The AVMA says the proposal “is in no way an attempt to ban farriers from working independently or require a veterinarian to be involved in shoeing a horse. Rather, it is an acknowledgment that farriery exists well outside of the definition of veterinary medicine and does not need to be included in the MVPA.” | Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt/The Horse

Farriers across the country are asking the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) to rethink its proposal to eliminate them from a list of exemptions in the latest suggested Model Veterinary Practice Act (MVPA) update on grounds that the decision could carry unintended consequences.

The AVMA says the MVPA serves as the cornerstone policy for practicing veterinarians as well as a resource for creating state veterinary practice acts. Initially developed in 1960 the act has been revised several times to reflect professional, technological, and societal changes in the way veterinarians practice their profession. For years, it has included “a list of carefully considered exemptions to the general rule that it is unlawful to practice veterinary medicine without a valid license,” which included “any person lawfully engaged in the art or profession of farriery,”

In January, the AVMA released proposed MVPA revisions that removed the exemption for farriers. The association invited members and others with a veterinary medicine interest to review and comment on the proposed revisions