Albuquerque, N.M., farrier and founder of the American Farrier’s Association Walt Taylor passed away Dec. 15, 2025. He was 92.

The first shoeing work for this Colorado native took place on a dude ranch in 1948. He later attended what is now Colorado State University, where he received a B.S. degree before going full-time into the farrier business.

In 1971, Taylor founded the American Farrier’s Assn. (AFA) and served as its president for 15 years. He founded the AFA convention, which has been attended by thousands of farriers from around the world, organized the farrier industry trade show and created an organization of farrier educators in North America.

“In 1979 at Fresno, California, almost everything came together in a Convention that the AFA could be truly proud of, for that time and for the future,” says Taylor in an article on Convention history. “Reuel Darling was the local Coordinator, and he brought together lectures and lecturers of renown – including Dr. Marv Beeman, DVM, roundtable discussions by trainers and farriers, and the first public discussion of licensing versus certification of farriers. The Convention was rounded out by a trade show worthy of the name; contests that included the first North American Challenge Cup Futurity; formation of the first North American Horseshoeing Team led by Bob Marshall of Canada to compete at the Irish Horse Board contests in Dublin, Ireland; and a banquet to provide a social get-together and a time for prize giving and recognition of people that had…