BEVA Congress 2019 program to focus on sport horse hoofcare, lameness

"Keeping the sport horse on the road" will be the theme for the final day at this year’s British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Congress, to be held September 11-14, 2019, in Birmingham, England. The session on Saturday, September 14th will bring together leading vets, farriers and physiotherapists for an holistic look at keeping the sports horse at the top of its game.

Continuing Education: Rood & Riddle will host 2019 International Equine Podiatry Conference in Kentucky

On April 12-13, 2019, the curtain will rise on the first Rood and Riddle International Equine Podiatry Conference. Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky will host an in-depth education and skill development experience for 60 advanced veterinarians and farriers.

Stromsholm's November Newmarket Hoof Care Conference Focuses on Long Toes - Low Heels in the Competition Horse

Stromsholm, a leading British hoof care products supplier, will host the Newmarket Hoof Care Conference on November 17, 2014 in the Millennium Suite at Newmarket Racecourse in Newmarket, England.

Attendance is by advanced reservation only. Please call 01908 233909 to request a reservation.

World Equestrian Games Farriers: What's Inside WEG's Pop-Up Forge?

In a village of pop-up horse stables and instant schooling arenas sits the World Equestrian Games' pop-up vet clinic with its dedicated forge. Each of the five venues of the World Equestrian Games had its own forge. Don't blink, they will soon be gone!

British team farrier Haydn Price stopped by the forge at the main arena in Caen, where the dressage and show jumping took place, to take a few photos during the show jumping days at the end of the Games. Things were quiet, but you can see the way the forge was set up to handle the needs of horses during the event.

Gold Medal Farriers: Congratulations to World Equestrian Games Team Farriers

If London was the Twitter Olympics, Normandy is the Instagram WEG. Never have we seen so many images, thanks to our phones. Never have our thumbs been so sore from scrolling through so many images. 

The image above is embedded from Instagram. It was posted today on the official account of The Games but no credit is given to the farrier who forged it--or who took the photo or how they managed to take it with all three letters hot! Perhaps official Games farrier Luc Leroy masterminded this?

Team Farrier Haydn Price Takes On British Flag Duties at World Equestrian Games Opening Ceremony

Practice makes perfect: British team farrier Haydn Price at rehearsal earlier today for the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. (photo via Debbie Lee)

The World Equestrian Games have now begun! The world championships of the FEI disciplines kicked off in Normandy, France tonight with an exciting opening ceremony, and highlights are shown on a YouTube video.

But early news from Normandy is that long-time British team farrier Haydn Price of Wales was selected for additional duties: tending the British flag in the arena during the ceremony.

British Equine Veterinary Association Announces Foot and Farriery Topics, Speakers at 2014 BEVA Congress

The 2014 "BEVA Congress" or annual convention of the British Equine Veterinary Association, has announced the addition of a full day program on farriery and foot lameness for Saturday, September 13. The Congress will be held at the ICC in Birmingham, England, where five separate scientific programs will run concurrently in five lecture halls over the three days of congress,.

Ian Hughes of Wales Will Head Farrier Services at Hong Kong Olympics

Welsh farrier Ian Hughes DipWCF will be head of services in the farrier clinic at the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events, to be held in Hong Kong in August.

It's a long way from Mold, Wales to Hong Kong, but Ian Hughes DipWCF already knows the way. After heading up farrier services at the Olympic test event there in 2007, Ian has been named head of farrier services for both the 2008 Olympics and the Paralympics.

In an interview yesterday with Hoofcare and Lameness Journal, Ian shared some of the details of his upcoming assignment, which may be of interest to readers who are connected to horses that will be traveling to Hong Kong without a dedicated Team farrier, or who may aspire to this type of work.

Ian will be assisted by Greg Murray, head farrier for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and fellow British farrier Kelvin Lymer DipWCF of Worcestershire.

Ian spent 3 1/2 weeks in Hong Kong last year for the test event, trying out the new purpose-built forge area in the new veterinary center at Sha Tin racecourse. Only about 36 horses competed then, but the event put the footing, stables, humid climate, and facilities to a good test.

An estimated 240 horses are expected to arrive in Hong Kong; many will arrive in advance so that the horses can adjust to the climate and fulfill quarantine requirements. Only a few countries will send their own farriers, but many horses will arrive with spare sets of shoes all made up, and, hopefully, will have been shod before leaving home.

Ian said that he did not have much input on the design and layout of the forge and shoeing floor, and was glad to have had the test event to try it out in advance. The forge area was served by lots of fans but not air-conditioned, he said, "But it will be when we are there!" he remarked. He said that the workings of two double-burner gas forges cancel out the effects of an air-conditioner, so the shoeing floor would be separated from the forge area, so the horses (and the farriers) will be cool except when forges needs to be fired up.

Ian said that he would have to arrive before the horses to set up the service area, and that he would stay until September and serve the same role for the Para-Games. He'll need to be gone from his home in Wales for a total of eight weeks; he'll leave his busy practice in the hands of his two apprentices and his "qualified man" (a graduate farrier working as his employee).

Ian runs a general practice in Wales, and also serves as farrier consultant at Ashbrook Equine Hospital in Cheshire, England, one of Britain's leading clinics. He lectures on lameness one day a week at the veterinary college at the University of Liverpool.

One country whose horses Ian probably won't be shoeing will be those of his own Team GBR. Ian said that the British horses would probably be served by fellow Welshman Haydn Price and eventing specialist Brendan Murray. (You may remember my story about Brendan, who was one of the four escorts in the horse-drawn funeral procession of Princess Diana. According to tradition, the farrier must be present, in the event of a shoeing mishap on one of the horses pulling the gun carriage and casket.)

One note about "Olympic farriers" (and their tools, supplies, and equipment): Ian said that all gear will be shipped out several weeks in advance. Olympic protocol does not allow companies to make advertising claims that their products were used in the forge at Hong Kong. However, the policy is to allow nonreturnable donations of certain supplies, tools, and equipment that do not have strings attached.

Ian's announcement is great news, but I realize it should come as no surprise. Wales is a tiny country that has a penchant for producing farriers who excel on the international level. Calgary Stampede World Champion farriers Grant Moon, Billy Crothers, Richard Ellis, and James Blurton all are from Wales and come to mind, along with Haydn and Ian, and I remember from an earlier generation Glyn David and the late Tommy Williams excelling in the profession, too. I'm sure there are many, many more. John McEwen, chair of the FEI's veterinary committee and head vet for Team Great Britain, also lives in Wales.

Best of luck to Ian and all the farriers who head to Hong Kong this summer. It's great to see the role of farriers be recognized for the important part it plays in the safety and ultimate performance of the horses. The same is true if the farrier is working at a local horse show or the Olympics.

Read an interview with Ian Hughes for potential farrier apprentices.

Biomechanics expert Bob Colborne will team with Equinalysis gait evaluation system

At the British Equine Veterinary Association Conference in England earlier this month, Equinalysis announced that Robert "Bob" Colborne PhD of the University of Bristol (UK) has joined the firm as Advisor on Equine Biomechanics. He is currently program director of the equine science program at Bristol.

Bob is widely published in the area of joint mechanics and gait energetics in horses, dogs and humans and was part of the ICEL conference at Michigan State in 2004, where many Hoofcare & Lameness subscribers met him. He was an author with Hilary Clayton of the paper "Net joint moments and joint powers in horses with superficial digital flexor tendinitis", published in the American Journal of Veterinary Research.

Bob's role at Equinalysis will be to provide experience to Equinalysis in the continued development of its practices and procedures as well as consult with business partners, horse owners and insurance companies. Bob will advise users of the Equinalysis system on methods of data capture and analysis to ensure standardisation of practice, and to optimise the information yielded by a clinical gait analysis. His biomechanics background will compliment the firm's existing veterinary and farriery expertise from leading practitioners John McEwen and Haydn Price, respectively.

Bob said “I am delighted to be helping to make biomechanical analysis of equine gait accessible to those in the field who will benefit most from it.” He added, “Kinematic gait analysis offers a quantitative way to evaluate equine movement, and to objectively track changes occurring over time as a result of training or treatment.”

To learn more about Bob Colborne, visit http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Anatomy/about/staff/Colbourne.htm.

To learn more about Equinalysis, vist
http://www.equinalysis.co.uk

Photo: Equinalysis trade stand at BEVA Congress in September. Principals include farrier Haydn Price, veterinary advisor John McEwen, and human sportsmedicine doctor John Davies. Biomechanics expert Bob Colborne of the University of Bristol has now joined the team.

Clydesdale shoeing in Scotland: Is "couping" a welfare concern or standard practice?

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 team leader Haydn Price, DipWCF, the test horse has already been shod with its traditional shoes. 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.

What is couping?  

“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 protruding 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; this is a desired conformation in the breed. With the help of the shoes, an optical illusion is created: the hind legs appear as one limb.

How does couping affect the horse?  

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 stand on hard-floored stables and must be transported to shows on solid floors.

Comparative testing of couped and normally-shod horses  

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.

The modern Clydesdale horse has been intentionally bred for characteristics that make it look quite different from this ideal stallion painted in 1820 by artist John Herring. Long legs were not an advantage to a horse working on rough ground in Scotland in the 1800s.

Welfare implications of couping  

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.

(See "Cruelty Charged in Scottish Clydesdale Shoeing" published in  the print edition of Hoofcare and Lameness 74.)  

In the United States and Canada, single-calked three-quarter shoes are in widespread use for the hind feet of show draft horses. There are no known regulations on how draft horses may be shod for shows and no known public complaints of abuse in the United States. The terminology of "couping" is not generally used in the United States to describe this type of shoeing.

More on couping  

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, particularly by British speaker Roger Clark, FWCF(Hons).

Roger Clark, FWCF(Hons) (left) with Disney World heavy horse farrier Gary Wade at the Tufts Vet School conference on heavy horse shoeing.

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.

Top photo: Clydesdale shoeing competition at the Royal Highland Show, Scotland, by David McCrone, used with permission.