Editor’s Note: Updated Jan. 31, 2022.

International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame member Henry Heymering, CJF, of Frederick, Md., passed away Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. He was 71.

With an interest in riding since the age of 12, Heymering was shoeing horses by 16 and attended Bud Beaston’s Oklahoma Farriers College by 23.

One of the most important lessons Heymering learned while in shoeing school was that current innovations in farriery were not being recorded into print. He figured farriers needed access to this information. To fill the void, he launched American Farriers Journal in 1975 while living in Arcadia, Fla.

Putting in 80 hours a week between his shoeing practice and running the magazine, Heymering sold American Farriers Journal in 1980. In the years following the sale, Heymering completed an extensive historical bibliography of all the shoeing books throughout the years, which is titled “On The Horse’s Foot.”

Heymering was one of the earliest members of the American Farrier’s Association and the Florida State Farriers Association. He later helped form the Guild of Professional Horse Shoers, which he served as president from 1997-2007.

“The farrier industry lost a good man yesterday,” says Eric Nygaard of Sarasota, Fla., and past president of the AFA. “One of my first FSFA meetings was at his shop in Arcadia.”

He was inducted into the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame in 2002.

“Henry taught me more about hooves and being a farrier than any textbook or school could have ever taught me,” says M.A. Kurant, a protegeé of Heymering. “His passing has robbed the world of a wonderful man, friend, teacher and farrier advocate. His passion for animals and compassion for living beings will be missed. Thank you was never enough to show my gratitude for everything he taught me.”

Services will be at 12 p.m. April 9, 2022, at the Utica Park Pavilion 1 in Frederick, Md.

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