Staff

KHS Director of Education

Mitch is the Director of the Kentucky Horseshoeing School in Richmond, KY, and received the AFA’s “Educator of The Year” award for 2007, 2011, and 2022, as well as the Clinician of the Year award for 2012. In addition, Mitch was named the 2015 Rising Star Instructor by the Kentucky Association of Career Colleges, chosen from among 200 instructors in every field of career education. In 2015, Mitch was inducted into the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed on only the few considered the Elite throughout the industry. Among his many successful students Mitch is proud to count 10 members of the AFA U.S. National Horseshoeing Team, along with two coaches of the AFA U.S. National Horseshoeing team.  Former students have earned positions with various US equine teams, leading veterinary hospitals, university veterinary schools and have even shod Kentucky Derby winners. Mitch is an active judge at national and international farrier competitions and currently works worldwide as a noted clinician in the field of equine limb anatomy and biomechanics. In Taylor’s work as a clinician in the field, some of the more notable events include being an featured speaker at the NAEP annual conference on lameness, teaching race-horse short courses for the Turkish Jockey Club in Istanbul, Turkey, serving as the Keynote Speaker and Judge at the Mexican National Horse Congress in Mexico City, speaking at the International Veterinarian and Farrier Conference in Bergamo, Italy, served as a Judge at the Ayreshire Shoeing Competition in Ayreshire, Scotland and as a clinician on several occasions at Stoneleigh, England as well as presenting original research and findings at the International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot and Mitch is the only farrier to ever present original research to the AAEP at (American Association of Equine Practitioners)  National Convention.   Recently, Mitch was given the opportunity to serve as the Director of Podiatry at the Equine Veterinary Medicine Center at Al Shaqab in Doha, Qatar.

Mitch Taylor began his farrier training in 1975 and has been an AFA Certified Journeyman Farrier since 1982. After receiving his primary farrier training at Colorado Mountain College, Mitch served his apprenticeship in Southern California specializing in jumping and dressage horses. Mitch moved to Kentucky in 1985 to pursue a Masters Degree in Animal Science at the University of Kentucky. While at UK, Mitch was fortunate to study under Maxwell Gluck, one of the premier experts in the field of equine lameness and anatomy.

During the length of his career, Mr. Taylor has served as the President of the Registry of Professional Farrier Educators, as a member of the AFA Equine Research Committee, served on the AFA Board of Directors and served as Chairman of the AFA Education Committee. Mitch has also been chosen to be a part of the panel presenting technical seminars as a part of the KTOB/Keeneland International Emerging Markets program. He also serves on the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee. Currently Mitch is serving as a consultant for HISA, helping to develop national standards of farrier education.

Working with researchers worldwide and alongside his students at the Kentucky Horseshoeing School, Mitch is able to continue his interest in the area of promoting sound farrier principles to all horses. Midway College, one of the first in America to establish an equine science program has invited Mitch to teach their lab course as an adjunct professor. 2010 was the first year, and it was a resounding success. A noted author, Mitch publishes frequently in Professional Farrier, the official publication of the American Farrier’s Association, and served as the primary author of the AFA’s Education Manual; he has published extensively in numerous other farrier publications, including the American Farrier’s Journal. Working with researchers worldwide and alongside his students at the Kentucky Horseshoeing School, Mitch is able to continue his interest in the area of promoting sound farrier principles to all horses.