Bachelor Thesis - Christina Kuenen - Hufpfleger

6. CONCLUSION
Within this chapter the research questions are answered. The outcomes of the research lead to the following
conclusions:
The situation in the hoof treatment sector according legislation, education and certification is not satisfying
at the moment. In most countries a farrier education certificated by state exists, nevertheless, it is not always
required to follow that one to be allowed to make a business in hoof treatment. In alternative hoof treatment
the situation is even more unregulated. Neither official occupation descriptions, nor any other standard or
direct regulation exists.
There is a variety of institutes offering education in hoof treatment in Germany. Next to the eleven
instructive farrier institutes also nine institutes offer at least one alternative hoof treatment education. Within
the last group there is one instructive farrier institute. The offered alternative educations vary in organisation,
length, amount of theoretical and practical courses and the fee which has to be paid by every participant. The
final exams are mostly taken by the institute or through an affiliated association. There is no consensus about
content, quality standards, level of knowledge or skills.
The quality standards which exist for hoof treatment practices are mainly on a voluntary base. Some bigger
organisations developed quality standards for farriers. For alternative hoof treatment practitioners in
Germany some private institutes or associations developed their own quality standards. All of them are
limited to small groups. They differ in content and application.
The need for improvement is high in the hoof treatment sector according to the number of mentioned
problems and the satisfaction with the legislation in hoof treatment. According to the importance scores the
need for the development of regulations for alternative hoof treatment practitioners is also high, especially
for quality standards. Further a medium need is researched for the improvement of the certificated and
alternative education and the farriers' standards. The potential is assumed to be high in the development of
standards and regulation in alternative hoof treatment. Whereas the potential for improvement of traditional
hoof treatment is medium.
The researched significant differences are mainly the same in both studies. There are significant differences
between traditional and alternative participants in terms of satisfaction with the actual situation, the
preference of combination of educations, the preferred authority for the examination of alternatives and the
view into the future. Further the choice of fields of knowledge within an regulation for alternative hoof
treatment practitioners differs in some points. TP and AP additionally differ significantly in the opinion about
satisfaction with quality standards of farriers in terms of welfare.
These differences make it difficult to develop a uniform system for the whole hoof treatment industry to
guarantee a certain level of knowledge and quality. Especially because this is one of the critical points of
researched significant differences.
Nevertheless, it can be concluded that there are different options to develop standards for alternative hoof
treatment practitioners. An alliance of all alternative associations seems to be unavoidable. On short term the
most suitable solution seems to be the development of an examination through an independent jury to
guarantee a certain level of knowledge and quality. An obligatory examination split up into a practical and a
theoretical part is needed. A system like it is already practised in the non-medical sector, would be an option.
On long term higher goals can be achieved as the potential demonstrates. Due to the differences in education
and opinion about combining all educations, this combination should not be focussed. A concept of an
examination regulation and a certification by state for alternatives could be developed. Additionally the proof
of regular further education should become compulsory.
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