A review of the Farrier qualification was identified as a priority skill area in the 2017 Animal Care and Management IRC Skills Forecast and Proposed Schedule of Work (see page 28). Skills Impact and the Animal Care and Management Industry Reference Committee (IRC) will take this project through a process that adheres to the 2012 Standards for Training Package Development.

Download the IRC Skills Forecast (see page 28)

Project Scope

This project will review and update the farriery qualification and units of competency so that all job functions are accurately described, with appropriate current knowledge and skill needs.

Scroll down to view the qualification and list of units that will be reviewed in this project.

The Master Farriers Association have indicated that the Certificate III in Farriery and related farriery units do not align to current job roles. The Master Farriers Association have suggested a review of the assessment requirements of the units within this qualification to enable sound delivery and implementation.

The Certificate III in Farriery and horse contact units were recently updated to consider safety in training and reformatted to become compliant to the 2012 Standards for Training Packages. This work took place as part of the Equine Safety in Training Project, but it did not involve a full review of the skills standards or a functional analysis of the role of a Farrier as project funding was only for embedding safety. This project will look at these revised documents and update them to ensure they meet industry needs and become fit for purpose.

Relevant occupation

Farrier

Key deliverables

• Review and improvement of the Certificate III in Farriery
• Review and improvement of 12 units
• Development of at least 5 new units, as identified during review

Timeline

August 2017
Initial scoping

November, December 2017
Review process commencement

January 2018
Industry consultation of draft materials

February, March 2018
Industry validation of final drafts

March 2018
Finalisation of Training Package components

April 2018
Independent Quality Assurance, and Edit and Equity review of Training Package components

May 2018
IRC consideration for sign-off and submission for endorsement

Project Team

Subject Matter Experts

Subject Matter Experts will be drawn on throughout this project to help review and draft the revised units, skill sets and qualifications.

If you are interested in applying to be a subject matter expert and are able to volunteer your time to this project, please email details of your expertise to [email protected]

Opportunities for stakeholder input:

The Certificate III in Farriery and its related units of competency (available below) were recently reviewed as part of the Equine Safety in Training Project. However, the qualification and units were only made compliant to the Standards for Training Packages 2012. They did not undergo a full content review.

To view the qualification or a specific unit, please click on the title*. We would like to know what changes or updates should be made to the qualification or units so that they meet the skills needs of the industry. In particular, we are looking for feedback relating to the following questions.

Questions for the Certificate III in Farriery 

• Is there a need for metal work skills (forging, welding etc.) to be a core part of the qualification, or is this now a specialisation and thus should become an elective?
• What are the skills for shoeing a horse with different types of horse shoes (rubber, plastic etc.)?
• Should “barefeet” skills be part of a farrier’s role?
• There are reports that farriers are undertaking equine dental activities, should this be an elective?

Questions for the units:

• Does the title of the unit accurately reflect the skill outcome? If not, what should it be?
• Does the application accurately describe the worker that would undertake the skill? If not, what should it be?
• Are there any relevant legislation, licensing or industry requirements that apply to the unit that are not already stated? If yes, what are they?
• Do the elements and performance criteria accurately describe the process of undertaking the skills? If not, what should they be?
• Is the language used within the unit correct industry language?  If not, what should it be?
• How many times would you expect to observe/assess someone undertaking the skill to be confident in their ability?
• Any other comments about the units.

Your feedback will help us in drafting the revised qualification and units.

To provide feedback, please email Wayne Jones [email protected]

*Please note that the link will provide a version of the qualification or unit that was reviewed as part of the Equine Safety and Training Project, and not the version that is currently listed on training.gov.au.

Consultation with Subject Matter Experts around farriery and equine hoof care skills has taken place throughout November. These meetings will inform the development of a revised farriery qualification, skill sets and units of competency so that all job functions are accurately described, with appropriate current knowledge and skill needs. Feedback from industry on the existing qualification and units is also being considered as part of this process.

The draft materials will be completed by mid-January and will be available for download and comment from this webpage. Face-to-face consultation workshops are also planned for the following locations and dates, with a webinar planned for those unable to attend in person. Please feel free to register for a workshop near you or a webinar by clicking the corresponding link.

Face-to-Face Consultation Workshops

15 Jan 18, 14:00 – 17:00 – Adelaide, SA – register here

16 Jan 18, 14:00 – 17:00 – Melbourne (Flemington), VIC – register here

17 Jan 18, 14:00 – 17:00 – Launceston, TAS – register here

18 Jan 18, 14:00 – 17:00 – Hobart, TAS – register here

22 Jan 18, 14:00 – 17:00 – Sydney (Richmond), NSW – register here

24 Jan 18, 14:00 – 17:00 – Seymour, VIC – register here

29 Jan 18, 14:00 – 17:00 – Perth, WA – register here

31 Jan 18, 16:00 – 19:00 – Scone, NSW – register here

2 Feb 18, 15:00 – 18:00 – Gatton, QLD – register here

5 Feb 18, 14:00 – 16:00 – Parap, NT – register here

Consultation Webinar

25 Jan 17, 13:00 – 14:00 AEST – Webinar – register here

Thank you to all those who provided feedback on the draft Certificate IV in Farriery, related skill set and units of competency. The drafts were made available on the Skills Impact website from 12 January – 7 February 2018. A series of face-to-face consultation workshops and a webinar also took place throughout January and early February.

Feedback was sought on whether the draft qualification, skill set and units reflect the current skills and knowledge requirements of industry, and whether job functions are accurately described.

Your feedback is extremely important to the team. It will help us to undertake work on the final draft qualification, skill sets and units, which will be available for industry in February/March 2018.

The farriery qualification has been revised from an Australian Qualifications Framework level three to a level four, to reflect the level of work.

The following new units of competency have also been created to reflect the job role:

• ACMFAR3XX Trim and dress equine hooves
• ACMFAR3XX Use hand and power tools for farriery or hoof care activities
• ACMFAR40X Apply knowledge of equine musculoskeletal anatomy, biomechanics and pathology for effective hoof care

One or more skills sets are being consulted about to cover activities associated with equine foot care. This initiative will provide an option for formal training in this area as well as potentially being a pathway into the farriery qualification.

The draft qualification, skill sets and units that were available for industry review and feedback are listed below.

Thank you to those who participated in the validation process for the final draft farriery qualification and units of competency. These final drafts were made available on the Skills Impact website from 1 – 14 March 2018.

Thank you to those who also provided feedback and validation on the new equine hoof care qualification, new skill set and 3 new units. These documents were drafted following feedback from industry that there was a need for a clear distinction between the qualification for farriery and a new qualification for equine hoof care. Feedback also indicated the need for a new farriery-specific unit for welding. These drafts were available for consultation between 1 – 14 March 2018 and for validation between 12 – 26 April 2018.

Validation means checking and confirming that the documents are logical and factually accurate.