The minimum age at which the employment of an apprentice may commence is 16 years of age.

The minimum educational requirements are:

Grade D or "Achieved" in five subjects in the Department of Education & Skills Junior Certificate Examination or an approved equivalent,

or

The successful completion of an approved Pre-Apprenticeship course,

or

Three years’ work experience gained over sixteen years of age in a relevant designated industrial activity as SOLAS shall deem acceptable.

You must obtain a job as an apprentice in your chosen occupation. Your employer must be approved to train apprentices and must register you as an apprentice within 2 weeks of recruitment.

Please note: To become a Farriery apprentice you may require the Ishihara Colour Vision Test (24 Plate Edition). For further information, contact your local Education and Training Board.

Note: These are the current approved minimum educational requirements for apprenticeship programmes, however, previous experience of the following subjects would be an advantage but not essential:

• Metalwork
• Physics
• Engineering
• Technology
• Mathematics
• Biology
• Science

Phase 1: With Employer

• Workplace Training and Assessments

Phase 2: The Irish School of Farriery (20 weeks)

• Induction and Safety
• Forgework
• Horsecare and Management
• Anatomy and Physiology
• Conformation and Movement
• Horseshoeing
• Arc Welding

• Work Based Training and Assessments

Phase 4: The Irish School of Farriery (10 weeks)

• Forgework
• Horseshoeing
• Anatomy and Physiology
• Conformation and Movement
• Foot and Limb Conditions
• Working as a Farrier 

Phase 5: With Employer

• Work Based Training and Assessments

Phase 6: The Irish School of Farriery (10 weeks)

• Shoemaking
• Horseshoeing
• Anatomy and Physiology
• Foot and Limb Conditions
• Working as a Farrier 

Phase 7: With Employer

• Work Based Training and Assessments
  
  

• The Irish School of Farriery
• Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board
• Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board
• Donegal Education and Training Board
• Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board
• Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board
• Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board
• Louth and Meath Education and Training Board
• Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board
• Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board
• Tipperary Education and Training Board
• Longford and Westmeath Education and Training Board
• City of Dublin Education and Training Board
• Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board
• Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board
• Kerry Education and Training Board
• Cork Education and Training Board

 

As a Farrier you will need to be physically active and to be able to work with your hands. An awareness of health and safety and good housekeeping is essential as well as attention to detail and an eye for the aesthetic.

Core Skills 

• Anatomy and physiology 
• Conformation and movement 
• Horsemanship and horse welfare 
• Forging skills 
• Shoemaking 
• Horseshoeing 
• Cold and hot fitting 
• Conditions of the leg 
• Conditions of the foot 
• Foot balance

Specialist Skills 

       • Use of alternative materials 
       • Corrective shoeing and trimming 
       • Therapeutic shoeing 
       • Styles of shoeing 
       • Advanced shoemaking 
       • Advanced tool making

Common Skills

       • Horsemanship  
       • Horse handling and management  
       • Tool making and tool maintenance 
       • Forging skills  
       • Welding  
       • Measurement 
       • Calculations  
       • Ratios 
       • Workshop safety  
       • Quality Assurance

Personal Skills

       • Using initiative 
       • Working independently  
       • Working in a team  
       • Communications 
       • Adaptability  
       • Problem solving  
       • Information gathering  
       • Planning and organisation 
       • Record keeping  
       • Business skills 
       • IT skills  
       • Manual Handling 
       • Customer Relations

• Learning and developing new practical craft-related skills, knowledge and competence
• Working with and learning from experienced craftspeople
• Seeing a job through from start to finish
• Comply with Health and Safety requirements
• Using tools and operating machinery
• Being responsible for controlling or adjusting equipment
• Demonstrate good analytical and troubleshooting skills
• Understanding technical drawings and diagrams
• Being accurate with numbers in counting, measuring and arithmetic
• Being well organised and careful with practical tasks
• Keeping up to date with changing technologies
• Being physically active
• Taking responsibility for own learning, including the allocation of study time
• Working in a noisy environment
• Passing all your phase exams (theory, practicals skills demonstration)
• Horsemanship
• Horse Handling and Management
• Equine Anatomy
• Forging Skills
• Corrective Shoeing and Trimming
• Therapeutic Shoeing
• Shoemaking
• Earning as you learn

On successful completion of the apprenticeship programme, apprentices are qualified to work within the recognised trade or profession. 

Opportunities arise from time-to-time for people to progress their careers. Many craftspersons use their apprenticeship qualification as a platform to launch careers such as instructors, training advisors, supervisors, managers, and owners of businesses.

Where apprentices and craftspeople have the necessary ability, initiative and basic qualifications, opportunities are available for advancement. These include advanced technological and management courses which are available in institutes of technology, schools of management, and other education and training providers etc.

Note: People in employment have a number of options for both Educational and Career Progression. It might also be possible to gain promotion within your existing company. 

By using your existing qualifications and your experience you might to able to secure an alternative position in a more senior role in another company. It may also be possible to set up your own company based again on your existing qualifications and experience.  Whatever route you decide to take remember education is a lifelong pursuit and you can always continue to up skill and/or retrain, whatever your age.  Links to some educational and enterprise supports can be found below.    

Career Progression Useful Links:  

Educational Supports: 

On completion of an apprenticeship your educational progression options may be offered as full awards on the NFQ levels 7-10 National Framework .  You may also decide to embark on a partial award or to up skill in a particular area by undertaking a short specialised course.

Depending on your skills, knowledge and experience some of the opportunities below might be appropriate to help develop your Career pathway.   

• Springboard & conversion courses  
• Skillnet Sector learning network courses
• Local ETB Board
• Further education training centres Fetchcourses
• Post graduate education Search Post Graduate options

 

Enterprise and Self-Employment Support:

On completion of an apprenticeship if you feel you have the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience you may decide to set up your own business. The links below might be useful to support you’re here

• Local Enterprise Offices, For profit Local enterprise support
• Local Area partnerships For profit enterprise support
• Social entrepreneurs: Not-for-profit enterprise support
• Franchising: Developing your business under an established franchise

 

To become an apprentice in Ireland you must be hired by an employer. Apprenticeship employers are formally approved by SOLAS in advance of employing apprentices. Apprentices get a formal contract of employment as part of their apprenticeship.

Opportunities for this Apprenticeship arise on an ongoing basis throughout the year. In order to secure an apprenticeship contract of employment, you should target companies you would like to do your apprenticeship with by applying directly to them. 

To find an apprenticeship, you can search apprenticeship vacancies and a list of currently approved apprentice employers on the Apprenticeship Jobs & Employers Portal. You can search for vacancies by location, and employers in each apprenticeship.

Use this link to explore a list of Approved Employers by Region and by Apprenticeship type.

Full eligibility criteria for this apprenticeship are available in the Farriery Apprenticeship brochure.

Learn more on the Farriery Ireland website here

Finding an employer and securing your apprenticeship

Finding an employer or registering your interest with an official Coordinating Provider is one of the first things you need to do to start an apprenticeship.

Opportunities for this apprenticeship may be available from the following organisations:

• Teagasc

Opportunities for this apprenticeship may be available from the following organisations:

• Irish Farriery Authority

Online Jobsites

Here are some direct links to employment websites that frequently list apprenticeship vacancies.

Note: These websites may include vacancies that are not QQI accredited Apprenticeships.

As an apprentice, you earn while you learn.

Employment Salary (On-the-job)
The employer pays you a salary while you are being trained on-the-job. The rate of pay is agreed between you and your employer.

Training Allowance (Off-the-job)
A training allowance is paid by the local Education and Training Board (ETB) while you are attending the off-the-job training. In some cases, a contribution towards travel or accommodation costs may be paid.

The sector the apprentice's employer is engaged in will determine the allowance payable. These allowances are calculated on the gross wages paid by industry in each sector. The weekly gross wage norms for different industries are listed below.

Information on taxation of off-the-job payments can be found here.

Apprentices are not required to pay a student contribution for this apprenticeship