With all that is said

All readers and members, for ONE SECOND, think of something good you can say and post it on this thread.
For ONE MOMENT, leave the negative off and for the other threads !!

I will start this off with a tribute to the Ladies of the office !!

The ladies who make the everyday chores in the AFA run as smooth as possible.
I have personally met these Ladies and my admiration for them is the highest.

WITHOUT these Ladies, no one would get anything processed, handed out, co-ordinated and so on.

These Ladies are the grease that keeps the wheels turning.

I bow at the waist and take my hat off to each and everyone of them.
Thankyou for the work you gals do. Silent for the most part from others.
But as important if not MORE important than the rest.

Every member should thank them for the calls they answer, the material they collect or pull for you or your association, for being the sounding board for more times than I can imagine, and countless other chores to NUMEROUS to mention...

A heartfelt Thankyou

Bruce Matthews #1300
Northeast Drafthorse Shoeing LLC
Past President/Founder of Vermont Farriers Association.
AFA Membership Committee

The certification program.

Dick Funguy

I agree.

In among the membership there are some very talented people, willing to help.

Come on people !!!

I have given each of you an opportnity to say one thing positive, and only 3 others have responded.

If this doesn't make you stop and think for a moment where your head is at I want to know why.

If all you can spout is negativety then it is time to call in a shrink !!!

For everyone who says we want to stop the bickering, here is your chance to say something good for all to read.

For all who want change in the AFA and the farrier indistry, here is your chance to influence others !!!

I don't care if you say the logo is eye catching..... Being positive starts with a mustard seed and grows from there.

For those of you who are stuck in the mire of negativity then I wish you the best, cause instead of sunshine i imagine you see dark clouds daily.

my 2 cents

Its easy to spell. AfA

Its easier to use a small a when i meant to use a capital A

I am truy disapointed in everyone.

Just goes to prove the old adage;
"Bad news sells" No one is really interested in "Good News"

It trly is a sad world !!

People who care enough about the association and the profession that they hang in and bang in and make things work, while not singing their own praises or bad-mouthing anyone else. People that you can count on to be there, working to make things work...

People like Tim Dodd, who misses much of the convention each year because he's doing the Fire Marshall job. People like Eric Nygaard, who cares enough that he's dialing into an EC conference call from an ICU unit. People like Roy Williams, who's flying into Florida to do horses for Eric while he's in the hospital. People like John Voigt, who misses almost 30 days of work a year to run the AFA certification program. People like Greg Johnson, who works tirelessly to coordinate the convention. People like Bobby Ordner, who drives a six-hour round trip almost weekly to work with me in preparing for his CJF exams. People like Mike Griffin, who kept working and working and bettering himself without complaint until he got through those exams. People....

people named above. Many folks aren't even familiar with their names.
People who work behind the scene's without ever asking for any notoriaty, but desearve all the praise we should be giving them.

Commitment
Dedication
and an all outright desire to work for something they believe in !!!

I take my hat off to all of you.

My 2 cents

Bruce I have another. Good ole boys don't last forever. So there is hope for the AFA.

Not only is it positive, but I think it is funny as heck. :D

If it wasn"t for the AFA I would not be the Farrier I am today.

Due to the opportunity to be a AFA Team member and the interaction of All the Farriers I have met over many years worldwide.

The AFA provided that opportunity.

Anyone that spends sometime at the Convention getting to know new farriers and friends. Will find that it is a invalubale resource of knowlege and a great networking tool. I am a young farrier and I have said it once and I will say it again it is sad that men who share the love of shoeing horses cant stand on common ground and find themselves stronger to stand together then to thoses whom choose to stand on the outside and throw rocks and make faces. But I am a member and I will remain a member because I love what I do and I love the association that represents my vocation.

Now Off My Soap Box

Cody J. Holden CF,

BPethick wrote:
Yes. And, there's a trickle-down that comes with that. People like yourself, who give back from those experiences. I remember when Don Gustafson came back from the first Cultural Exchange and taught me--and others--how to bob punch clips, something most of us hadn't even seen at that point.

I also remember Bruce Daniels coming south on his own nickel to do a clinic for the SFA, and a bunch of other good ol' boys who gave freely of their knowledge, skill, and talent. I do wish they could live forever.

In any case, as I've said before, virtually everything I know about shoeing horses has come either directly or indirectly from the AFA.

Phil,

If it wasn't for many of the "good ole boys" there wouldn't be such wonderful clinicians for the groups that gather at Meaders and Horse Shoe's plus and other groups and suppliers who put on clinics for your benifit around the country.

Good ole boy Bob Skadzio has for gotten more than I will ever know in my little finger.

Bruce Daniels and Myron McClain have given a huge part of their lives, family time and carees so young pups coming up in this industry might avoid some of the ruts in the road they went through.

The Kritz brothers, John and Joe, started more farrier careers than many shoeing schools. and most of their apprentices are still shoeing top end horses.

Buster Conklin (I hope I have his last name correct) produced many a farrier from Cornell, my instructor for one.

From the east coast to the west coast and across Canada, it was and is the Good ole boys who guided the carreer you love into what it is today.
Bob Marshall, Doug Butler, J.Scott Simpson.
These are familiar names. How about the good ole boys in your back yard and back yards all across America and Canada ?

The examples could go on and on, so don't be so jovial about getting rid of the good ole boys.
They are still here and still doing more for the farriers associations than many of the new pups strutting around.

This thread is for good things to be said, so tell us about a "good ol boy" you admire . Heck Gene is old enough now to be a good ole boy and he has influenced many a farrier today.

my 2 cents

I guess I should start by saying that my career would have gone completely different if it weren't for the AFA. I'm a third generation farrier who learned to shoe cold at a very early age. When I went out on my own and starting shoeing horses, I was charging $35 a horse and struggling to make a living at it. In 1993, I met a Certified Journeyman Farrier, Charlie Comstock, that brought me into the fold and introduced me to the AFA and a "forge". Since that day, I've gone full force with the AFA and have been involved in many aspects of the association which has done nothing but advance my career.

My involvement in the certification process as a candidate, then as a tester, and eventually as an Examiner has introduced me to many people that I call my friends. In my opinion, gaining your certification is not a final goal, but a very educational process that we all go through. It teaches you the basics of horseshoeing as well as the comradarie that you can gain in working with others in your profession that are working towards the same goal as you. I've competed in contests since 1995 and have friends from all over the United States to call if I ever need advise on a building a shoe or a roadblock that I may have come across.

In addition to all that, we are a group of self employed individuals that have to depend on ourselves and each other. I recently got a dose of this firsthand when I broke my hand and had to have surgery. Within days of breaking my hand, I had phone calls from people in over 15 states ready to come and work for me to keep my business running. I've had 10 guys in the last two weeks take time from their schedule and families to help me out.

It makes me think.... Where would I be without the AFA? I'd probably still be shoeing horses for $50 and scrambling to keep up while I'm out of work. Makes it worth the membership and the time that I have put into the AFA.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this.... This association is like life... You will only get out of it what you put into it.

Dusty Franklin, CJF #4361
AFA Examiner
Certification Area 2 Supervisor
Region 2 Board of Directors
Owner/Operator - Five Star Horseshoeing School
And proud to call myself a Farrier