American Farrier's Association Forges into a New Era

Greetings from the 36th Annual American Farrier's Association in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A sizeable group of farriers, estimated at 600 or so, has gathered here for educational and business enrichment under the southwestern skies. A heart-warming number of veteran AFA members and old friends are in the crowd, and the trade show is packed with (as usual) with a lot of new products and new companies, as well as the stalwarts of the industry.

The big news so far in the convention has been the vote in the Board of Directors meeting to re-organize the AFA's governance system. The decision making team is currently made up of a slate of officers elected by dues-paying members. They in turn answer to a large board of directors representing 60 or so chapter associations, which are made up of farriers who may or may not be dues-paying AFA members.

On Tuesday this week, the Board voted to replace itself with a team of regional representatives elected by dues-paying AFA members. The chapters will no longer each send a representative to vote on AFA affairs, and the new board members and officers will act as a governing body. I believe that the new system will be put in place by 2008.

In other news, AFA President Dave Ferguson continues to lead the association. Support from the office staff is headed by the new education director, John Bonci.

The education program at the convention was much stronger than I think many attendees expected. The lectures were very well attended. Lecturers included Gene Ovnicek, Bob Racich DVM, Steve Teichman, Mark Caldwell FWCF, Noel Muller DVM, and many more.

The most controversial issue at the convention seems to be the takeover of the AFA competitions by the group known as World Championship Blacksmiths. This group plans to run a regional series of farriers competitions and would host a national championship at the AFA convention. The sides drawn up on this issue are unusual. Many people who are not competition supporters think it is a great idea for the AFA to separate itself from the "sport" aspect of the convention and concentrate on education. Others worry that the AFA is giving away a potential profit center. Still others base their opinions on personalities involved. I believe that the Board endorsed the WCB management plan in spirit but sent it to committee for more study, so this may be an ongoing story.

The Albuquerque Tribune has a nice article about the convention at this url:
http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/mar/02/convention-horseshoers-forges-albuquerque/

And a clip of video from the competition at this url:
http://www.abqtrib.com/videos/2007/mar/02/44/

The AFA next heads to Lexington, Kentucky for its 2008 convention in February of next year.

Thanks to everyone who visited the Hoofcare & Lameness booth to renew their subscriptions, order books, or just to say hello. I enjoyed seeing everyone very much. It was also very gratifying to hear people mention that they check this blog often and enjoy reading it. That's great news!

Kentucky Farrier Errol Bradford Has Died

Longtime Kentucky farrier Errol Bradford died Tuesday after a six-month battle with cancer. He was 69.

Bradford was born in Ohio, but as a young man, he traveled west to work as a cowboy for the TS Ranch in Battle Mountain, Nevada. He was 19 when he joined the International Professional Rodeo Association and for six years competed in bull riding and saddle bronc events. At the end of those six years, Bradford had completed his apprenticeship as a farrier and began a 45-year-long career that would take him to some of the top barns in both Thoroughbred racing and the world of equestrian events.

In the racing industry, Bradford's clientele included Belmont S. (G1) victor Sarava, Grade 1 queen Gorella (Fr), Grape Tree Road [GB]) and multiple Grade 1 hero Harlan's Holiday. He also worked on such United States Equestrian Federation stars as the world-ranked Grand Prix jumper Charmed as well as Enchanted and Renaissance, both Horse of the Year in equestrian disciplines, for the Dillard family.

Bradford is survived by his wife, Sissy; their nine-year-daughter, Cora; and a son and two daughters from a previous marriage. A memorial fund has been established to provide educational assistance to Cora and the family asks in lieu of flowers that donations be made to the fund.

Family and friends will gather for a memorial service at The Barn in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, next Tuesday from 4-7 p.m. (EST). As per his wishes, Bradford's ashes will be scattered at Turfway Park, Keeneland and River Downs. The Turfway ceremony will be held March 1 before the 1st race.

Editor's note: Open the "comments" section of this post to read a message from well-know Thoroughbred trainer Kenny McPeek's thoughts on Errol. Any other friends of Errol's are welcome to post here as well; just click on the word "comments" at the bottom of this post and you can type in the box to leave your thoughts.

Michael Wildenstein: "I am leaving Cornell"

Here's a post I never thought I would write.

Michael Wildenstein FWCF (Hons), resident farrier at Cornell University's Large Animal Hospital, confirmed to me yesterday that he has submitted his resignation to the prestigious university's administration.

Wildenstein has been with Cornell for more than 15 years, during which time he has built the farrier course into a world-famous center for both new farriers and experienced vets and farriers who come to Cornell for week or month long residencies in farriery.

In addition to teaching farriery, Wildenstein serves at the resident farrier for lameness cases, surgery cases, and referral shoeing patients from all over the Northeast. He also teaches veterinary students about farriery and the hoof and represents Cornell by lecturing and demonstrating at conferences around the world.

"The phone is ringing, the word got out very quickly," said Wildenstein, who has reportedly received more than one job offer already this week. He plans to leave Cornell at the end of the current semester, and said that his current class of farrier students is a great group.

He did not rule out returning to Cornell in the future, although perhaps with some amendment of his current three-jobs-in-one position.

One of only a handful of farriers worldwide holding the distinction of Fellow of the Worshipful Company of Farriers with Honors, Wildenstein formerly lived in Europe and shod horses there.

Photo of Mike and Petey courtesy of Lexy Roberts.

Worshipful Company of Farriers Announces Hoof Trimming Conference

"Trimming For Soundness" will be the title of a conference launched today by the Worshipful Company of Farriers in Great Britain. The conference will be held on April 26, 2007 at The Royal Showground, in Stoneleigh, near Coventry, Warwickshire and will presumably be open to all professionals involved in servicing the equine foot.

The preliminary program includes these speakers and topics:

"Introduction" Carl Bettison AWCF (Hons), Chairman, WCF Craft Committee

"Understanding Hoof Horn" John Reilly BSc(Hons) BVSc PhD MRCVS

"Anatomy & Function of the Hoof Relative to Trimming" Chris Colles BvetMed PhD HonFWCF MRCVS

"The Role of the Digital Cushion & Lateral Cartilages" Matthew Jackson Dip WCF UKNHCP AP FI

"Achieving Performance without Shoes" Sarah Braithwaite AANHCP CP FI UKNHCP FI

"Training the Thoroughbred Barefoot" Simon Earle Racehorse Trainer

"Trimming The Donkey Colin" Goldsworthy RSS The Donkey Sanctuary

"Paddock Paradise" Nicola Barker AANHCP FI UKNHCP CP FI

"Trimming For Performance" David Nichols AWCF SNBF

Please Register by Friday, April 20, 2007.

If you live in the UK, you can send a check for £60 (British pounds) (fee includes lunch) made out to The Worshipful Company of Farriers.

Mail to: Craft Secretary WCF, Sheridan House, Keinton Mandeville, Somerton, Somerset, TA11 6DX, United Kingdom.

If you have questions, please e-mail: registrar@wcf.org.uk.

All HoofBlog text and images © Hoofcare Publishing 2007 unless otherwise noted.

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World Champion Cutting Horse Gets "Low Maintenance" Care to Stay Sound

A visit to cutting horse expert Sally Harrison's blog this morning revealed the winner of this weekend's National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) World Championship.

According to Sally, "Dual Rey Me, ridden by his owner Jeremy Barwick, held his ground as leading weekend money earner to claim the title of 2006 NCHA Open World Champion on Saturday, February 17, at the NCHA World Finals in Amarillo, TX."

“I never work him,” noted Barwick when commenting to Sally on the longevity of the eight-year-old gelding. “We lope him at home and when we have a couple of weeks off, he goes to the swimming pool to swim and then gets turned out. He stays pretty sound. We inject (his hocks) maybe twice a year as pretty much regular maintenance.”

It would be interesting to know how many times a year a high maintenance horse would be injected.

Farrier Classes Doubled in Wyoming

According to a news article in today's Billings Gazette, farrier instructor Rik Mettes at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming is teaching two farrier courses at once this semester to meet the demand of want-to-be farriers.

Rik is a long-time subscriber to Hoofcare & Lameness Journal and a veteran farrier instructor.

The school has published an appeal to local horse owners to bring their horses in for trimming (at $7 a head) or shoeing (at $20 a head), saying that they need twice as many horses now for the students to shoe.

Let's hope there are plenty of horses for the new farriers to shoe once they are out of school, too!

I'd love to know what the application/admission rates are at other farrier schools around the country.