Farriery is part of the overall equine industry. Although the horse world’s confederations of occupations, breeds and disciplines each have their uniqueness, no part of the equine industry operates in a vacuum. Outside influences will always impact the horse world.

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has and will continue to significantly influence the horse world. Not to diminish that COVID-19 is a pandemic resulting in the deaths of thousands, management attempts of the outbreak have caused equine businesses to close and nearly every stage of equine competition to shutdown, as noted in “Briefings” on Page 10. In the United States, decisions made by federal and state governments have changed the business and recreational use of horses.

Because of the widespread impact on the horse world, inevitably farriery also will be influenced. Uncertainty on the duration of restrictions created by COVID-19 response will likely remain in place. It is premature to measure the lasting effects on farriery. But weeks into the U.S. efforts in curtailing the potential harm of the virus, there already are changes witnessed by farriers. To measure this impact, we gathered farrier insight on the depth of the issue.

Looking at the Survey