This summer marks an important moment in the history of American Farriers Journal. In July, I assumed the role of Executive Editor, which places me in charge of the content delivered by our magazine, reports, website and International Hoof-Care Summit.

Our seasoned readers have long relied on the writings of Editor/Publisher Frank Lessiter and Managing Editor Pat Tearney. Their leadership has been invaluable in driving the direction for our publications and building on overall quality. Frank will still continue as publisher of AFJ, while Pat is retiring at the end of 2013. I’m happy to write that both will continue writing stories and developing other content that will be published in AFJ and our other resources.

What We Must Do

American Farriers Journal’s diverse editorial content across all platforms is created for equine footcare practitioners at any stage of a career. Our goal is to improve the hoof-care knowledge of farriers, inform on industry news and provide insights on developing and maintaining successful footcare practices.

I believe there are two directives this magazine must follow to best serve our audience:

• The AFJ editorial team will continue to utilize footcare practitioners as the most important source for content development. Farriers of all backgrounds and experience will be able to contribute to AFJ’s content.
• AFJ will continue to actively engage its audience for feedback on how to improve our print and digital publications. As the editors behind AFJ, must always ask when working on stories, “How does this benefit our audience?”

Where