“I think one of the major roadblocks for me was gender. I had more than one male farrier refuse to have me ride with them purely because I was a woman.” She went on to explain that she was often the focal point of the farrier visit when horse owners and stable managers would exclaim, “Oh! A female farrier. I haven’t seen one of those.”

The Ride-In is important because it puts a face on the $102 billion horse industry and the millions of Americans who are part of it. Congress deals with various issues that impact the horse industry, including taxes, gaming, immigration, welfare issues, access to trails and public lands, diseases, and interstate and international movement of horses.