One supplier anticipates that $5 fuel will put a damper on the number of farrier shop clinics that he and his wife would normally attend over the next several months.

While Phil Fisher of Hastings, Neb., works out of his farrier shop that is located at an area veterinary clinic, he’s concerned some clients may not be willing to spend more dollars on fuel to haul their horses to him at this location.

“I have some clients who haul their horses 2 hours one-way to the clinic for me to work on,” he says. “If they have to make a 150-mile roundtrip and gas is $5 per gallon and they’re only getting 12 miles to the gallon with their truck pulling a trailer, that amounts to over $60 in fuel costs to make the trip.”

Fisher is concerned that higher fuel prices will lead some folks to decide not to make the trip as often as necessary when dealing with complicated footcare needs.

The ever-rising price of gasoline and diesel fuel was on the minds of numerous attendees during the recent American Farrier's Association annual convention in Lexington, Ky. A number of farriers that theAmerican Farriers Journal editors talked with are convinced that $5 per gallon fuel will likely change the way they handle their footcare work and travels.