Earlier this year, it was announced that the World Championship Blacksmiths' Competition (WCBC) would be dropped from the Calgary Stampede lineup after 2014. While there is much disappointment in the horseshoeing world over this, there is also optimism that another event, unaffiliated with the stampede, will take its place.

Today marks the first day I've felt better since being infected with norovirus earlier this week. This wasn't a pleasant way to spend time off from work, but thankfully this illness wasn't long-lasting. Others are not so lucky when it comes to being sick.

At last week's International Hoof-Care Summit, we sat down with Welsh farrier Haydn Price. It is hard to pinpoint a single segment from this conversation that stands out as important information or keen insight. Rather, when you speak with someone like Price who possesses this depth of knowledge, the entire time spent in conversation is more like a personal classroom.

As we noted here, long-time AFJ Managing Editor Pat Tearney retired at the end of 2013. While cleaning out his office, I came across dozens of bins and folders of farrier images, all of them predating the very comfortable and convenient age of digital images.

Each issue of Practical Horseman features a questions posed to readers about a variety of equine topics. In the January 2014 issue, the editors ask the readers for feedback on the most important trait looked for in a vet and/or farrier.