Changes in the makeup of the board of directors and a refinement in the officer structure were major accomplishments made by the American Farrier’s Association during its recent convention in Albuquerque, N.M.

An injured farrier out of work for several months recently told an American Farriers Journal editor about a surprise message he received from a client.

Facing an examination of their educational programs by the American Farrier’s Association and stung by criticism in an AFA task force report on farrier education, the majority of private farrier school owners in the United States have banded together in a new group called the American Farriers Education Council.

Among roughly 75 AFA members, educators, suppliers and non-members who attended the mid-September “open forum” sponsored by the American Farrier’s Association, nobody spoke in favor of regulating and licensing farriers. 

Faced with overwhelming opposition from its members, the American Farrier’s Association cancelled its plan to survey North American farrier schools and dropped any possibility that the organization might push for farrier registration and licensing.