Using Qualitative Methods to Explore Farrier-Related Barriers to Successful Farriery Interventions for Equine Welfare in India
Abstract
:Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Ethical Review and Pretesting
2.2. Study Area
2.3. Farrier Selection
2.4. Focus Group Discussion Guide
- What are the most significant limiting factors that prevent farriers putting increased technical knowledge into practice?
- What are the differences in terms of challenges of farriery and engagement with Brooke’s programme in these two different locations?
2.5. Data Collection
2.6. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Demand for Services
“Sometimes the owner tells us to trim the whole frog, otherwise he will go to another farrier.”—Farrier No. 2, Group C
“70 to 90% equid owners ask us to do farriery while the animal is still harnessed to the cart.”—Farrier No. 8, Group C
“Clients do not pay us well. Even if we use a specialised shoe to correct a hoof-related issue, they will not pay any more.”—Farrier No. 5, Group B
“I am the renowned and oldest farrier in our area. If I did poor farriery in that case the client will come [back] to me only because they trust me.”—Farrier No. 7, Group A
“Clients are our boss because they formed equine welfare groups and they have received more knowledge than us.”—Farrier No. 3, Group D
3.2. Farrier Status
“[There is] no respect in this job, people say we hold the horse foot, which they perceive as bad.”—Farrier No. 5, Group D
“I already doing good farriery and do not need to learn.”—Farrier No. 7, Group A
“I want to learn more, I am not satisfied with what I have learnt.”—Farrier No. 3, Group B
“I want information regarding brushing. Also, I want to learn about hoof balancing.”—Farrier No. 6, Group B
“Earlier we only need to think about our own profit, now we also think about welfare of equines.”—Farrier No. 2, Group B
“I never agree with owner, if the client wants to go and avail another’s services, then I don’t bother as I have other business.”—Farrier No. 4, Group B
“We use good quality shoe [heavy metal] to attract clients.”—Farrier No. 3, Group C
3.3. The External Environment
“In last 3 years, the farriery work has reduced to 75%.”—Farrier No. 4, Group C
“We will die hungry, if this persists.”—Farrier No.8, Group C
3.4. Training and Technical Knowledge
“I am working in brick kiln as a beldar [construction worker]. I do not have much to do after I finish my work in the afternoon, so I thought I could shoe the equids that work at the brick kiln. Thus, I learnt farriery in one and a half to two months.”—Farrier No.1, Group D
“It takes more time to trim hooves of equine as they overgrow in brick kiln off season.”—Farrier No. 2, Group A
“Brooke Farrier asks questions from us but never tells us anything or gives any information.”—Farrier No.7, Group A
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Question Number | Questions |
---|---|
1 | How long have you been practicing farriery? |
2 | How did you learn the farriery skill? (examples-forefather/brother/local ustad/Brooke/other–specify, time took to acquire skill) |
3 | Have you worked with Brooke? Explore in which way and for how long? (Examples: Mentoring/training themes/exposures/association or Equine Welfare Group meetings, linking with community) |
4 | How useful have you found working with Brooke? (Explore when and how any interaction has been useful, as well as has not been useful in terms of cliental, economic, practices, social recognition, etc. Did they fulfil your expectations, what you wanted to learn?) |
5 | Have you changed your practices after working with Brooke? (Explore and use photographs: what are those practices, why or why not did change occur, how easy or difficult was it to change) |
6 | What is the most difficult thing about your job? (Explore: time, money, resources, competition, market, inflation, owner’s attitude pairwise ranking. For each, discuss how this will effect their job if it occurs more or less) Top three difficulties recorded through PRA (participatory rural appraisal) exercise using pairwise ranking:
|
7 | Do you have any income streams apart from shoeing and trimming equine hooves? What are they? Include making shoes and tools. Which is the preferred activity? What would be your ideal job in 10 years’ time? |
8 | What is the best thing about your job and why? (Explore: motivation behind this, any examples) |
9 | How do you try to attract more clientele to your services? (Explore: quick, cheaper, quality services, owners’ satisfaction) |
Meerut | Muzaffarnagar | ||
---|---|---|---|
(A) Engaged group | (B) Less-engaged group | (C) Engaged group | (D) Less-engaged group |
Bruised sole (in equids) | Over-reaching (Dund marna) | Uncertainty/non-functional brick kiln industry | Fewer clients due to reduction in equine population |
Handling aggressive equids | Interference or brushing | Unavailable or expensive farriery tools | Elderly farriers |
Over-grown hooves in equids (especially in the brick kiln off-season). | Hoof balance | Bruised sole (in equids) | Low price paid for services |
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Mohite, D.S.; Sheikh, C.S.; Singh, S.; Kalita, J.; Williams, S.; Compston, P.C. Using Qualitative Methods to Explore Farrier-Related Barriers to Successful Farriery Interventions for Equine Welfare in India. Animals 2019, 9, 252. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9050252
Mohite DS, Sheikh CS, Singh S, Kalita J, Williams S, Compston PC. Using Qualitative Methods to Explore Farrier-Related Barriers to Successful Farriery Interventions for Equine Welfare in India. Animals. 2019; 9(5):252. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9050252
Chicago/Turabian StyleMohite, Dinesh S, Chand S Sheikh, Saurabh Singh, Jogen Kalita, Shereene Williams, and Polly C Compston. 2019. "Using Qualitative Methods to Explore Farrier-Related Barriers to Successful Farriery Interventions for Equine Welfare in India" Animals 9, no. 5: 252. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9050252