Connecticut horse owners and enthusiasts anxiously await a Supreme Court ruling on hearings held Sept. 24, 2013, that could declare horses to be a naturally vicious species.

The implications of the decision could impact equine owners and businesses not only in Connecticut but also throughout the United States and possibly beyond. Area farmers and horse owners said that, If declared a vicious species, horses and horse activities could become uninsurable, greatly impacting the horse industry. That industry, according to 2005 statistics, contributes $221 million per year to Connecticut’s economy via horse-related activities such as boarding, breeding, and training.

The appeal involves a boy, then 1½ years old, who was with his father buying plants at Glendale Farms in Milford in 2006. According to court documents, the boy’s father lifted him to pet a horse identified as “Scuppy,” who stuck his head out from behind the fence and bit the boy’s cheek, “removing a large chunk of it.”

The farm’s owner, Timothy Astriab, said signs had been posted since before the incident asking visitors not to pet or feed the pastured horses