With a 15-inch-long beard that’s been growing for 15 years, New Jersey farrier Frank Bevacqua has been selected as the American Farriers Journal “2024 Farrier Beard of the Year” winner.

The Washington, N.J., farrier took top honors among competitors from around the world with an impressive beard. The results were determined via online voting among fellow farriers.

“We’re celebrating the unique and rugged style of farriers by showcasing the best beards in the industry,” says Frank Lessiter, AFJ Editorial Director. “Whether sporting a full, thick beard or a well-groomed mustache, this was a chance for horseshoers to flaunt their facial hair and compete for the title of the Best Farrier Beard of 2024.”

Bevacqua was awarded a 4-day registration to the 2025 International Hoof-Care Summit where he will be recognized as the “Farrier Beard of the Year” winner with a short video, a plaque and a one-of-a-kind exclusive t-shirt.

The following comments from Bevacqua came from a recent video call conducted by AFJ staffers.

More on Frank Bevacqua’s Beard…

1. How long have you been a beard guy?

15 years. It wasn’t full at first and I trimmed it from my sideburns down to my jaw line. Then one day I wondered why I was wasting extra energy and time trimming and shaving.

2. How long is the beard?

15 inches.

3. Trim the beard?

Nope. Just groom it with a brush.

4. Add any beard dressings?

Not when I go to work. But I do apply beard balm and oil with a nice scent when my wife and I go to dinner or for a special occasion.

5. Get comments from clients about your beard?

The most common question is whether my face gets extra hot in the summer. It doesn’t.

6. When a horse is licking your beard in the winter, does your beard tend to freeze up?

Yep. Horses think it’s hay, so I get a lot of nibbling.

7. Has your beard ever caught on fire?

Only when I got my head too close to the anvil horn while turning the branch on a hot shoe. A portion of the right side of the beard was basically gone and was lopsided.

8. Do you ever get your beard snagged in anything?

I’ll occasionally get my beard stuck in the zipper of a winter coat. That’s nasty to fix.

9. While your wife encouraged you to grow a beard, are there times when she gets sick of it?

Only when the smell of smoke from burning on shoes is saturated in the beard. Even after a shower, it doesn’t always come out.

Details on Frank Bevacqua’s Farrier Business…

10. How long have you been shoeing?

I started at 38 and now are 60 years old. I’d worked in the liquor business for 20 years until the company was sold. After that, I held a bunch of construction and tree trimming jobs. Then one day my brother suggested looking into becoming a farrier.

He had worked on Wyoming ranches for several years and told me when the farrier came he always watched him do his amazing job. So I looked into it.

11. How did you learn the hoof-care trade?

I apprenticed for several years with veteran farrier Sonny Pistilli at Bethlehem, Pa. It was the school of hard knocks. Most mornings, Sonny taught me equine anatomy and had me work in the shop, learning things like shaping shoes in the fire, before heading out to shoe horses.

Looking back, the many horses he got me under was very beneficial. You’ve got to see a lot of feet to succeed as a farrier.

12. What type of work do you do?

Three-day eventers, dressage horses and lots of backyard horses. Plus, I help a friend one day a week with high-end dressage horses. I find it difficult to let go of this work, as this experience definitely advances my hoof-care learning.

13. Trims vs. shoeings?

30% trims, 70% with shoes. I’ve been doing this for 27 years and recently took on an apprentice. I should have done that earlier as I feel a lot better at the end of the day.

14. What’s your daily hoof-care routine?

I don’t like working at one barn all day. Instead, I like to do 3-4 horses at three barns, averaging 8-12 horses a day.

15. What’s a perfect work-day breakfast?

Eggs … sunny side, over easy, or poached with sausage from our home-grown pigs, along with a few potatoes from our garden.

16. What’s the key to your success?

Outstanding customer service along with my personal desire is to do the best for every horse. That’s more important to me than the money. If a horse has a shoe off or there’s another issue, I handle it that day or the next morning. That’s how I run my business.

My wife and I are pretty self-sufficient as we live on a 7-acre mini-farm where we raise most of our own meat and vegetables.

17. What about the need for continuing education?

I’ve always prided myself on the need for continuing education. I go to the International Hoof Care Summit and the NEAEP meeting in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Further education is very important in this industry.

18. For several years, Sonny offered an International Hoof-Care Summit attendee a chance to spend a day at his Pennsylvania shop. Farriers always said it was a great learning experience.

I’m not surprised as Sonny is a great mentor and very passionate guy about the industry. He always told me that he learned something new every day when he shod horses.

19. What do you get out of attending the International Hoof-Care Summit?

I always take hone new innovative ideas and products to try. You may have great success with one new idea, but it might not work at on another horse. That’s the beauty of the farrier business.

Every change or any little correction is something that can make a huge difference. Football is a game of inches, while horseshoeing is a game of millimeters.

20. Ever get burned out?

Not really. It doesn’t feel like a job and I don’t get up not wanting to go to work. My farrier life is amazing and I feel blessed to have found this profession.

21. How do you stay in shape?

I love the physical part of the job, which is like a daily workout for me. I do a lot of hiking and do a long hike every year. I’ve done the Long Trail, which runs from the U.S. Canadian border to the state line between Vermont and Massachusetts. It took me 17 days to hike 290 miles.

22. What was your first farrier truck?

I started with a 10-foot, single-axle cargo trailer that Sonny and I equipped for farrier work. Pulled it behind a Chevrolet pickup for 10 years. At that time, I was sold on pulling a trailer.

But when I started helping my friend, he had a Mercedes Sprinter van and I saw the benefits of those rigs. My current truck is a Mercedes Sprinter van Stonewell outfitted for me. I’ll never pull a trailer again.

23. Do you and your wife have horses?

No. In our area, you’ve got to be in a high-end money bracket, as the price of board runs $1,500.00-$3,500.00 a month. It’s unbelievable.

24. If you could have dinner with anybody in the hoof-care world, who would it be?

Ohio farrier Randy Luikart. I’ve read a lot of his American Farriers Journal articles and I could listen to him talk for hours. He’s very knowledgeable and his ideas on biomechanics and physics are amazing.

Dean Moshier Christmas Beard

Just in time for Christmas, the wife of Johnstown, Ohio, farrier Dean Moshier decorated his beard for the holiday season. Not sure whether the beard ornaments light up or not. Moshier has worked as a farrier since 1991.