy for two days.  In the evening, we met at a restaurant and got to know Kenny even better on a more personal basis.  One of the most interesting things about this industry is the fascinating backgrounds of our members and what has led them to this occupation. Oftentimes, after hours is some of the most important clinic time we have. 

  We are now encouraged that we can draw even better attendance to our clinics in the future by combining with other struggling Idaho memberships, just as other states have done with great success. Everyone I talked to agreed, that if you missed this one, you missed a lot!