To the American Farrier’s Association, he was “member number 356.” He was “J.W.” to his parents and seven siblings in the small Texas town of DePort. When he opted to keep a low profile after a tough divorce, he became known as John on the Arkansas rodeo circuit. He may have had many names and tried his hand at a variety of jobs, but ask any farrier if they know of Jay Sharp and most will have a story to tell.

“He always had a pipe sticking out of his mouth — Jay was a great guy,” says Eagle Point, Ore., farrier Gordon Haight. “But, Jay had his way and if you didn’t like it you could hit the highway.”

Haight met Sharp in 1970 during the Del Mar Charity Show in Southern California. Sharp had an idea about how to revolutionize the ready-made horseshoe market, but needed some help to make it a reality.

“He wanted to start making toe weight shoes and he needed a trip hammer,” Haight remembers. Haight had contacts in the steel business and Sharp had the ability to make things quickly, inexpensively and well. It didn’t take long for the two men to set up a partnership and produce well-balanced, high-quality, ready-made shoes.

“We put things together and started bending horseshoes,” Haight says. “Jay was a genius at being able to tool things up to mass produce.”

The pair became friends, fellow competitors and founding members of the Western States Farriers Association (WSFA)…