The willingness of the horseshoeing community to rush to the rescue when one of its own or a group of horses are in trouble never ceases to amaze me.

In the mid 1990s, Great Britain’s Farrier Registration Council granted American Farrier’s Association Certified Journeyman Farriers the right to gain full farrier registration and shoe horses in the United Kingdom. Now that move may come back to haunt them.

From 1996 to 2004, the number of horses in the United States jumped by 2.3 million. While this figure includes all horses, it’s unlikely that wild horse numbers have increased much.

You can almost feel the horseshoeing industry shaking on its foundations already.

We thought this issue devoted to products for horseshoers was an appropriate place to say a few words about safety.

 Every 2 years, this issue delivers hundreds of facts and figures in the “Farrier Business Practices Survey” that can help you determine how your footcare business compares with other operations around the country.

SEVERAL NEW ADDITIONS in this issue are geared toward making it much easier to get “bonus” information on footcare techniques and valuable product information in a more timely matter.