Former students, fellow farriers, suppliers and friends of Danny Ward made their annual pilgrimage Nov. 6 and 7 to Martinsville, Va., for the annual Eastern Farrier Conference, hosted by Ward and the North Carolina Horseshoers Association (NCHA). It was the 38th consecutive year that the gathering has been held at Ward’s horseshoeing school in the Virginia Piedmont country.

Danny Ward, in conjunction with the North Carolina Horseshoers Association, hosted the 38th annual Eastern Farriers Conference in Martinsville, Va.

That’s pretty good longevity for something that the International Horseshoeing Hall Of Fame member says started out accidentally because someone wanted to show off his new shoeing truck.

“A friend of mine named Tim Keller from Massachusetts was working down in this area and he wanted to show me his new truck,” recalls Ward. “Tim did high-end show horses and had the first truck I’d ever seen that was practically a farrier shop on wheels. I had a class that was just finishing up, probably 10 to 15 of us. So Tim came up here with his truck, brought it in and showed it to us. He was really good with the students. He showed them some things, answered their questions. We had such a good time that I said, ‘We ought to do this again next year.’ Well, here it is, next year.”

Ward says an informal count shows that 108 farriers and veterinarians have been presenters during those 38 years, while many more have informally shared their skills and experience…