Ludhiana 19 September 2025- To train the veterinary students, veterinarians, veterinary Paraprofessionals, local services providers and horse owners, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University entered into the MoU with Brooke Hospital for Animals (India) for establishing a Farriery Institute.
Vet Varsity will be the second institute to collaborate with Brooke Hospital for Animals (India) for this purpose. Breeding horses and working mules often suffer from poor hoof health due to the inadequate skills of local street farriers, as farriery in India is traditionally a hereditary trade, passed down through generations with little to no formal training. 
This collaboration will result in the establishment of a dedicated Farriery School to provide structured training on hoof management and will cater to the needs of veterinarians and local farriers from Punjab and adjoining states such as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir etc. 
The school will deliver certified, skill-based farriery education, enhance hoof care practices, reduce lameness in horses and mules, and promote farriery as a professional livelihood in North India. It will also serve as a regional hub for capacity building, knowledge sharing, and equine welfare.
Brooke India is an Animal Welfare Organization registered by Animal Welfare Board of India and works for the welfare of working equids, especially mules. It undertakes measures for innovative and collaborative approaches to make a significant impact on animal welfare.
Dr JPS Gill, Vice Chancellor, said that in the state there are two categories of horse owners, one group keeps horses as companion animals for breeding purposes and others are quite poor and rear equids to earn their livelihood. The mules kept by poor people for their livelihood, often remain neglected and suffer from poor hoof affections. 
The collaboration with Brooke India will certainly help local farriers to be equipped with better skills for welfare of equines. Moreover, it would help in augmenting collaborative research on horse health and welfare issues.