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Hoofcare News Flash
Click here to read program details and registration information DAVE FERGUSON Elected American Farrier's Association President at 2006 Convention Maryland farrier Dave Ferguson CFJ TE takes over as AFA president; Mass. farrier John Blombach CJF will be treasurer; membership dues to skyrocket. (more) "World Championship Blacksmiths": New Organization Seeks to Standardize and Organize a US Farrier Championship Series Hoofcare.com
Exclusive:
Support-Limb Laminitis Prevention Therapy for Barbaro at New Bolton
Center HOOFCARE #79 PUBLISHED: Changes and Improvements as Hoofcare & Lameness Approaches 20th Anniversary! Self-assessment quiz by Doug Butler, new paper, new look! (more) This blog could save you! SURVIVAL GUIDE "BLOG" for PALM BEACH LAMINITIS CONFERENCE. News, tips, updates for November 2005 event. British Farriers Are Naked AGAIN! They just can't keep their shirts on. New calendar for 2006 is hilarious! (more) Shock Wave Therapy Recommended for Foals with Angular Limb Deformities (more) Well-known farrier Vern Hornquist Has Died (October 3, 2005) PDF file New York Racetrack Farrier Charlie Campbell Cancer Victim; Twin Brother Joe Carries His Hammer Forward. Read a touching article from the Albany (NY) Times-Union about the sad summer of a NY racing tradition as tragedy strikes one of the USA's great "farrier families" Index of recent news articles and documents related to farrier education, regulation and licensing in the U.S. Brookings Institute Proposes Cost-Benefit Analysis for Horse Industry of Licensing Horseshoers British Court Rules in Favor of Owner in Laminitis Damages Suit "Derby Doc" Alex Harthill has died Equinalysis “In the Field” Gait Analysis System Launched in USA Following Use at Athens Olympics; To be Shown at AAEP Convention
Equinalysis, the brainchild of British Olympic team farrier consultant Haydn Price, was launched in the USA with clinics at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, KY and the Rochester Equine Clinic in Rochester, NH recently. The system was featured in Hoofcare & Lameness #78 for use on hock problems and before/after shoeing evaluation but on demonstration, it is obvious that the system has many uses. We are looking forward to observing the public’s reaction to this system. The system is already in use in the USA by the first farrier licensees, Bob Pethick of New Jersey and Rusty Derrer of Indiana, who are using it to record their shoeing work. Scott Morrison DVM of Rood and Riddle will be experimenting with ways that the system can be applied to his lameness work in a veterinary setting. Visit the Hoofcare & Lameness booth at the American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention December 5-7 (Booths 814-816) to see the Equinalysis system and meet USA representative (and farrier) Scott Lampert of Minnesota or go to http://www.equinalysis.com Cornwall Farriers in Britain Bare Almost All for Cancer Research Just in
time for Christmas? The Cornwall Farriers Association gets the award
for best sense of humor and humanity—they have published a 12
month calendar of photos of various members in hilarious states of undress
to benefit the cancer research society. The calendar was a huge hit
at the recent Cornell University farrier conference, with many farriers
ordering it for their customers for Christmas! Order online at http://www.cornishfarrier.com/ Hoof and Leg Problems Are #1 Priority for Research, According to Indiana Horse Owners A recent survey from the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service showed that horse owners from all segments of the horse industry in that state consider problems in horses’ hooves and legs to be their top priority for future equine research. Leg or hoof problems were rated #1 by all types of operations, and breaks down to the following percentages:
Injuries from wounds or trauma, neurological disorders, and obesity were other conditions related to legs and hooves that concerned owners to some extent. Colic, respiratory disease, and infectious diseases were second or third priorities in most industry segments. However, no other health concern rated higher than hoof and lameness problems in any of the horse ownership segments. (Information courtesy of the Indiana Horse Council) CLYDESDALE
SHOEING: Abuse or Standard Practice? EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND—On September 29, 2004 a computer-based horseshoeing evaluation test will compare the gait and characteristics of a Clydesdale horse before and after shoeing with traditional (and controversial) Scottish techniques for the hind limbs. The 2004 International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) Scottish Equine Welfare Seminar has tapped the team behind the new Equinalysis gait and shoeing evaluation system to test the horse. According to Equinalysis team leader Haydn Price DipWCF, the horse has already been shod with its traditional shoes, so any adverse effects of foot dressing will not be relevant. To begin the test, the horse’s shoes will be removed, and the horse will be evaluated barefoot. The shoes will then be nailed back on, and the horse will be evaluated again. Finally, the horse will be shod with full coverage shoes, and the results of the three tests compared. Equinalysis is a system of using video-based computer software to track the movement of joint markers as a horse is walked before cameras recording from different angles. The resulting reports compare stride length, knee action, hock action, straightness, etc. and are helpful in showing the effects of trimming and shoeing on the horse's movement. The system was used to help fine-tune shoeing alterations on horses competing for the United Kingdom at the recent Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. “Couping” is the name given the practice of nailing on hind shoes that do not cover the horse’s inside heel area. Shaped like a sickle, the shoe has a large lateral calk and exaggerated quarter. These shoes have reportedly been used in Scotland for centuries to help Clydesdales with their work, such as navigating narrow rows of crops. In the show horse world, couping is used to present horses in-hand with hocks that touch; sickle hocks is a desired conformation in the breed. With the help of the shoes and the horse’s generous feathers, an optical illusion is created: the hind legs appear as one limb. While the technique appears to intentionally imbalance the horse, its proponents point out that it is designed for the horse that works in soft ground, where the outside calk is helpful. They also point to the overall soundness of horses shod in this way. Critics point out that the horses sleep in hard-floored stables and must be transported to shows. Price pointed out to Hoofcare & Lameness that while the shoe itself is a radical instrument of imbalance, the hoof is generally prepared according to normal balance parameters, so the test horse can be legitimately tested barefoot, and shod in two different ways without having to re-dress the foot. Noted Clydesdale farrier James Balfour AWCF of Dundee, Scotland is preparing the test horse. Welfare advocates and the Scottish parliament became concerned about couping a few years ago, when a farrier blew the whistle on the practice and called for its elimination. As a result, the Clydesdale Horse Society worked with master farrier David Wilson FWCF BEM and published revised guidelines for hoof balance and shoe coverage, but couping itself was not outlawed. In America, the shoes are generally called “single-calked three-quarter shoes” and are in widespread use for show draft horses. There are no known regulations on how draft horse breeds may be shod and no known public complaints of abuse. Couping was a topic often mentioned by speakers at the March 2003 “Heavy Horse Hoofcare” conference at Tufts University College of Veterinary Medicine, sponsored by Hoofcare & Lameness Journal. More coverage of couping and follow-up of the Scottish Equinalysis test will be published in issue #79 of Hoofcare & Lameness Journal. Equinalysis was recently introduced in the US at a seminar at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky and was featured in issue 78 of Hoofcare & Lameness Journal, in respect to hock displacement in dressage horses. An open seminar using the Equinalysis system will be held at the Rochester Equine Clinic in Rochester, NH on November 4-5. Veterinarians and farriers are invited to attend. Details can be found in Hoofcare & Lameness 78, page 14. Tufts
Hoofcare Conference Will Focus on Warmbloods in 2005 2005 International Laminitis Conference Returns to Palm Beach Block your calendar now! On the first weekend in November 2005 (next year), the 3rd International Conference on Lamintis and Diseases of the Foot will be held at the Palm Beach Convention Center in Palm Beach, Florida. Organized by Dr Jim Orsini of the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center and a committee that includes laminitis researchers David Hood and Chris Pollitt --along with experts like Rob Boswell of Palm Beach Equine Clinic and farrier Rob Sigafoos of New Bolton Center -- the conference is well into the planning stages, with two days of lectures and scientific programs and a full day of collaborative practical sessions. A special program for horseowners will be included as well. Information will be available in Hoofcare & Lameness Journal and on http://www.hoofcare.com soon! This week's visitor is from Argentina! We've had the pleasure of a visit from Dr Federico Oyuela this month. Federico is a foot-specialist veterinarian in Buenos Aires, Argentina and runs the farrier school (Escuela Argentina de Herradores) there. One of his areas of interest is working with the only hyperbaeric oxygen chamber in Argentina. We have been discussing the use of this type of therapy for horses with laminitis, and I hope he will soon have some research to share. I know that the Alamo Pintado equine hospital in California also uses their hyperbaeric unit for laminitis therapy. Federico visited veterinary colleges in the eastern USA, as well as the Kesmarc equine therapy center in Lexington, KY and our friend Dr Scott Morrison at the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington. Federico is both a veterinarian and a farrier; he attended the farrier school at Tucumcari, New Mexico where he learned from Jim Keith, and then went on to do specialty training in Arizona with Dr Jan Young. Dr Doug Butler has completed a revision and re-design of his textbook, the third incarnation of PRINCIPLES OF HORSESHOEING III, nickname "P3". His son, Jacob, is listed as co-author. The book
is handsome and heavy and full of photos. Congratulations to Farrier Lee Liles In August, I saw something I thought I would never see. A group of us--about 70, including guests--were visiting the Burden Iron Works in Troy, New York--the first subscriber group tour for Hoofcare & Lameness in more than 10 years! (The last one was a group trip to England, and I think it took ten years to recover.) Farrier Lee Liles from Sulphur, Oklahoma was there in his amazing motor-home-farrier-shop on wheels (there may have been 18 of them). He had just purchased what is believed to be the only shoe board by Professor William Russell of Cincinnati in existence. Professor Russell is widely regarded as the most well-known American farrier in history, although Professor Henry Asmus of Cornell can certainly give him some competition. Professor Russell authored the standard test "Scientific Horseshoeing," which is still sold today, thanks to the efforts of farrier Reuel Darling on Fresno, California. What a treat it was to see Russell's beautiful shoes! This particular shoe board must have been some sort of an award or honor to the Ausable Horse Nail Company in Keesville, New York, and the spaces between the shoes are decorated artisically with nails. One of the shoes on the board was a machine-made shoe from the Burden Iron Works in Troy, so unveiling the board at the tour had special significance for all in attendance. Congratulations to Lee on this major purchase/investment. You can see it in his public display of his collection of tools and shoes at his farm.
Hoofcare Online News reports on more than 20 new products from our advertisers, with direct links to company websites, plus news about the convention. Click here to read the farrier edition!
FARRIER INSTRUCTOR BOB REAUME IS DEAD
Click here to see photos and read a summary from an important conference on hoof reconstruction at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center. Hoofcare Magazine was there! Click Here to Read about War Emblem's Triple Crown Races in Fashionable New European Raceplates
(31 July 2002) Hoofcare and Lameness Journal is saddened to report the untimely death of farrier Emil Carre of Gualala, California. (June 6, 2002) War Emblem's Triple Crown Strategy Includes the Latest Hoofwear from Europe 24 April Update! AFA President Craig Trnka added as a special panelist! Click here for more information. On Sunday, March 11,
the highways leading from Lexington KY were filled with trucks heading
home. Farrier "rigs" large and small sped along...full of
new shoes, tools, and best of all, new ideas to help horses avoid or
overcome lameness.
(March 12, 2002) Tufts Vet School and Animal Welfare Institute Launch Conference to Examine Pros and Cons of Alternative Hoofcare News Update: British Conference on Racing Injuries News Summary: On November 15, researchers met in the UK to summarize recent findings in the prevention and prevalence of injuries to racehorses. Read a summary of research findings. (Oct. 26, 2001) Remembering Hall of Fame Farrier Harry Patton (Sept. 21, 2001) Laminitis in the 21st Century: A Master Class for the New Millennium (Sept. 11, 2001) UPenn Laminitis Conference Announces Call for Papers; Deadline November 1, 2000 (July 5, 2001) Mustad ("The Hoofcare People") Fund Permanent Farrier Facility At University Equine Research Center (June 30, 2001) Hoofcare & Lameness Office Featured in New Movie "The Perfect Storm" (Feb. 21, 2001) Natural Therapy for Laminitis: Is it all in the gut after all? (Feb. 21, 2001) Glucosamine: Time to Scratch "Alternative" Off the Label? (Feb. 21, 2001) Shock Wave Therapy: New Hope for Navicular Disease? (Jan., 2000) 2000 L.A. Mid-Winter Dressage Faire © 1997-2000 Hoofcare
& Lameness |
You
could have heard a pin drop. Over 100 farriers and veterinarians stared
at a projected screen from a laptop computer as new software deftly
compared stride length from a simple video of a dressage horse, then
checked hock displacement and knee action.
Hoofcare
Industry: New Crop of Products To Debut at 2004 American Farrier's Association
Convention February 25-28 in Rochester NY
Farriers
Convention '03: Spirits Soar in the Snow at Salt Lake City
