There have been significant changes to farriery over the past half-century. Advancements in products and technology have improved the farrier’s ability to work with horses and earn greater income. Among these innovations, freely sharing footcare knowledge ranks at the top

For a long time, farriers refused to share knowledge with other shoers. Theory and practice became guarded secrets, only shared with offspring or apprentices. The best explanation is that after the advent of the automobile, the horse population starkly declined. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that the equine industry bottomed out in the 1960s at a couple of million horses, and then began to rebound. Those farriers who practiced or were mentored by those who witnessed this decline, didn’t see other shoers as colleagues, but as competitors who would steal a client and livelihood away.

But as the equine industry began to rebound, so did trust. Farriers began to see that by sharing knowledge, others would improve their skill, and horses would receive better care. This began with a few of local associations, such as the Michigan Horseshoer’s Association. Then about 50 years ago, this continued on a massive scale with Walt Taylor’s formation of the American Farrier’s Association. A couple of years after that, a visionary introduced the idea of a publication specifically for farriers. That was Henry Heymering and American Farriers Journal.

Seeing the Opportunity

To be fair, other publications existed decades prior to American Farriers Journal. But Heymering saw an opportunity to use the…