Farrier banned from shoeing horses for teaching son trade

Simon Heslop has been qualified to make and fit shoes for more than 30 years and his two boys have followed him into the job.

But taking Thomas and William to work with him a year-and-a-half ago means he has been hauled before the Farriers Registration Council in London.

The 52-year-old, of St Ebbas Way, Ebchester, near Consett, County Durham, allowed his younger son to remove the shoes of a horse to get some experience, before he replaced them himself.

Mr Heslop said: "My two have come with me since they were toddlers and love it. They have been with horses all of their lives.

"I would never have let him do anything he could not do, or I was not comfortable with."

The order was made after he was found guilty of serious misconduct in a professional respect by the council’s disciplinary committee.

Thomas, now 26, of Witton Gilbert was a qualified farrier at the time but William, now 20, of Ushaw Moor, was not.

The offence relates to work by William on a horse at Highwood Farm, West Road, Hexham, on September 28, 2010.

It was four months before William started his hour-and-a-half year apprenticeship at Myerscough College in Preston.

A spokesman for the Farriers Registration Council said: "The committee considers that his actions in this case go to the heart of the Farriers Registration Act which is there to prevent unqualified persons from carrying out acts of farriery.

"It is a clear breach of the requirement of paragraph 14 of The Farriers Guide to Professional Conduct which states: ‘Farriers must not knowingly permit anyone to practise farriery illegally or aid, abet, counsel or procure a person to do so.’"

The suspension will take effect on Saturday, March 10 and will expire on Friday, April 6.

This means that Mr Heslop is unable to carry out farriery between these dates and it would be a criminal offence for him to do so.

Mr Heslop said: "I think they have been a bit harsh. In this case it seems the law is an ass."