The Farrier and Hoofcare Resource Center

It all started with an idea that sprung to life at Danny Ward's get-together, 13 years ago. The Internet had just "gone public," and no one was sure if it was "the next big thing" or just a passing fad. I was there, selling horseshoes manufactured in Russia — "Farriers Choice Horseshoes."

Having read a few articles about the Net, and looking into what it took to create web sites, I thought it would be a good way to advertise the horseshoes. But my marketing background told me that a single web site would have a hard time attracting a targeted audience. (At that time there were less than 100,000 web sites in existence, and most of them were quite technical in nature.)

Standing around at Danny's, I decided to approach representatives of the other supply and manufacturing companies in attendance. Not surprisingly, (remember this was 13 years ago!) most didn't have even an inkling about the Net. Truthfully, most thought it was another high-tech fad that would be gone in a few years. Like eight-track tapes.

But a few warmed to the idea of creating a Net Portal for farrier and hoofcare products, if I would take care of running it. "No problem" I thought. Little did I know....

Upon returning home, I sent a mailing out to about 100 companies in the farrier/hoofcare industry, and received a nice response back. A few weeks later, The Farrier & Hoofcare Resource Center (F&HRC) went live, and the rest, as the cliche goes, is history.

If anyone had told me, 13 years ago, that the F&HRC would grow to it's current size, I would've laughed. Who could imagine a site of over 150,000 pages, racing toward a membership of 10,000 members from dozens of countries? A site that has developed a "family" that spans the continents!

And that's how it all started.