The impact of an executive order on immigration issued by President Barack Obama on the horse industry remains unclear, the American Horse Council (AHC) said Nov. 21.

A day earlier, Obama announced a series of immigration executive actions relating to border security, deportation proceedings, and undocumented immigrants, including action to defer deportation for certain individuals that in effect provides them with temporary legal status and the ability to work legally.

The AHC, in a statement, said it is "very likely that there are workers in the horse industry who meet these requirements and will benefit from the president's actions.

"Certainly there are experienced workers in the horse industry who lack proper immigration status and do not have valid residency documents. It is impossible at this point to tell how many and whether they would continue to work in the horse industry once provided general work