Hello and welcome to the American Farriers Associations official
answer blog. Yes I realize that the joint looks a bit barren at the moment but
we just moved in. I haven't had the time to get all the furniture in as of
yet.
In 2013 the Executive Committee of the American Farriers
Association (hence forth AFA or Association) decided that the Association
needed a site where we could give "official" answers to questions
farriers had about the AFA. The decision was that a blog was the best idea, it
is simple to manage and hey, it is within our budget. This first post will
layout what the association can do and what questions it will answer.
First and foremost we will not entertain gossip. If you want to
know why a person left a position or why so and so didn't place higher in a
contest- ask them.
Second, the current goal is to answer one question a month. I
know; it seems a bit under the mark, but what the farrier world needs to
realize is that with the exception of one full time and part time employee the
AFA is entirely staffed by working farriers. That and it takes time to draft
answers, to make sure that they are indeed the position of the Association and
get them posted. As time, weather, schedules permit there could well be more
posts a month. One thing that the AFA does habitually is to over promise and we
don’t want to do that here.
Next, the answers you will find here will come from people who
have direct involvement in the question. While Thomas N. Trosin is the manager
of the blog he will not be answering all the questions. While he can answer
several general questions concerning the Association, he’s not going to answer
them all. For example; in the instance you have a question concerning Certification, expect
an answer from the Certification Committee Chair or another member of the
committee. The blog will strive to make certain that farriers get accurate
answers to their questions.
Lastly, the answers contained here are the answers we have the day
of the blog post and may change as time passes. The goal of the association is
to continue to grow and provide educational opportunities to all those who wish
the AFA’s help at becoming the best farrier that they personally can. The
methods the AFA employs today to reach those goals could well be obsolete in
the future. Much like shoeing a horse, the worst answer the association can
give is “always” or “never”. That is not to say that the Association will not
hold its ground. But the only thing that is certain is change.
I think that about covers it. So now it is up to you. Got a
question? We have several ways you can get it to us. While you can email your
questions to info@americanfarriers.org,
we would prefer that you email them to asktheafa@gmail.com.
You can also ask questions on our facebook page.
While the genesis for this project came from the facebook page “Dear
AFA” and we do watch that page, we can’t guarantee that we will be able to
answer questions asked there.
(Post prepared by Thomas N. Trosin)
