Between financial burdens, maintaining work-life balance, the stresses of running a business and the pressure of keeping equine athletes ready for competition, burnout is not uncommon for farriers. Dr. Terri Babineau, married to farrier Darren Owen and a retired associate professor of family medicine at the University of Virginia, shared her knowledge and expertise with farriers and veterinarians at the 2026 International Hoof-Care Summit on how to counteract stress in day-to-day work. 

“American Farriers Journal Editor Jeff Cota told me a story,” Babineau says. “A farrier had called and said that he was just beyond himself and ready to quit. The farrier got cut with his hoof knife. One of the clients came in, looked at him and said, ‘Well, I hope that’s not my horse bleeding.’ When you’re depersonalized in that capacity, it’s going to have an effect.”

Similarly, when the farrier’s expertise is devalued, it can negatively affect their well-being. Opposing information and opinions from the owner, trainer, veterinarian or other equine practitioners can not only create professional conflict but emotional conflict. 

“There’s a moral injury that happens when you can’t care for a horse in the way that you know and have been educated to do in the best possible way,” Babineau says. “You get to the point where you’re coming home on the truck, alone possibly, and the veterinarian or the farrier is saying, ‘Wait, that’s not the way it’s supposed to be.’ All of those things start to cause an issue with your brain.”

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