American Farriers Journal offered activities and advertising at different levels for any size business. It was a good place to connect farriers, veterinarians and businesses in the industry.

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.

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.

On one of our late evening telephone calls, when a few of us friends were kicking around the idea of the American Association of Professional Farriers, I asked Henry Heymering about his thoughts concerning another association. I was fascinated with his answer.

After a day of shoeing, Henry Heymering huddled at his kitchen table in early 1975 putting together the first issue of American Farriers Journal.