In good news for the farrier industry, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has declined to make changes concerning the all-important role of farriers in its proposed updating of the Model Veterinary Practices Act (MVPA). This change was to remove the farrier exemption in the model act. You can read the history of this issue and related articles here.

“The current version that's going to be reviewed by the AVMA Board of Directors in September does contain the farrier exemption, just as previous versions of the Model Veterinary Practice Act have,” says Michael San Filippo, senior media relations specialist with AVMA. “The proposed changes in regard to farriery have been dropped.”

The model act serves as a source of suggested recommendations individual states can follow in regulating all aspects of veterinary medicine. While it is not binding on a state’s regulation of veterinary medicine, the MVPA serves as an important animal health guideline.

As American Farriers Journal has stated, the proposed elimination of the farrier exemption would have had a profoundly adverse effect on not only the farrier industry, but also equine veterinarians, horse owners, and, most importantly, the horse. Farrier groups  American Association of Professional Farriers and the American Farrier's Association also criticized the proposal during the review process. 

A major concern with what had been proposed was that the legal interpretation calling for the deletion of the farrier exemption could be easily misinterpreted. Instead, the language will continue to state that since the work of farriers is well-established, it isn’t necessary to explicitly exempt them from the Model Veterinary Practices Act.

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