The proposed project responds to the needs of the target groups of farriery students and their teachers. Students in the partner countries do not have the opportunity to enter a course which would prepare them for the exam of the highest qualification level Farrier Specialist. Teachers do not have a high-quality curriculum and study materials that could be used for teaching. The main objective of the project is to innovate the curriculum of the Farrier Specialist course which was originally created within the project Euro-Farrier but was not sufficiently detailed and of the quality needed for pasing qualification exam. Other objectives of the project include the preparation of corresponding quality study materials, deepening cooperation among the partner institutions and training teachers for the course. During he project implementation the curriculum of the course Farrier Specialist will be innovated and unified, new study materials will be created, an electronic platform for long-term cooperation will be prepared, teachers will be trained at workshops with experts and equipment required for quality teaching will be purchased. Work on the outputs will be continuous and division of tasks among the partner organizations will take place at regular transnational meetings every three to four months. Five teachers from each partner organization (15 in total) will be involved in the project and about 45 students from partner educational institutions will benefit from its results every year (at each institution about 15 students per year). After completing the course, students will be adequately prepared for sitting the highest qualification exam in farriery. Given the growing interest in horse breeding in partner countries the farriery has a great future in these countries. The communication language will be English.
Professional qualification Farrier specialist represents, and not only in the Czech Republic, the highest level of farrier education. He diagnoses, orthopedically trims, treats and shoes regular, irregular, and above all deformed and diseased hooves of all categories of horses, with the aim to improve the welfare of the treated horses and equidae in accordance with the applicable regulations. A specialist with this qualification also directly affects the quality of life and often decides directly on the further use or euthanasia of the horse. Close cooperation with veterinarians, horse breeders and owners is essential. The current number of registered horses in the Czech Republic requires an adequate number of farrier specialists who will, in cooperation with veterinarians, guarantee quality treatment of horse patients for owners and breeders. However, this can only be achieved by quality teaching, and examination, which has the weight and value corresponding to demanding nature of the profession. The project meets the set objectives with the participation of three partner institutions. The curriculum for the vocational course has been drawn up according to the requirements of current practice in all participating countries for the profession of a Farrier specialist (master). For the sake of clarity of these requirements, we have prepared the innovation of the curriculum for the Farrier Specialist course, which contains 13 training modules with 56 professional competencies. For the individual competencies, study materials have been created in the form of professional case reports. These contain expert explanatory texts, photographs with descriptions, video recordings, X-ray images with descriptions, and protocols of lameness locator examination. Case reports are complemented by teaching presentations. Each student has the opportunity to test their knowledge using simple tests. All materials are posted on the web site https://www.masterfarrier.com, which will continue to serve as a professional database of cases and their farriery treatments, not only for farriers, but also for lecturers and students of horse breeding, farriery, and veterinary medicine.In order to ensure a high standard of teaching in the Farrier Specialist course, 18 farriers and veterinarians were selected, to be prepared within the project for the position of lecturers and were also the authors of study materials.Within the project, a modern diagnostic tool Lameness locator was purchased for teaching purposes. The farrier is with this device able to evaluate, in a short period of time, which limb is lame primarily and which limb is lame only secondarily (this lameness is caused by the impairment of the primary limb). The accuracy of the obtained data informs about the exact deviations of the movement of the horse's body, which are not perceptible to the naked eye. On the basis of the results, X-ray examination and final diagnosis are performed. From a farrier's point of view, there is an excellent possibility of immediate evaluation of the correctness of the trim and shoeing with subsequent control of a positive change of localized problems in response to used orthopedic measures. In the framework of international educational activities, the lecturers met, complemented their knowledge and experience, and during the project, they completed study plans and study materials. The project significantly contributed to the fulfillment of long-term goals in the education of Farrier specialists. The innovated study plan is an excellent basis for Farrier Specialist vocational courses, which enable farriers and veterinarians to obtain the highest qualification in this field - Farrier Specialist - Master, which was not available in any of the participating countries prior to our project.