Veterinarian or farrier?

Veterinary Heritage. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Veterinary In the early Dark Ages horseshoeing and veterinarians were essentially unknown. Joseph Gamgee (1871), a veterinary surgeon, horseshoer, and lecturer on horseshoeing reasons that the first horseshoer must have been a veterinary surgeon, as shoeing requires knowledge of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics that the veterinary surgeon would have, but a blacksmith would not. i From the earliest available records, horseshoes were made by the smith and sold to the horseshoer for use. ii From the time of Charlemagne (742-814) to about the 16 th century, the horseshoer was known as maréchal (French), maniscalchi (Italian) or marshal (English) and had not only the veterinary care of the king's horses but was a superior military commander and one of the most exalted members of the court. iii Veterinarian and horseshoer were one and the same at this time. In 1495 maniscalchi were required to pass tests on both shoeing and medically treating horses. iv The origin of the word farrier is from the French verb ferrer which means to band with iron. Although Blundeville (1566) is credited with introducing the term ferrer which quickly became farrier, William the Conqueror (c.1066) commissioned one of his noblemen to be Count of Ferrers and to superintend the art of farriery. The Ferrers family crest has six black horseshoes. v Oddly, Blundeville, himself neither a horseshoer nor a veterinarian, used ferrer to mean veterinarian, and used smith to mean horseshoer. vi Blundeville is the first written differentiation between horseshoer and veterinarian. Probably recognizing the inappropriately confusing use of farrier, Sir Thomas Browne introduced the term veterinarian. vii France continues to the present day using the term maréchal for the horseshoer. One of the earliest Guilds in England was of horseshoers-at first called the Marshals of the City of London founded in 1356, then became the Worshipful Company of Farriers in 1674. viii Although Blundeville muddied the waters, horseshoers themselves clearly adopted the term farrier by 1674. In 1749 a law was passed in London that no one could practice the " Trade, Art or Mistery of a Farrier " within seven miles of London unless they …