In the early days, the AFJ staff’s belief in me and my ability to write allowed me to push forward and publish over 100 AFJ articles, and eventually a textbook that dramatically changed our lives.

American Farriers Journal is celebrating its 50th anniversary and we’re reflecting on the relationships and partnerships we’ve forged, the milestones and the lessons we’ve learned along the way. In the famed Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” protagonist George Bailey gets to see, via a dramatic intervention by an angel named Clarence Oddbody, what the world might have been like had he never been born. Hoof-care professionals share their thoughts on what the farrier industry would be like if AFJ never existed.

When I was shoeing horses in South Africa during the early 1990s, I was introduced to the American Farriers Journal. That moment changed the entire course of my life.

American Farriers Journal and the companion International Hoof Care Summit have long provided a continuing link and a forum for exchanging ideas among practitioners of this highly skilled profession.

Frank Lessiter made American Farriers Journal the leading magazine. Dean Laux did a good job, with good covers and some good articles, but Frank elevated it a notch higher than anything else.

My first contact with Henry Heymering and American Farriers Journal was in early 1975. He had a great idea, but the first issues printed in Florida were rough and received some criticism from me and others, including the director of the surgical and consulting clinic of the veterinary hospital at Cornell University, where I was a graduate student.

When I first walked into the farrier industry, I knew it would be challenging. The craft demanded patience, skill, and an understanding of both the science and artistry behind equine hoof care. But I didn’t expect how American Farriers Journal would shape my path.

When Henry Heymering came along with American Farriers Journal, that was the only thing that focused on hoof care.