American Farrier's Association Will Have Partnership with Kentucky Equine Research, Announcement Says

(The following information is edited from a longer press release.)

On Friday, June 25,  Kentucky Equine Research (KER) announced the formation of an official Educational Partnership between the American Farrier’s Association (AFA) and the equine nutritional company. The AFA and KER will work together to develop and provide educational resources for farriers and their clients, according to the announcement.

KER went on to say that it recognizes and respects the critical role that farriers play in the ongoing care of the horse and the education of horse owners.  “As part of KER’s mission, we strive to advance the industry's knowledge of equine nutrition and exercise physiology and apply this knowledge to produce healthier, more athletic horses,” noted KER President Joe Pagan, Ph.D.

KER said that it will provide the AFA with educational articles and resources from its editorial staff, equine nutritionists, and in-house veterinarian for use in the AFA's print and digital publications. KER said that it will also make these resources available to individual AFA members.

Both KER and the AFA have offices in the Lexington, Kentucky area and are looking forward to the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, which will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park outside Lexington from September 25 to October 10.


The AFA has its national headquarters inside the Horse Park and is providing official event farriers to the Games. The AFA will also be conducting live demonstrations during the Games and will have a booth at the Equine Village trade show area, according to the KER news release.


KER reports that it will host the Australian Endurance Team and the United States Para Dressage Team at its research farm in nearby Versailles, Kentucky during the Games. KER is the official equine nutritionist of the United States Equestrian Federation and of the Australian Equestrian Team. KER also sponsors many of the riders who may represent the United States and Australia at the World Equestrian Games.

Image: Lars C. captured some colorfully clothed Euro-hooves demonstrating teamwork at one of the Aachen CHIO driving events; image courtesy of his Flickr Photostream. Thanks!

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com 
© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Reuniting Racing Legend Phar Lap, Piece by Piece, Is Melbourne Cup's Goal

5 April 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

April 5th is a black day in the history of horse racing. It's the day always remembered, and certainly not celebrated, as the day that the Australian racing legend Phar Lap died mysteriously while resting between races at a horse farm near San Francisco in 1932.

You've probably seen the movie (a few favorite scenes are in the clip below); many people feel that it is the best horse-racing film ever made, and I'd agree. If you haven't seen it, you're really missing something!



The circumstances surrounding Phar Lap's death will always be shrouded in mystery, no matter how many forensic tests are made and new theories are put forth. This horse's life and death were the stuff of fiction...and yet they really happened.

Likewise, Phar Lap's world-famous quarter crack and his equally-famous bar shoes are the stuff of hoofcare legend.

What many Americans don't know is what happened to Phar Lap after he died. He was sent to a taxidermist in New York, where his skeleton was assembled, his heart removed, and his hide preserved.

The famous Jonas Brothers taxidermists of the American Museum of Natural History in New York worked on Phar Lap's model for four and a half months.

The finished model of Phar Lap--that's his actual hide--is on display at the National Museum of Victoria. Click here to read more about the model.

Phar Lap's heart is on display at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. His enormous heart weighed 6.2 kg, or about 13.5 pounds! It is displayed in comparison to a normal-sized equine heart, which weighs about nine pounds. Read about Phar Lap's heart at the Museum's web site.

Phar Lap's actual skeleton went home to New Zealand, where he'd been born.

Phar Lap has been dead for 78 years, but he's still making news, according to Radio New Zealand. This year will be the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne Cup, and the Victorian Racing Minister has asked New Zealand to consider loaning the skeleton to Australia, in the hopes of reuniting all the known pieces of the magnificent horse.

Click here to watch a television news report showing all the pieces of Phar Lap following today's request.

This story still doesn't end. Phar Lap will always be in the news, in one way or another. My colleague, journalist Robin Marshall of New Zealand, has made a serious study of Phar Lap's skeleton and has been seriously campaigning for support that the skeleton was incorrectly assembled and does not do him justice. Phar Lap was 17.1 hands and Robin's analysis charges that the skeleton on display is not worthy of such a large horse. She says, "It might as well be a 15hh brumby!"

Click here to read more about Robin's heartfelt campaign to restore Phar Lap's skeleton to his proper stature.  And stay tuned for more news about Phar Lap...the horse whose legend is very much alive. Everyone still wants a piece of him: now, that's a hero!

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page).

To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Friends at Work: Colten Preston, Australian Farrier Apprentice of the Year

16 December 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

Queensland's Colten Preston has been named Farrier Apprentice of the Year in Australia. Colten is 19, and works for racehorse farrier Mark O'Leary on the Gold Coast. He won a competition for apprentices in Victoria recently, but competition is nothing new to him; he is a serious polocrosse rider and has represented Australia internationally in that sport. Colten is just completing the Australian three-year TAFE training program, which includes college courses, and will work for Mark for one more year. Click here to read the nice article about Colten in today's Courier-Mail from Brisbane; photo courtesy of the Courier-Mail.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Australian Wild Horse Research: Brumbies Switched Between Terrain Types to Observe Hoof Transition in Hampson Study

Brumby Christine as she appeared when taken off her soft coastal habitat (top two photos) and after three months in hard substrate desert terrain (bottom two photos), as part of an experimental switch between herds in Australia. Her hoof wear was 3x that of another mare and she lost considerable condition (weight) during the period. Researchers decided to remove her from the experiment even though her feet, as shown, seemed markedly more healthy and robust by natural hoofcare parameters but welfare was of equal concern.

The Australian Brumby Research Unit has completed an experimental transfer of horses between different terrains, over 1000 miles apart. The results were recently announced after massive amounts of data, including hoof growth vs. wear measurements, were compiled. The purpose of the switch was for scientists to observe and document the transition that horses go through when environmental conditions change.

Friends (Very Hard) at Work: Dr. Judith Mulholland Is Still Fighting Australia's Fires

by Fran Jurga | 2 April 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

Time flies. One minute we're worried about koalas in Australia, then the world's worries shift to Red River floods in North Dakota and all the animals at risk there. Just tonight, I heard about tornado warnings for the Louisville, Kentucky area. Will we ever reach a point of disaster fatigue? Do we switch disasters the same way we switch channels on television?

What many people seem to forget is that when the fire is out, or the flood recedes, or the earth stops trembling is when the next round of real work begins. Roads have to be cleared before rescue workers and veterinarians can even get to the animals. They have to not only treat the animals where they are but then figure out how to transport them to a save fenced in area, and to make sure they are fed.

So it was for our friend Dr. Judith L Mulholland BSc BVMS in the firetorn remains of the Australian communities in Victoria that experienced "Black Saturday" less than 60 days ago. Normally a podiatry-specialist vet, Dr. Jude took up the call to help however she could and has been pitching in. Among her ways of helping was to prepare a videotape of the animals she met on just one of her days of rescue work.

Along with this short video focusing on horses' fate in the fires (brought to you from Australia by the miracle of youtube.com), Dr. Mulholland said that she is working on an hour-long documentary about the devastation to livestock and pets.

I highly recommend a visit to Dr. Jude's excellent web site, www.farriervet.com. Many Hoof Blog readers will see an old friend on her opening page.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page).

To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Australian Wild Horses at Risk for Laminitis After Floods Turn Scrubland to Pasture

by Fran Jurga | 6 March 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

The Australian Equine Brumby Research Unit, led by Dr. Chris Pollitt, is hard at work in western Queensland, where the natural habitat of many wild horses is underwater, thanks to once-every-ten-years floods. Yes, as fires destroyed Victoria in the south of Australia, floods were inundating the North!

While laminitis is not believed to be common in wild horses, it apparently is quite a risk during situations like this and might even be thought of as a form of very painful population control. As the floodwaters are absorbed into the desert-like soil or drain into nearby dried-up lake beds, the desert will bloom and even sprout grass.

The foot of a wild horse with laminitis

The wild horses are accustomed to living on scrub weeds, and the researchers assume that the flush of grass causes laminitis. But they have to prove that it is the grass, and that they horses do have grass laminitis. Laminitis might also be caused by a poisonous plant or some other side effect of the environmental change.

The wild horse research group is the brilliant step-child of the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit, which studies laminitis in domestic horses and seeks both a way to prevent the disease and to understand the mechanism by which it attacks the inner hooves of horses.

Assisting Dr. Pollitt are several student researchers and, temporarily at least, the able-bodied American, Dr. Don Walsh of the Animal Health Foundation who is on sabbatical to perform laminitis research with the Australians.

The core mission of the brumby (that's Australian for "wild horse") research is to understand how environment affects the wild horse and how its feet change as the environment changes. To that end, the group is tranferring horses between herds and observing and recording the adaptation stages...and whether the horses can even survive the drastic extremes of Australian climates and terrains.

Dr. Pollitt and his group have plenty of wild horses to study: Australia has more wild horses than any other place on earth.

The group has a lively web site with down-to-earth research reports and monthly newsletters, and is a most worthy cause for anyone wishing to support equine research that will benefit horses everywhere, as we finally learn how our management of horses may need to change to maintain the healthiest hooves and the soundest horses.

Hoof Blog Recommends This Link: http://www.wildhorseresearch.com

To read the February Newsletter from the researchers, click here.

To purchase freeze-dried specimen feet of Australian wild horses, click here.

To donate to the research efforts, click here.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Australian Fire Survivor Horses Now in Danger of Heat-Induced Laminitis

This has to be the animal-lover's photo of the year; a firefighter in the Australian state of Victoria shares his bottle of spring water with a burned koala. (photo links to Horse Deals Australia blog)

The numbers are staggering. Wildlife and public health officials in Australia estimate that as many as one million animals may have been killed in the wildfires that ripped through the state of Victoria last weekend. As if that news isn't bad enough, there may be a double whammy coming for horses who had to stand on the scorched earth: the fire in the bush is over, but the fire in the feet may be only beginning.

We know that rapid and continual cooling by the icing of the horse's lower limb and digit ("cryotherapy") can clinically prevent laminitis, as proven in studies by the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit at the University of Queensland, directed by Dr. Chris Pollitt.

But can the inverse be true? Can heat cause laminitis?

Dr. Pollitt is flying south to Victoria to help with rescue efforts and provide veterinary services for the hundreds of horses displaced or injured by the wild bushfires that ripped through the countryside in Victoria.

The University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Veterinary Science in Victoria is providing free care to pets and horses injured in the recent fires. Professor Ken Hinchcliff, Dean of the Faculty there, says that veterinary clinic staff at the university are deeply concerned.

Dean Lewis of the Victoria Farriers Association has spoken up about the danger of horses "losing their hoof capsules" and has offered the services of his member farriers to help with rescue operations.

One of the things that touched me was that the rescue center are having trouble feeding the horses, and put out a call for soft lucerne (alfalfa) hay. So many horses have burned muzzles that it is painful for them to eat regular hay with its stiff stalks poking their burnt flesh.

The burns on this cat's paws are typical of what pets and livestock have experienced. This cat is receiving veterinary care at the Victoria Animal Aid fire assistance center.

Triple R Equine Welfare Inc. (TREW) warns horse owners and anyone wishing to help, "The immediate threat to horses left stranded in burnt properties is damage to hooves. Prolonged exposure to hot ground will cause a low grade overheating, that develops into heat induced laminitis. The prognosis for horses suffering this condition will be extremely poor. It is imperative the we move swiftly to relocate horses off burnt properties."

The textbook Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue by Gimenez, Gimenez, and May (Wiley-Blackwell 2008) offers some insight into what body conditions of a burn victim horse may contribute to laminitis and hoof capsule detachment:

"Thermal injury produces local and systemic responses. In the local (skin, which would include the hoof) response, inflammation is the primary reaction, caused by damaged, leaking tissues and blood vessels. Tissue fluid and electrolyte shifts cause inflammation and fluid loss...

"Tissue injury continues for 24-48 hours after the initial thermal injury, therefore the burn will increase in severity over that period of time. Necrosis (death) of the dermis and epidermis in full-thickness burns creates a hard, leathery charred appearance to the skin; this is called eschar (Pascoe 1999). As the eschar sloughs, it creates an increase in open wounds."

It's pretty straightforward to think that burned hooves are a danger in themselves, even though farriers routinely hot-fit hooves and prolonged hot fitting has not been shown to be a danger to hooves. Burned coronets would affect the blood supply to the lamina within the hoof, which would probably already be decreased by the inflammation, edema, and compromised circulation.

Let's keep all the Australians--two-legged and four-legged in our thoughts, and hope that we can learn something about laminitis and how to prevent and treat it in future forest fire emergencies.

Sam the Water Guzzling Koala is recovering at a shelter; she too has extensive burns on her feet. It looks like she's been to the hairdresser, too.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

The Environmental Hoof: Will Wild Horse Feet Adapt to a Sudden Change in Climate and Terrain? Australian Researchers Switch Brumbies, Observe Hooves

By Fran Jurga and Brian Hampson | November 25, 2008 | www.hoofcare.blogspot.com

Herding horses out of the bush in Australia; photo by Dr. Chris Pollitt

One of the challenges to the paradigm of the wild horse foot as a model for domestic horses has been the criticism that most studies have been done on horses running on arid terrain in the US west. Skeptics have pointed to the platter feet of sand dune horses on the east coast of the USA and variations in herds like the Sable Island ponies that have been limited in genetic input.

Dr. Chris Pollitt was scratching his beard over that one when he launched his Wild Horse Research Project at the University of Queensland in Australia last year. Would it be enough to study generic brumby hooves in the wilds of Queensland? Or would he need to hoof it further afield?

For the past six months, Pollitt and his lead researcher, hoof science PhD candidate Brian Hampson, have indeed been hoofing it, to the wilds of the far Australian outback.

“The aim of this project is to determine if the typical shape of the feral horses’ feet from soft sandy country will develop into the typical shape of feet of the rocky country feral horses when placed on hard rocky country for six months,” writes Hampson. “The reverse case will also be tested.”

“There is currently no evidence that horses’ feet can adapt to suit the terrain they are moving over. If the foot type of the feral horse can change by changing the substrate, then domestic horse’s feet, too, can be presumed to respond to a change in environment. We will demonstrate that sub-optimal foot conformation can be rehabilitated by movement over the right terrain.

“It has been confirmed during the first 12 months of this project that feral horses living on soft sandy country have long and often splayed hooves. Feral horses living on hard rocky country have short, rolled hooves. We will swap six horses from each of these environments for six months to test the effect of the environment on the foot type," he writes.

This foot collected during previous studies from the Waterloo Station bush camp is from a horse that lives on dry rocky ground. (Chris Pollitt research series photo)

This hind foot is typical of the brumby feet from the sandy environments of Australia. (Chris Pollitt research series photo)

He continues: “It is hypothesized that the foot type of the subject horses will switch from the sand model to rocky model and vice versa. We hypothesize that it is the environment that shapes the horse’s foot rather than predetermined genetic factors. It is currently believed that certain breed types are predisposed to certain foot types. By exposing the same horse to two different substrate conditions, the breed factor will be controlled.

“We will use this information to devise a better housing model for the domestic horse. The housing model may include hard substrate and movement stimulation. Our aim is to improve the foot health of the domestic horse.”

Pollitt and Hampson plan to pen an important publication from the study; the results will be presented at scientific conferences in Australia and the USA, and publicized to farriers and horse people during an Australian tour.

You know there had to be some drama and poetry in this study, as you will find if you look beneath the surface of most of Dr. Pollitt’s research. In this case, Pollitt and Hampson will saddle up and ride into the back country. No helicopters for them! They will not only capture their chosen brumbies, but gentle them and then lead them out of the bush.

The chosen environments are the sandy beaches of the Gulf of Carpentaria on the north coast of Queensland, and the rocky desert of Central Australia, 400km southwest of Alice Springs, if you have a map handy. Both locations have feral horse populations in excess of 10,000 horses and have been well studied by Pollitt’s team.

Horses will wear a GPS tracking collar for the six months of their release and a VHF beacon for relocation. Horses' feet will be photographed, radiographed, and their loading pressures and pattern will be assessed using an RS scan pressure plate, both before and after the swap. They will also measure hoof wall growth rate over the six month release period.

The Australian Wild Horse Research Project is unique in that the researchers include not only scientists and students but private citizens who are interested in wild horses or hoof physiology. Donors to the projects are eligible for consideration as mates on the trail, presuming you can brew a decent Billy Tea and waltz beside the billabong. Australia has more wild horses than any other place on earth; in excess of 500,000 horses roam freely, according to Hampson, but he notes that they are subject to periodic sustained drought and culls by "government bodies and private graziers".

Visit wildhorseresearch.com for more information about how you can support the research…or possibly be part of it. We will all certainly benefit from this Outback experiment.

PS I thought this post would be appropriate since today is the premiere of the film Australia in the USA.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing for the Wild Horse Research Project and Dr. Chris Pollitt. No use without permission. Permissions for use elsewhere can be arranged.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page).

To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Hendra-Infected Australian Vet Ben Cunneen Dies in Hospital

Ben Cunneen, a 33-year-old veterinarian at Redlands Equine Clinic outside Brisbane, Queensland in Australia, died last week from complications of the Hendra virus. Cunneen treated a horse at the clinic that was infected with the virus. Other staff members at the clinic have been hospitalized or are being closely monitored.

A statement on the clinic's web page reads:

It is with sorrow that we advise the passing of our friend and colleague Ben Cunneen.

Ben had been seriously ill in hospital after contracting the Hendra virus during the current outbreak at our clinic. Ben passed away peacefully at the Princess Alexandra Hospital on Wednesday 20th August 2008.

All of us at the Redlands Vet Clinic will miss him greatly. Ben was a fun loving, caring and enthusiastic person and each and every one of us enjoyed working with him every day.

Our love and best wishes go out to his wife, family and friends.

Hendra is a deadly virus spread by fox bats. An outbreak in 1994, also near Brisbane, cost two humans their lives.

Initial research has been completed at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong in Victoria and further work has been done in Atlanta in the United States, according to the Department of Primary Industry's chief vet, Ron Glanville.

But "commercial considerations" might prevent this vaccine ever making it to the market, he told a press conference following the death of Ben Cunneen.

A lockdown on the Redlands Equine Clinic was lifted yesterday and some horses were discharged.

Robert Bowker Heads Down Under on Lecture Tour

One of Dr. Bowker's many beautiful macro images of hoof structures. This one, from 2003, was part of a study of the tissue of the bars in the heels, where the hoof walls hooks inward. Bowker studied the laminae of the bars and found migrating cells from the laminar tips in the bars contributing to growth of the sole. This research was presented at the American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention in New Orleans in 2003.

Robert Bowker VMD PhD will be headed to New South Wales in Australia next month to speak at a March 29- 30 workshop for professional hoof care providers and veterinarians who deal in barefoot rehabilitation.

Organizer Chris Ware said about the event: “Attending are professional trimmers some who are traveling from as far away as Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. It is fully booked already and we are looking forward to having a wonderful weekend with (Dr. Bowker), who is keen to present his latest research and explain how it relates to hoof care at the ‘coal face’.”

As part of the weekends lectures, Andrew Bowe "The Barefoot Blacksmith" will also talk about his work with seriously foundered horses. Bowe is a Master Farrier of 20 years experience who runs Australia's leading rehabilitation centre for foundered horses, according to Ware. Mike Ware of Easycare Down Under will talk on the many aspects of using Easycare’s range of hoof boots for the rehabilitation of hooves with serious issues and present the new range of boots.

All the proceeds from this workshop will be given to Dr. Bowker for his new research.

On the following Friday Professor Bowker is scheduled to teach the first module of a new Diploma course in Equine Podio-therapy course in Melbourne at the National College of Traditional Medicine. Other lecturers in Melbourne also include Bowe and Ware plus Dr. Alison Mcintosh (a veterinarian and equine chiropractor and barefoot trimmer who has long championed the cause of barefoot rehabilitation for serious hoof issues), and Wayne Anderson, also a Master Farrier, barefoot trimmer, and natural horse educator.

Dr. Bowker’s role in this course is largely due to the generosity of Easycare’s Garrett Ford who has kindly offered a grant towards Dr. Bowker’s nonprofit research.

Dr. Bowker, head of the Equine Foot Laboratory at Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine is a consulting editor to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal, where many of his papers have been published, along with those of his former research colleague, Lisa Lancaster DVM PhD. Lancaster's histological studies from Bowker's lab on the crena of the white line appear in the upcoming issue of Hoofcare and Lameness.

Dr. Bowker and his microscope at home in Michigan.

Happy Australia Day

Happy Australia Day! (Today's a big mid-summer holiday throughout the country!)

The heavy horses are a big attraction at the Royal (Sydney) Easter Show, which includes a heavy horse shoeing competition.  I've been there, done that but my photos don't look anything like this one. I did have the honor of riding on the massive Carlton hitch wagon in the parade one year, though.

The massive McGuire hitch of Clydesdales resides year-round in a permanent palace of a barn, right on the showgrounds, and the show hosts a wonderful heavy horse breed show, with special classes for antique vehicles. The Clydesdale breed is very popular in Australia and dominated the classes when I was there.

All horse events for the huge show had been cancelled because of the equine influenza outbreak but things seem to be under control again...and the horse events are back on!

Good luck to everyone in the horse business in Australia getting back on their feet after the disastrous epidemic.

Friends at Work: Victor Harbor, South Australia

Here's Budd Glazbrook shoeing one of the tram Clydesdales out in the courtyard in the seaside town of Victor Harbor, South Australia. His work day is also a public demonstration of farrier skills. The Clydes pull tram cars over a wooden causeway to a nearby island and have been doing it every day in the old whaling port since the 1890s. The tram runs year round and is one of the last in the world. Budd has 14 Clydesdales to shoe. Photo from the Victor Harbor Times.

Life in the Contaminated Zone: Farriers Have to Play by the Rules in Australia

In order to keep horses shod and keep farriers working during the Equine Influenza (EI) epidemic in Australia's states of New South Wales and Queensland, the Master Farriers Association of New South Wales is now working under these rules:

1. Farriers who service race horses on a race course are not to service any other horse off that race course.
2. Farriers who shoe off a race course are not to service any race course.
3. Farriers who shoe pleasure horses are not to shoe any race horse
4. Farriers who shoe race horses are not to shoe pleasure horses.

These directives will remain indefinitely until further notice; legal action will be taken if these directives are not adhered to.

A new outbreak in a former "green" (uninfected) zone near the border between New South Wales and Victoria ups the risk of the disease spreading into the southern state, which is holding its breath with one of the world's greatest stakes races, the Melbourne Cup, coming up in early November. Equitana in Victoria has been cancelled for next month and the Royal Melbourne Show went on without a horse show last month.

Australian Farrier Blamed for Equine Influenza Outbreak and Nationwide Lockdown of Horses

It is Monday morning in Sydney and the news is out: it is believed that a farrier has been identified as the source of the country's first outbreak of Equine Influenza. The country has been in a national stoppage of horse activity, racing, breeding, and transport since Friday.

According to Australian Olympic rider Heath Ryan, quoted by the Australian Broadcast Company (ABC) and other sources, a farrier shod a Japanese Thoroughbred stallion in quarantine, then proceeded to Centennial Park in Sydney, where perhaps his tools or clothing infected the horses he shod there.

Some of those horses were on their way to a horse trial, where they in turn infected other horses...who then went home to farms strung out all over eastern Australia.

It's still a theory, at this point. It's an intriguing and sobering scenario.

Sadly, it is not known how many horses in Australia may be ill since some people do not want to report their sick horses for fear they will be forced to have them euthanized, according to one event organizer where sick horses are known to have competed. Authorities are desperately trying to track horses that may have come into contact with sick horses.

From the ABC article:

Australian equestrian coach Heath Ryan has five horses at the Warwick event and says the virus spread after a farrier shod an infected overseas stallion at a Sydney quarantine station.

"I think the farrier somehow managed to do his feet and then go on into Centennial Park and not be properly cleaned," he said.

"The Centennial horses in Sydney were shod and then went on to compete at the ranch in the Hunter Valley. And from there it's just gone in all directions."


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Australian Seminar on Shoeing the Thoroughbred Racehorse

Farrier John Godwin was key note speaker on shoeing the thoroughbred racehorse at a farriers’ workshop held at the University of Melbourne's Equine Centre at Weribee, Victoria in June. There were 47 attendees at the workshop sponsored by Racing Victoria, Virbac and Decron. The farrier’s seminars are a joint initiative with the Farrier’s & Blacksmith’s Association of Victoria, the Victorian Master Farrier’s Association and the Equine Centre.

John is a Hoofcare & Lameness subscriber who lives near Perth in Western Australia, where he specializes in racehorses.

The University of Melbourne's Equine Centre is a division of the Veterinary Clinic and Hospital which is a department of the Faculty of Veterinary Science. It is one of only four University teaching hospitals in Australia that also operates as a specialist equine referral clinic. The Equine Centre provides veterinary care for over 3000 horses 24 hours a day 365 days a year; and provides training for over 80 veterinary students each year.