To say I am pleased with what we have done together in the last three years would be an understatement. In many ways this work has been my life, but I could not have done it without the help of the many American Farrier’s Association (AFA) volunteers, including our office staff and most recently John McCutchen, our executive director.

The past year has put us on track for what will ultimately be the turning point in AFA history. We have had to face the fundamental reality that we have not fully addressed the purpose of our founding—to improve professionalism through continuing education.

This is changing as witnessed by our last three conventions. I feel it will improve even more with the changes we have in store for the association in the coming years. A couple of these will involve the way we do business. John and I have discussed the fact that it is difficult for many of our volunteers to juggle the needed time invested in association work with family, jobs and other commitments.

This is true of all volunteer groups. However, we have some important commitments that are now handled by volunteers that I feel may have to be managed in-house. These include member services, certification and the work that is in progress with education. We would like to work toward regular regional educational clinics that prepare our members for future certification efforts. This as well as other important work may need to be managed by office administrative…