Reading my new issue of Equus. Decided to look for any mention of the AFA. Read through the index, flipped through the pages. No advertiseing by the AFA. Why?

I do not know how many horse owners get Equus? Been getting it for years and it is pretty decent. Doug Butler and Tracey Turner are on the advisory board. I assume this means these two advise on farrier and hoofcare issues.

Seems to me if the AFA wants to become visible to horse owners, advertise in publications that horse owners read.

Any thoughts? Anyone?

Phil,
That magazine is primarily veterinary talking about a lot of above the hairline stuff. I believe there are some plans in the works to do some more promotions in various magazines though according to Mr Stovall.

I'm sure it will make for some real fun with the BOD when the bill for it all comes due though. Stay tuned this is going to be fun.
George

Printed on the cover right under the title it says, "THE HORSE OWNERS RESOURCE".

Does not matter what the material is, if this magazine is read by many horse owners. Why not advertise or submit articles to magazines targeting horse owners?

The AFA's magazine only goes to AFA members and you might find a copy in the farrier supply store. Telling AFA farriers to spread the word to horse owners is not going to get the AFA's name out there. I see money spent on advertiseing all kinds of Equine gimmics. How about the most important part of the horse. The feet!! "No Foot No Horse" right?

Phil, you really subscribe to Equus?

Gary Hill wrote:
No, my wife does. I read it though along with many others that my wife and daughter get.

Yeah my wife gets about two differant copies of "Victoria Secret" each week and I read them too! :cool: Really I just look at the pictures!

You guys got me to thinking,
Hasn't it been horse magazines that have given us untold amounts of grief over the years?

Wasn't it horse magazines that told horse people to fire us for dressing the outside of the hoofwall because we would be damaging the hoof by removing it's natural varnish thus drying it out?

Wasn't it also horse magazines that warned about the damage we did by hot shoeing?

Wasn't it horse magazines that advocated using the old Nature Plate?

Isn't it horse magazines that jump on every bandwagon with every new hair brained idea to come down the pike?

Isn't it horse magazines that give some kind of legitimacy to the BLF?

Yeah, on second thought, maybe the AFA does belong in horse magazines
George

A google search on terms such as "certified" "farrier" "using" "benifits of using" "why use a certified farrier" and other such stuff returns hits only on the discussion forums on horseshoes.com.

The AFA, BWFA, GPF and others interested in increasing mindshare among horseowners about benifits of certification may want to consider putting some info on thier websites or if its already there submitting thier sites for inclusion in search engines. I believe its free to have your website "crawled" by engines although one can pay to be higher up on the results lists.

If you Google "registered journeyman farrier" the first hit is the Guild web site. If you Google "certified farrier" the first hit is the AFA web site.

The problem is that both sites need to provide more content that is targeted to horse owners. Once the content is there the search engines will pick that up as well.

Right now the most content on the subject of hoof care is on www.horseshoes.com - and that is not likely to change.

Well there you go. Proves once again that "Baron Rules"! This site does just what he claims it does, nothing less but alot more!

Phil Armitage wrote:
Phil,

Granted, the AFA needs to do more in this respect, but let's not lead folks to think that they're not doing anything. The AFA booth is going to horse fairs, they're building alliances/affiliations with other organizations, such as the AQHA, and there are ads out there--the National Foundation Quarter Horse Journal runs a full-page AFA ad in each issue. Likewise, many of the chapters cooperatively promote the AFA--the IFA at the Hoosier Horse Fair, the SFA at the Louisiana Horse Expo, etc., etc.

I agree that we need more, and that there needs to be a more concerted and focused effort, but it's not a void....

There is a void if the AFA is only concentrating their efforts to Qrt Horse people; the ETC is not accounted for- Getting QRT horse people to pay a livable wage is like pulling teeth. And a livable wage is relative.

Jaye Perry wrote:
As I said in my response to Phil, "the AFA needs to do more in this respect," and they're working on it. There's no agenda to focus on the QH community; instead, there's an attempt to take advantage of all opportunities. Ideally, you and other members can help by providing a bridge, an introduction, or a connection between the AFA's Publications Committee and any connections you might have in the equine publishing, marketing, and educational communities.

I arranged for the NFQHJ ad because that's where I had the connections to get it done. They've got a readership of over 16,000, and I expect that some percentage of that group are willing to pay even though they own Quarter Horses.

Likewise, the expos and public venues the AFA chooses are not restricted to QH people, so there's no targeted breed or discipline there. Additionally, there's no targeted breed through our AAEP/Purina educational alliance for the vet/farrier short courses. Although they're not addressed to a broad, public audience, they're a prime venue for advertising our association and our membership to people who will have a long-term impact on our industry.

And, the articles/essays that Mr. Tom has chosen to write on behalf of the AFA and its certification programs will not be targeted at those tightwads who own QH's. Instead, the Publications Committee will be distributing them to any and all interested equine publications. That list will include lots of little newsletters for everything from trail riders to dressage enthusiasts. Again, your help and the help of others would be appreciated as the Publications Committee continues to build a list of publications, websites, and other venues for distribution of these materials.

Steady big fellow! Tightwad QTH owners? I find that all the breeds have tightwad owners, don't pick on us QTH people!

danverschild wrote: Fortunately for me, I have found that many of the distaff QH owners are tight jeaned(and appropriately so) rather than(ahem) tightwads