Barefoot Research: What Are the Consequences of Shoe Removal for Trotting Racehorses?

How are the health, comfort and wear of the horse's feet affected when shoes are removed for racing? A research special report from Hippolia Foundation and CIRALE-ENVA

Text and images © CIRALE-ENVA and/or Hoofcare Publishing 

No reproduction or copying without permission

Professor Denoix

Special thanks to researcher Claire Moiroud and Professor Jean-Marie Denoix, who kindly arranged to share this research project with Hoofcare Publishing. This text is an approved, verbatim translation of a French document and is published to coincide with the excitement of the Prix d’Amerique, one of the world’s great trotting races, at Vincennes, France on Sunday, January 25. That race has been won by horses using the methods described in this article.

Introduction
In French harness racing, it is customary for the trainer to remove the shoes of some horses before races. "Relieve the foot, increase the speed"...that is the goal. Perhaps the immediate benefits seem obvious, but no study has addressed the risks to the horse itself in terms of possible discomfort and especially the risk of excess wear to the feet. That has now been accomplished through the work of the CIRALE-ENVA Hippolia team in Normandy, France.

Budweiser Clydesdales "Lost Dog" Super Bowl Commercial: Stock Up on Beer and Tissues

Start your shopping list now. Whether host or guest at an annual Super Bowl party, you must be prepared with the universal classics your friends know and love: Nachos. Beer. Chicken wings. Chili. Maybe some more beer. That great dip that you spilled on the couch last year. (Oops!)

And don't forget to pick up a big box of tissues.

Tissues? You're going need them. And not to mop up the spilled dip. You've read this spoiler, it's too late: once the Budweiser Clydesdales' "Lost Dog" Super Bowl commercial hits the screen, there won't be a dry eye in the Man Cave.

Video U: Watch the UMaine Conference "The Science Behind the FEI White Paper on Equine Arena Surfaces"

On December 7, 2014, a very special seminar took place at the University of Maine at Orono's Witter Farm. You'll wish you had been there. The conference was titled, "For Veterinarians and Farriers - The Science Behind the FEI White Paper on Equine Arena Surfaces."

But maybe it's not too late: we can bring the conference to you.

UC Davis Hosts 29th Charles Heumphreus Memorial Lecture for Farriers on January 24

Date: January 24, 2015

Time: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Location: Gladys Valley Hall, Room 1020, 

and covered arena at Large Animal Clinic

University of California at Davis Campus

Davis, California

The Annual Report: Wrapping up 2014 with a big blog bow

Happy New Year!

Last week, you read about the Hoof Blog's favorite stories based on numbers. Now, we’ll dissect the blog for you to highlight some stories you might like to bookmark or share, or maybe read for the first time, if you missed them.

Think of this as an index for future reference. You can refer back to it to find stories. Interspersed are some favorite images from the year, which may or may not relate to the text. At the end are some beyond-the-Hoof Blog media files that you can bookmark, download and (hopefully) share.

What You Like: Most Popular Hoof Blog Stories of 2014 Featured Clydesdales, Charley and Race/Show Horse Hooves

Some people watch parades and football games on New Year's Day. Not me, I want to crunch the numbers and see what stories resonated with readers over the year.

Today I found that there are definite trends in what brings large numbers of people to this blog, and that the way people read the blog has definitely evolved.

An Amputee Donkey in Egypt Walks Again--on a Recycled Artificial Human Leg

Donkeys figure quite prominently in the original Christmas story, so why not have one star on the Hoof Blog on Christmas Eve? Hector the Egyptian donkey is making news around the world this Christmas, and bringing smiles to faces wherever his story is told or read.

Veterinary Equine Podiatry Group Announced at 2014 AAEP Convention, Will Pursue Board Specialization Status

At the 60th Annual Convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), held December 5 to 9, 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Veterinary Equine Podiatry Group, Inc. publicly announced its existence and intended mission.

Barefoot Hoofcare Practices Subject of British Government Survey to Veterinarians

A government survey of British veterinarians is taking no prisoners and leaving no stones unturned. While the clear goal of the newly-launched Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ("Defra") online survey is to collect veterinarians' comments on what they have seen and thought about barefoot hoofcare practices in the field, it's obvious that farriers are under this microscope as well.

No one has ever said it in quite such succinct words, or asked from so many angles, however.

Vive St Eloi...and the Spirit of the Monuments Men: Painting of Farrier Patron Saint Returns to Owner

It's the first week in December, time to toast all those French farriers and veterinarians and jockeys who are taking the day off (Monday or Wednesday, depending on your preference) in honor of their patron saint.

But we have something else to toast this St Eloi's Day. Call it an idea whose time came round at last, or call it the influence of Hollywood or the charm of George Clooney and Matt Damon. Whatever you call it, it makes a great blog story.

Because you couldn't make this kind of thing up. Truth really is stranger than fiction sometimes.

Hoof Explorer: Stop Motion Anatomy Video Builds an Equine Foot--But Don't Think About It

The Hoof Explorer anatomy toolbox website is at it again. Be sure to bookmark this little video clip to add to your next PowerPoint presentation. But then sit back and enjoy it.

And stop thinking so hard.

Early American Hoof Boots: Lewis and Clark Needed Buffalo Hide Moccasins for Their Barefoot Horses in 1806

Once again, many trips to the library and late nights on the Internet yield evidence that ingenious and impromptu hoofcare--or perhaps untimely hoof problems--may have changed the course of history.

One of the most remarkable documents of American literature isn't anything like a Mark Twain novel or a Walt Whitman poem or an Arthur Miller play. It's the real thing, a day-by-day account of one of the bravest and most extraordinary undertakings in the young USA: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's river and overland expedition to explore the west and see what was at the headwaters of the Missouri River--and beyond. And it was recorded in a journal covered in elkskin.

The journal survives today. Buried in the pages are beautiful drawings of fish, birds and antelope that had never been seen east of the Mississippi. But if you can read the script, it's also a heck of a horse story.

BEVA Congress Farriery Day Asks Key Questions about Evidence-Based Hoofcare

“What would you do?”

That was the question at the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Congress Farriery Day earlier this fall in Birmingham, England.  One thing that came out of this day long poking and prodding of contemporary farriery was that you might think a bit before answering that question the next time someone poses it.

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.

Breeders Cup Classic: Will It Be a Battle of the Specialist Horseshoes?

Will it be 3/4 shoes by a head? Nailed on glue-ons by three lengths? Or tabbed glue-on shoes in an exciting photo finish?

British Non-Farrier Found Guilty of Over-Trimming, Gluing Hoof Boots; Charged as Animal Welfare Act Violations

The following information is being printed verbatim, except where noted in italics and where spelling has been Americanized. This is a document created by the Farriers Registration Council in the United Kingdom. Hoofcare Publishing requested a copy of this document today and was kindly sent this for publication.

On 2 October 2014, Mr Ben Street of Hixon, Stafford (England) was found guilty at Stafford Magistrates’ Court of causing unnecessary suffering to a horse, and failing to take reasonable steps to ensure good practice in protecting a horse from pain, suffering, and/or disease by gluing and sealing hoof boots.

Guts. Glory. Horseshoes: Farrier Travis Baker Drives a Dodge.

"Farrier" (Full Version-HD) from Fran Jurga on Vimeo.
.

Is this an ad for Ram Trucks, farriery as a career, or California as a place to live the good life? Maybe it's a little bit of all three. Travis Baker's farrier life in California looks good from behind the wheel of a new Dodge Ram pickup.

Biomechanics and Uses of Wide Toe, Egg Bar and Heart Bar Horseshoes: Research by Dr. Jenny Hagen via Werkman's E-Lecture Series

Werkman Horseshoes in The Netherlands has launched a video lecture series with German veterinarian and hoof researcher Jenny Hagen. This is a still from one of the videos, to show you the rich visual content.

You'll need 58 minutes. Lock the door. Turn off your phone. Draw the shades. Your assignment is to watch these videos, part of the new E-Lectures video series from Werkman Horseshoes in The Netherlands.

BEVA Congress: Ohio State’s Professor Belknap Reports on US and UK Farrier-Vet Relations Survey

At the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) 2014 Congress in Birmingham, England last month, Professor James K. Belknap DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVS, of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine reported on an Internet survey he conducted this summer.

Professor Belknap surveyed farriers in the United States and Great Britain about their involvement with veterinarians in the treatment of laminitis and asked for their feedback about working relationships with veterinarians on foot cases. The survey also asked how farriers perceived the level to which the success or limitations of the farrier-vet relationship may affect the outcomes of cases or the perceptions of clients.

Hooves@War: Australian Farrier John Jolly Died at Gallipoli

If you happen to be in Canberra, the capital of Australia, on November 3, 2014, look at the Australian War Memorial. It's the Australian equivalent of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Projected on it will be the name of John Joshua Jolly.