This year marks the 50th anniversary (and 32nd year at Lessiter Media) of American Farriers Journal covering the farrier trade. We’re asking hoof-care professionals for a few words to include in a “From the Audience” section of our coverage – in the December edition.

International Horseshoeing Hall of Famer Simon Curtis, PhD, FWCF, HonAssocRCVS, of Newmarket, England, shares his thoughts on the three questions we are asking hoof-care professionals.

Q. When you look back at the last 50 years of new technologies, what were the biggest defining moments that forever changed farrier and equine health as we know it today?

A. Although farriers had been experimenting with gluing on shoes for many years, it was not until the early 1980s that there was a viable glue-on shoe. That shoe was manufactured by Mustad and was attached using cynoacrylate, better known as a Super Glue. These had only recently been engineered. With the right care and attention to preparation, they did glue very well but stayed on no better than a nailed shoe. However, some horses really like them because they were far less restrictive than conventional shoeing. I don’t know who was the first to use these shoes but certainly in the United Kingdom it was Ron Ware, and I was watching him.

Following fast on the heels of Super Glue was methyl methacrylate, better known as acrylics. These were a game changer as you could now glue on shoes far more securely than you could nail. Their uses in farriery were almost limitless.

Other synthetic materials have made their way into everyday use for horseshoers — dental impression material and polyurethanes are two obvious ones. There will be others. Who knows what’s around the corner?

Q. For the newer generation, what are the biggest ways that farriery and equine health are totally different from that of 50 years ago?

A. I think tools and education are the biggest changes.

When I started in 1972, tools were relatively unchanged over 100 years. In the U.K., Diamond tools first came and then GE, from the United States. Suddenly, there were lots of people making quality hammers, tongs, knives, etc.

I also spent the first 10 years of my career hand-making all my shoes. I look back at that time with amazement. Nobody ever got paid for making a horseshoe only for putting them on the hoof.

Nowadays, there are so many good farrier schools around the world that give young people a great start in our craft. It is still true that success is usually due to the determination of the individual. Education now doesn’t just stop with leaving whatever farrier school you attended. It is ongoing. There is a non-stop stream of literature. American Farriers Journal being an example. Online there is a wealth of information, although sometimes sorting the wheat from the chaff is the hardest part. Webinars and podcasts — some free, some paid for — give us access to so many good ideas.

Q. What are some specific ways that American Farriers Journal magazine impacted your business and staff?

A. The guy who taught me to make shoes used to subscribe to the American Farriers Journal. So, I was probably an early reader. When I had a large staff and a very active forge, I always took my copy of the AFJ down the forge (after I’d read it, of course). I could always tell the apprentices who were going to do well as they were the ones that went through every page.