Margie Lee Gustafson, Woodside, Calif.

Margie Lee Gustafson has been shoeing since 1982 and has been a certified journeyman farrier since 1991.

“I didn’t even know that I wanted to be a farrier or that I would be a farrier until I learned how much the farrier can really make a difference for my own horse,” says Gustafson.

Educating others has been a focal point for Gustafson, who served as an American Farrier’s Association (AFA) tester from 1991-2019, co-coordinated the Northern California Classic (for 7 years) with fellow Hall of Famers Alice Johnson and Mike DeLeonardo; and she continues to support continuing education.

She has been a leader in local and national farrier organizations including the Western States Farriers Association and AFA. Gustafson is the only woman to lead the AFA as president (2016) in the organization’s 49-year history. She has also held a multitude of other roles over the years.

“Everything that I’ve done, I’ve done because I loved it. Not because I had to or I needed to,” she says. “It was because it came my way and I was open for it.”

Read her contributions to AFJ here:

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