Business Practices, Safety & Healthcare
Seeing the Invisible Illness

Seeing the Invisible Illness

For farrier Steve McConnell, the day his life changed started out like any other. One moment, the Waterford, Ontario, native was absorbed in the ordinary task of fueling his shoeing rig for the week; the next, he was drowning in a powerful vortex of emotions and memories he’d spent years trying to forget.

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Farrier Resources

Hoof-Care 101

Feeling overwhelmed?

Start with these information-packed articles hand-picked by our editors:

Dealing with Thrush and White Line Disease
Combining topical treatments with good hoof care will help you keep these common problems under control.

Why Equine Bones Break and Tendons Rupture
Understanding anatomy and physics can help prevent severe injuries.

Use Sugar to Treat Those Nasty Hoof Wound Injuries
The remarkable use of sugardine is now accepted more frequently by many veterinarians and farriers because of successful results and its economic significance.

Cryotherapy’s Role in Helping Lame Horses
Researchers examine cryotherapy’s analgesic effects with study of horses with induced lameness.

Back Up the Horse’s Entire Foot, Not Just the Toe
"Backing up the toe" might make the foot look aesthetically pleasing, but 6 weeks later all the work that was done previously needs to be done again. Focusing on just the toe leaves out the rest of the foot. Instead of thinking of backing up the toe, the focus needs to be on “backing up the whole foot.”

Getting Started in Hoof Care

Sixteenth Edition of the Annual Career Guide

This special publication is published once per year by American Farriers Journal. The career guide delivers advice from farriers on how to establish and operate a successful equine footcare practice.

Sean Travers

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From the Desk of AFJ

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    Butler’s Insights Hold Strong

    Doug Butler will be the first to tell you he’s not a soothsayer. It’s quite possible you’ll find yourself on the receiving end of a stern look and a reprimand should you accuse him of such.
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    A True Mom & Pop Shop

    William Arthur Ward once said, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
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    Ask Yourself These Questions Before Enrolling in Farrier School

    I just finished a class at Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School and it wasn’t the most enjoyable class I’ve had in my 33 years of teaching horseshoeing. It appears that a lot of them decided they were going to horseshoeing school based upon video clips and social media, not by exploring the profession and finding out what’s really needed to be a professional, self-employed horseshoer.
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    Community & Continuing Education Foster Excellence

    As I’m getting to know the farrier community, one quality that stands out is their dedication — not just to skill development but to each other.

Attend the 2025 International Hoof-Care Summit in Kansas City!

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Join  Us January 21-24, 2025 at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri

REGISTER NOW

As we continue in our third decade, our goal is to continue to help you expand your hoof-care education through a focused educational program covering the most important topics to today’s equine footcare professionals. The 22nd annual Summit offers dozens of hours of solid answers to your most critical challenges from outstanding farriers, equine vets and hoof researchers. Get a first look at 2025’s newest and best products at the Summit Trade Show. And profit from unlimited “face-to-face” hallway networking time with the giants of the footcare profession.

Come see for yourself why past attendees say they take home an average of $4,576 in ready-to-use ideas!

LEARN MORE

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Improving Horsemanship for Farriers

Improving Horsemanship for Farriers

This 38 page report will guide you through the importance of learning and developing horsemanship, making the farriery process easier, safer, and more enjoyable. This report will provide you with basic horsemanship skills that are crucial for avoiding horse and human injury, as well as becoming a successful farrier. 


You'll find a wide variety of useful information including:

  • Why you can’t hurry horsemanship

  • How good rapport and good horses go hand-in-hand

  • The importance of being able to “read” a horse and understanding the body language

  • Why not all “bad” horses are bad

  • The importance of patience

  • Advice on how to deal with soft hearted clients and their spoiled horses


Hall Of Fame Farrier Tips - Volume 5

Hall Of Fame Farrier Tips - Volume 5

This 5th edition of Hall of Fame Farrier Tips features a plethora of valuable advice from respected veteran members of the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame. Each was interviewed on various topics they thought every farrier should know; such as how to apply a frog plate to a keg shoe, tips to becoming more efficient, fundamentals of hoof care, tips on how to avoid volatile situations, and much more! Hall of Fame Farrier Tips Volume 5 will provide you with applicable advice on an extraordinary range of hoof-care topics.

45 Memorable Articles from the History of American Farriers Journal

45 Memorable Articles from the History of American Farriers Journal

When the editors of American Farriers Journal discussed how to celebrate our 45th anniversary, we wanted to create something nostalgic for veteran farriers and provide historical context for younger farriers. Yet to truly cover the history of hoof-care thoughts of 5 decades, we would have to amass volumes. With this special report, we highlight influential articles and entries from the magazine. For each year, we selected a single article that marked an event, a trend, monumental change or important information and discuss its significance.
2019 Farrier Business Practices Report

2019 Farrier Business Practices Report

This annual report is your personal guide for monitoring the trends and economic changes affecting the farrier industry. You’ll gain insight into the equine industry and discover how your farrier business compares to others by getting a glimpse at yearly farrier income growth, what farriers are charging, how farriers are funding retirement, where they are obtaining footcare product information, and much more!

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