When Frank Lessiter decided to locate the International Hoof-Care Summit in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2004, he had several good reasons.

The publisher of American Farriers Journal, sponsor of the educational event, liked the facilities that were available, the presence of an international airport and the city’s location within driving distance of a sizeable portion of U.S. hoof-care providers.

What he didn’t know was that he was placing the Summit in a city with an already well-established history in the advancement of horseshoeing and hoof care.

But Lee Liles, a member of the International Horseshoeing Hall Of Fame and the owner and curator of the National Museum of Horseshoeing Tools and Hall of Honor in Sulphur, Okla., says that’s exactly what he did.

“In my opinion, I have never seen another town that influenced horseshoeing and hoof-care education as much as Cincinnati,” Liles said, as he shared some of his findings during the 2008 Summit.

Home Of “The Master”

Liles bases his opinion on research through the Museum’s collection of printed materials — probably the single most extensive such collection in…