Iowa Professional Farriers Association

21/04/2026

Lynn Snyder

Just a reminder: Duke's Celebration of Life is Sat., 4/25 at 11:00 AM at his cabin. Go East past our house (5001 115th St., Wyoming, IA 52362). Ignore the Y intersection which is Finch Rd & continue to the next road to the South which a T intersection & 45th Ave. Turn right (south). Go past the first driveway on your left (a really nice house), go past the 2nd driveway on your left ( which is to the shop for the really nice house) & take the 3rd driveway to the left which is the lane back to the cabin. We will have a sign at each end of 45th Ave. & at the driveway for the cabin. The sign will say "Duke Shoot". If you have a chair that folds easily you might want to bring it as it's hard to know how much seating we need. We will have food. If you want to bring something a side dish or dessert is great but it's not necessary .Thank you all for caring & please don't expect me to talk coherently that day.

21/04/2026

Please check out the YOUTUBE.COM video below about the Ray Legal Scholarship:

https://youtube.com/shorts/7A6oBviUftw?si=TtMWEUJ-vCEcknXc

11 likes. "Hi Mom And Dad 158 "

10/04/2026

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who came out for our recent certification hosted by our Association President, Andrew Kempf.
A special thank you as well to Mark Thorkildson and Doug Russo for taking the time to serve as examiners—your expertise and dedication are greatly appreciated. We also appreciate our hard working testers who also volunteered their time four our certification.
We were proud to have candidates travel in from across the region, including Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri and even South Africa! It was a great showing of talent, commitment, and horsemanship.
Congratulations to all who passed the certification, and also to everyone who stepped up, put their work on display, and gave it their all. Your effort and professionalism continue to strengthen our farrier community.
Thank you all for being a part of it—we’re already looking forward to the next one!

31/03/2026

We are so sorry for the loss of Larry Scura. Please click on the link right under Larry's picture to see the details for his funeral services.

Lawrence "Larry" T. Scura Jr., 82 of Waterloo, passed away on Sunday, March 29, 2026 at his home. Obituary is pending. Services: 11:00 AM on Thursday,...

29/03/2026

The Iowa Professional Farriers Association will be hosting the Iowa Certification on April 9th and 10th, at President Andrew Kempf’s facility in Seymour, Iowa. Farriers and apprentices are welcome to participate, certify, and connect. Details will follow on the IPFA website and social channels. See you there.

15/03/2026

IMPORTANT UPDATE: A couple of details about Duke's Celebration of Life held on 4-25-2026... if we get rained out we will have it on the following Sat. The cabin is in a remote location at the bottom of a big hill with only a small amount of parking. We will have signs directing you & shuttle vehicles to take u to the cabin or to return your car to the parking area. This location is necessary to follow Duke's wishes.

The specific directions are as follows: go past our house towards the East & turn right at the next road. Right away you will see a drive on the left to a lovely home, then a drive to their shop & then the 3rd drive on the left goes back to Duke's cabin. It is a a windy path but it is graveled. Just drive slowly. I will post this again nearer the event.

01/03/2026

Duke's Celebration of Life. Held at Duke's cabin which is about 1/2 mile from our house, 5001 115th St, Wyoming, IA
April 25, 2026 ay 11 AM.

Duke told many people what his wishes were & that included no funeral & a very special way to celebrate his life so that is what we are doing. If you could let Lynn know if you are attending it would help us prepare as we will b sharing a meal together. Be alert for the possibility of a change of date due to bad weather as the ceremony will be outside.

01/03/2026

ONE DAY AMENDED SPRING CLINIC DATE: Saturday, April 18, 2026
location: ISU Vet College, Farrier Shop, Ames, Iowa Equine

CHAIRPERSON: Jon Urich, CJF
RAY LEGAL/DICK HARRIS MEMORIAL CLASSIC
8:00 AM Registration/Sign-in for Contest

8:30 AM Silent Auction Begins

9:00 AM Forging Class #1 (45 minutes)

10:30 AM Forging Class #2 (60 minutes)

12:00 Lunch

1:00 PM Game #1

2:00 PM Game #2

3:00 PM Game #3

3:30 PM Silent Auction Ends
Pay IPFA Treasurer Ray Lee & claim your new possession.

4:00 PM Classic Results Announced IPFA in good standing only. Spectators welcome. All contestants will learn about the class before each class. Everyone can & should get involved. There will be partition points for all events to equalize the playing field. It is all just for fun & to pull the member of the IPFA together. No cost for tis event. The IPFA will provide lunch. Please bring an auction item for the silent auction if you can. Stewards for this event are: Jon Urich, Jim Mallon, Tony Stearns & Scott Kelber. Judges are Roger Alston, Denny Beyer & to be announced. Scorekeeper: Mike Hansaker.

01/03/2026

NOTICE: Unfortunately for circumstances unforeseen by anyone in the IPFA, the Vet/Farrier Classic has to be postponed until hopefully some future date in the Fall when the Vet Students do not have so much on their plate. There was a message sent out to reschedule on April 24-25, but found that also was not a great date for the students and found that Duke Snyder's Celebration of Life was soon to be announced for April 25, 2026 for which many members of the IPFA would like to attend. Jon Urich in coordination with Doug Russo & Mike Hansaker believe the Ray Legal/Dick Harris Memorial Classic will be a great event & it can stand alone. The new date for this one day event and silent auction will be Saturday, April 18, 2026.

It was noted that Doug Russo in a text, took blame for this inconvenience, but he just took one for the team. In no way was Doug or anyone else in the IPFA responsible. So Admirable of Doug to take one for the team, that takes tremendous character, no wonder he is in the Hall of Fame! Doug, Jon & the committee of Honorary Lifetime Members have jumped through hoops to reschedule and bring this fun and educational event for you. Sorry if the new date does not work for you, but I hope it does and I see you there on Saturday, April 18th, 2026.

Andrew Kempf, CJF, TE
President, Iowa Professional Farriers Assoc.

01/02/2026

I think Duke's friends & fellow farriers will enjoy this story.

Told by a long time customer & friend of Duke Snyder's:

"Me, 16 years old: Hey Duke, I need shoes on Bonnie that will let her slide 20 feet for reining.
Me, next breath: Duke, I also need her to have traction so I can run barrels and poles.

Duke: Rolls eyes...I can do that...30 minutes later, custom slide plates with screw in cauks for barrels.

Them buggers were a pain in the arse, but used them for years.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️"

17/01/2026

Our January Winter Meeting was a great turn out!

The Awards received:
Doug Russo for the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame.

Honorary Lifetime Memberships Awards:
Roger Alston,
Phil Edler,
Jim Mallon,
Larry Scura, Jr.,
Lynn Snyder
and Tony Stearns.

Thank you all who attended! We are grateful for such a wonderful turn out.