Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

The Council has been made aware that an element within a recent article relating to CPD may have been misinterpreted and the Council is very content to provide clarification. 

• CPD is about learning, for an activity to be eligible as CPD there must be a learning benefit from the activity. The learning benefit from a given activity may vary for individual farriers given their level of experience and other factors. It is for the individual farrier to decide what they have learned and to record that in their CPD log in ‘My FRC’. To assist the farrier with this they are asked to complete a short statement for each activity thus “What I learned from this activity was …”. 

• Participating in an activity that a farrier has undertaken before may be described as ‘practise’ – which is a good thing – but may not deliver a learning benefit.  Similarly, attending an event such as a lecture is only eligible as CPD if the farrier learns something new. 

• In respect of farriery competitions where a farrier is required to do something they have not done before, such as making a shoe they have not previously made, then there is likely to be learning benefit. Where a farrier makes a shoe and then receives feedback, or gets to discuss their work with a judge who perhaps offers guidance as to how the shoe might be improved, then there is likely to be learning benefit. But where a farrier makes a shoe they have made many times before and receives no learning benefit then that may not constitute CPD. 

• The same principles apply to those who organise competitions and those who judge at competitions. Where in planning and delivering those activities the farrier learns something new then that may be taken to be CPD, where the actions are a repetition of something done many times before with no learning benefit then that is not CPD.

 Any farrier seeking further guidance is invited the contact the FRC office where a member of staff will be pleased to help.