All for Want of a Shoe: Lost Horseshoes Subject of Nine-Hour Irish Turf Tribunal and Australian Rule Change

One of horse sports' great wild cards has always been the lost shoe. Some horses lose a shoe and stop in their tracks. Some keep running and jumping--even winning. Sometimes the shoe sparkles in the sun. Sometimes it's never found.

Some people just shrug it off. Some people want to do something about it. And sometimes it's just a mystery. 

World Equestrian Games Farriers: Other Countries Heard From

The World Equestrian Games had a staff of French farriers on staff at the vet hospital; here you see two credentials for Jean Michel Goubault and Fabrice Cave. Nigel said they worked at Haras du Pin, the National Stud in Normandy.

The whole world was there, so there were bound to be more farrier pictures to show you. Thanks to British farrier Nigel Perrott, eventing team farrier for Ireland, who snapped (and shared) these photos.

Badminton' Farriers Prize 2014: Irish Farrier Wins Best Shod Prize

Irish rider Clare Abbott trotted up the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Euro Prince for the 4* Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials last week. Not only did the horse complete the extremely difficult test in his first outing at the highest level of the sport, he also won the "best shod" prize for his farrier. (Photo courtesy of Professional Riders Organization, used with permission)

Whether it’s the list of those who have shod Kentucky Derby winners, or the list of the farriers behind (or underneath) the “Best Shod” horse each year at England’s Badminton Horse Trials, these are two lists that define the hard work that farriers do, and one of the few times in the year that the horse world notices shoes or shoers.

The Badminton list grew a little longer yesterday when not just a new name was added, but a new nation. Neil Dickson took the plaque of the Worshipful Company of Farriers aboard a plane last night and headed back across the Irish Sea to of County Down, in Northern Ireland.

Article © Hoofcare Publishing. If you'd like to re-publish, summarize or otherwise re-use the research that went into this article, please contact the publisher.

Ireland Lists 49 Farrier Forges and Smithies on "Registered Buildings" List

Remnants of an old forge near Castle Dermot in Kildare, Ireland.

"Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience 
and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race." 
- James Joyce, 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'

There's no place like Ireland when it comes to poetry from the forge. Whether it's a list of references from Joyce, or the brooding Nobel Prize winning "Door into the Dark" poem about the farrier by Seamus Heaney, or the tragic classic folksong "The Blacksmith's Letter", the Irish arts seem right at home in the forge.

The Gaelic word for forge or smithy is "cérdcha", pronounced "cartha", and the forge was important not just to the horsemen and the smith himself, but to the whole community, so the architecture naturally had stature. But does anyone remember that today, when farriers show up in vans and trucks?

St Patrick's Day seems like a perfect time to share some good news for history and architecture fans, as well as art and poetry and mythology fans. The government workers of Ireland may have taken today off to celebrate the holiday, but they have been very hard at work in recent years, and have some interesting information to share.

Yes, the famous Enniskerry forge in Kilgarran, County Wicklow is in the survey; it tells us that it was built in 1855.

Ireland has a project called the National Survey of Architectural Heritage, and one of the many types of buildings that they have selected to survey and document is the classic Irish smithy: they have selected 49 still-standing smithies, forges, and shoeing shops scattered around the Emerald Isle.

Another forge in County Wicklow.

The stated purpose of the survey is to "identify, record, and evaluate the post-1700 architectural heritage of Ireland, uniformly and consistently as an aid in the protection and conservation of the built heritage."

Unlike other national architectural surveys, Ireland's considers smithies worthy of cataloging. 

Imagine, if you will, van-loads of surveyors and photographers and historians driving around the countryside collecting the measurements and histories of each of these buildings. And then compiling all that information into a database that can be searched and referenced.

The forges don't all have horseshoe doors, but they all do
seem to be a bit magical. This one is in County Westmeath.

For years, I've talked about organizing a van-load of my own. I'd fill it with people who appreciate the old forges with horseshoe doorways. Wouldn't you like to see some of them before they all disappear or are eagerly converted by architects into homes for people who have never stood in a real forge?

Unfortunately, many of the oldest shoeing shops were situated so that ever-widening roads spelled their inevitable demolition. If there are this many left in the tiny country, can you imagine how many there once were?

Fewer seem to be left in Great Britain, but Ireland has plenty to see. The problem is that many are described in the survey as "derelict". In the photos, they may lack a roof, or a wall, or a couple of walls. But something still stands to let you know that these places mattered, back in the day.

Forges were built to last, as if the smiths who constructed them had no reason not to believe that they would be needed forever. For many fathers, they were rock-solid legacies to pass on to their sons. While many are similar, no two are exactly alike.

This lovely forge near Antrim Castle still stands; notice the heel calks on the doorframe's shoe. It is not in the Survey, however,  because it is in Northern Ireland.

I wonder if there are some Americans who will read this article and head for Ireland to buy one (or more) of these old landmarks so they can re-erect them in America. Some Irish buildings have crossed the Atlantic, though I haven't heard of any forges doing that--yet. I don't think that is what the Irish government or I have in mind. Better to head to Ireland and go into the files of the Survey, get dimensions and proportions and details, and build one of your own here.

Make no mistake: smithies are just one of dozens of categories of common and uncommon buildings listed in the survey. The government has located and identified and surveyed the forges, but they are not protected from demolition or development or conversion.

A page from the survey; this is the result of a search for survyed smithies in County Meath. There may well be more that were not in the survey, or that haven't been found yet because they are on private property.

Do you speak architecture? Here's a sample listing of one forge:

Detached three-bay single-story rubble stone former forge, c.1850, with single-bay single-story side elevation to west having horse shoe-shaped integral carriageway. Reroofed, c.1930. Now disused. Gable-ended roof. Replacement corrugated-iron, c.1930. Iron ridge tiles. Rendered coping to gables. No rainwater goods. Rubble stone walls. Square-headed window openings. Cut-stone lintels. Timber paneled doors. Horse shoe-shaped integral carriageway to side elevation to west. Cut-granite surround with 'nail holes'. Inscribed benchmark to surround. Set back from road perpendicular to road in own grounds with side (west) elevation fronting on to road.

Appraisal: This forge is a fine, small-scale building that is testament to the small-scale industry of County Kildare and which is therefore of considerable social and historic importance - the building is also testament to an age before the automobile when the local community relied on horse power for transport and farming activities. Although now disused and in poor repair, the building retains some of its original character, features and materials. The construction of the building is of interest and combines rubble stone with more refined cut-granite dressings. Important surviving early salient features include the cut-stone dressings to the openings, in particular the appropriate surround to the integral carriageway that is also furnished with nail holes. The inscribed benchmark to the surround is also of scientific and social interest, having been used by the Ordnance Survey in the early preparation of maps. The forge is attractively located perpendicular to the road side and is a pleasant and prominent landmark in the locality.

-----------------------------------------

Not all forges were built to last. This thatched one in County Limerick might not be standing. It looks like everyone in this photo is packed up and leaving the farrier behind. Maybe he was ready to leave and someone showed up with that donkey to trim.

They're just sitting there. The ones in use rarely, if ever, have a horse inside; many have become gas stations or homes or shops or tearooms.

I know there are people who go to Ireland to see the castles, or the foxhunts, or the wolfounds or the Galway hooker sailboats. People have come to the defense of these bits of history and tradition, and they want to experience them, preserve them, and treasure them.

Now the government has, almost by accident, created a treasure map for anyone who wants to experience a very special type of old building that (almost) no one would dream of constructing any more. But there they are, waiting to be photographed and visited and appreciated for what they were. And still are.

To learn more, you can sift through the entire log of smithies and forges on the website: http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/.

Read also:
The Blacksmith and His Forge in Ancient Ireland

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; you are reading the online news for Hoofcare and Lameness Publishing. Please, no re-use of text or images without permission--please share links or use social media sharing instead. Do not copy and paste text or images--thank you! (Please ask if you would like to receive permission.)

In addition to reading directly online, you may also receive email "alerts" containing headlines and links(requires signup in box at top right of blog page).

The helpful "translator" tool in the right sidebar will convert this article (approximately) to the language of your choice.

To share this article on Facebook and other social media, click on the small symbols below the labels. Be sure to "like" the Hoofcare and Lameness Facebook page and click on "get notifications" under the page's "like" button to keep up with the hoof news on Facebook. Or, paste this article's address from the browser bar into your post.

Questions or problems with this site? Click here to send an email hoofblog@gmail.com.  

Disclosure of Material Connection: No direct compensation was paid for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

History Detectives: What Do You Notice About These Irish Farriers?

 Irish Farriers at the Barracks, Waterford, 1909

You don't need to wear a funny cap and carry a magnifying glass to be able to apply Sherlock Holmes's "deductive reasoning" to old photos of farriers. Well, a magnifying glass might be helpful.

St Nicholas Abbey Euthanized After Surgery for Severe Colic Today; Laminitis "Was Resolving"

St Nicholas Abbey won the Coronation Cup three times. He also won the Breeders Cup Turf. He was ridden by his trainer's teenage son, and his story is made for Hollywood. Joseph O'Brien was growing quickly, though, and his boots were never quite tall enough. He and the colt made an unforgettable team.

The news from Ireland this morning is tragic. The long-suffering but hard-fighting champion Thoroughbred colt St Nicholas Abbey has been euthanized following colic surgery.

Christmas with Laminitis Video: St Nicholas Abbey Five-Month Update from Coolmore in Ireland

St Nicholas Abbey - Five months on from Coolmore Stud on Vimeo.

This video is shown on The Hoof Blog with permission of Coolmore Stud. Click the "play" icon to begin the video.

It's Christmas Eve and you can count your blessings. Count your blessings especially if you are a horse that doesn't have laminitis.

Laminitis Stalks Champion: All Hands on Deck as Coolmore Reports St Nicholas Abbey Diagnosed with Mild Signs of Dreaded Hoof Disease in Ireland

Coolmore Stud has posted the following news on their website:

"St Nicholas Abbey has suffered a setback over the last 24 hours, having developed mild laminitic changes in the left fore. This is disappointing, as he is now weightbearing and walking well on the operated (fractured) leg which has healed amazingly well to date.

St Nicholas Abbey Update: Healing Leg Fracture and the Origin of His Name

Champion racehorse St Nicholas Abbey in his stall at the Fethard Equine Hospital in Ireland, where he is recovering from a fractured pastern suffered while training at the nearby Ballydoyle training center of Coolmore's racing division head trainer Aidan O'Brien.

Today Coolmore Stud released an update on injured racehorse St Nicholas Abbey:

"While still having a guarded prognosis St Nicholas Abbey has had his best week since his initial surgery!

The Nobel Prize for Farrier Poetry: Looking Through Seamus Heaney's "Door into the Dark"

One of the world's greatest poets died on Friday. Ireland's Seamus Heaney was one of those people who bridged the past and the present with verse so deft you were never sure where time fit into the story or if time matters anymore. He grew up in Northern Ireland in the 1940s and went out into the world through his words, winning the Nobel Prize for poetry as he wandered.

St Nicholas Abbey Fracture Fixation Pin Breaks

The horizontal steel pin (top of radiograph, red arrow) was designed to help the injured Thoroughbred bear weight in spite of the fracture in his pastern. This pin, as you can see, is broken and had to be removed. (photo provided by Coolmore Stud)

An important announcement from Coolmore Stud was released today. Coolmore has been judiciously reporting both the good and bad news throughout the ordeal of a fractured pastern suffered while galloping to multiple Group I winner and stud prospect St Nicholas Abbey.

Vet Video: Fractured Pastern Surgically Repaired on Champion St Nicholas Abbey; Details on Work by Irish-American Surgical/Medical Team

A report on the injury, surgery, illness and recovery of Breeders Cup winner St Nicholas Abbey has been provided by Coolmore Stud, ten days after the initial injury, which happened at the training center in Ireland.

CIA Director Nominee John O. Brennan Has Ties to Farrier World

One of the remaining forges in Kilkenny, Ireland. This one is in Kilfane. It has
three bays; the center one has a horseshoe-arch doorway. It was built from local limestone
around 1875 and, according to records, it is empty and in disrepair.

The pubs are buzzing in Ireland tonight. And the forge fires are flaring just a little higher, knowing that half a world away, a son of one of their own may soon take on one of the most important jobs in the world.

Irish Farrier Radio Documentary: The Sound of History

Have you ever been to Ireland? Just click on the "play" icon and you can go there, for a half-hour or so, at least. But hang on tight--you're going to go back in time.

The year was 1977, and Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTE, the national broadcast service in Ireland) is interested in producing a radio documentary about farriers. It's a trade with one foot in the past and one in the future, and they select a representative group spread across the land from the city streets of Dublin to the wild western counties.

It did make it on the air, but then it went into a vault, never to be heard again. Until, of course, the Internet and the Hoof Blog came along. RTE very kindly gave permission for the entire broadcast to be mounted on the blog.

If you don't understand the very beginning, don't worry: it's in Gaelic!

About halfway through, the crew is in Dublin, where they are entertained by the well-known farrier John Boyne, who died of a heart attack two years ago. Boyne was the farrier at the Royal Dublin Show for many years, and shod the horses of the Irish showjumping team at the Army stables in Dublin. Americans might tip their hats to John; he was the farrier who trained Seamus Brady, longtime US Equestrian Team farrier, among many others.

John Boyne shod the champions like Boomerange, but he also shod the street horses in Dublin, and his was the last forge in the city. That's an important fact, since Dublin had a city ordinance that required that any horse working on the city streets had to be shod.

Thanks to this documentary, John Boyne's voice can still be heard.

The interviewer turns away from John at one point and asks questions of his lowly apprentice, Gerry. He's from the north of Ireland, County Tyrone. He represents "the future" of farriery, obviously.

Gerard Laverty, AWCF

As I listened, something in my head clicked. I knew that voice. It was Gerard Laverty, who has often been on this blog. He left Ireland and emigrated to Canada. What he learned in John Boyne's forge in Dublin has served him well; he is known head of the farrier school at Kwantlen University in British Columbia and has risen to be an Associate of the Worshipful Company of Farriers.

Back in 1977, he was handing tools to John Boyne. But one morning in November 2012, he heard his young voice bounce back at him across the years:

"I was back in Dublin, 1977. A first-year apprentice in the shop on Pearce Street, which still is in operation with his son John Jr. I even have a small part on the show.

"John was my boss for three years. He was quite a character. Looked like he’d rob you blind but had a heart of gold. Loved his family, what he did, and the connection to the past.

" He was happiest when he could help to promote an apprentice or give credit to someone just starting their business. He had a wonderful sense of humor and it goes without saying he loved to tell stories. He was an astute businessman and seemed to juggle the work of running a multi-farrier shop with several young apprentices with little fuss.

"He was a consummate horseman with a great understanding of lameness and disease. Yet he balanced that with a commonsense approach to shoeing.

"John was part of a generation of farriers that is fast disappearing. When he trained in the family shop, he was the 'floorman', one of a two-man team, the other being the 'fireman'.

"I remember him telling me when he started his business he'd go to his clients by city bus. As soon as possible, he hired a fireman and built his business from that meager start.

"While I was with John he mentioned Seamus Brady and how Seamus had come back to visit while he was in Dublin with the U.S.Equestrian Team (for the Royal Dublin Show). Other than that he laid no claim to giving Seamus his solid start.

"I guess that is John at his best, always content to stand in the shadow and celebrate success for us all.

"John Furlong was a skilled blacksmith who lived just south of Dublin, in Bray. Every time I met him, I wanted to go spend time in the shop with him. Never did. 

"I’ve forgotten the name of the other smith from the west of Ireland who made the display of corrective shoes. I think he is the fellow I was originally supposed to train with. He suffered a heart attack so instead I came to Dublin to work in the shop with John. 

"John McLauglin is still shoeing in Dublin and his younger brother, I've forgotten his name. I think it was Kevin, has worked for some of the biggest names in the Thoroughbred industry (including Coolmore).

"Hearing 'Boyner', as we all called him, transported me across a continent, an ocean and thirty-five years. Bonnie, my wife, wise woman that she is, says that, after smell, sound is the best sense to recall memories. 

"I sure felt that this morning. Sometimes to take a trip you really don’t need to leave home."

I'm sure many of the people who listen to this documentary have never been to Ireland. But maybe now their ears have.

To learn more:

Visit for the RTE page about this documentary.
Home page for RTE's archive of documentaries on all subjects.

--written by Fran Jurga

If you like what you read on The Hoof Blog, please sign up for the email service at the top right of the page; this insures that you will be sent an email on days when the blog has new articles. 


© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. 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.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Camelot's Epsom Derby Victory Footnote: American Farrier Jeff Henderson

C A M E L O T

Trainer: Irish 

Foaled in: Great Britain

Bred by: Bahrain's prince

Owners: Irish/British

Jockey: Irish
Exercise rider: Japanese

Sire: French-trained

Grandsire: Legendary Australian sire

Farrier: American
Horseshoes: Dutch

The most exciting horse in the world today is not Australia's Black Caviar. It's not American Triple Crown candidate I'll Have Another. It's not even superstar British sprinter Frankel. Move over, Zenyatta and Totilas, there's a new horse in the headlines.

It's a horse with a list of international connections that you'll need the fingers on both your hands to count.

British Triple Crown contender Camelot has a footnote of international interest. The colt has unusual face markings and white untrimmed whiskers on his muzzle. (Photo by Monkeywing)

But when you look at his feet, forget the Irish and English stereotypes. Forget tweed caps and dark, smoky smiddies. Think stars and stripes, wide open spaces, and the Great State of Texas.

Rood + Riddle Equine Hospital Podiatry 

Center's Jeff Henderson CJF

Camelot--just like 2011 Breeders Cup Turf champion St Nicholas Abbey who won the Coronation Cup at Epsom today right after the Derby--has a special hoofcare consultant from the USA. By way of Texas.

Jeff Henderson, a transplanted Texan who continues to flourish as a Kentucky transplant, travels to Ireland to provide specialist services to the Ballydoyle training center of trainer Aidan O'Brien. 

Jeff works with Scott Morrison DVM in the podiatry referral service of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital's Podiatry Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

Henderson has become a frequent flyer commuter to Ireland to shoe for O'Brien; he also took over St. Nicholas Abbey, who had been worked on in the past by Morrison, and also worked on Kentucky Derby starter Daddy Long Legs, among others.

Jeff said that Camelot's hoofcare needs were simple; Camelot is shod with Kerckhaert raceplates--no glue, no patches.

Ballydoyle employs two full-time farriers in addition to Henderson and Morrison's consulting services.

Today's stunning win of the famed Epsom Derby in England means that three-year-old Thoroughbred Camelot has won 2/3 of the British Triple Crown. 

St Nicholas Abbey on his way to victory in the Coronation Cup. (Photo by Monkeywing)

It's been 34 years since a horse has won the Triple Crown in the USA. I'll Have Another is 2/3 of the way there this year, and goes for the big honor a week from today at New York's Belmont Park.

But in England, the drought has been even longer; no horse has won the Triple Crown there since Nijinsky won the 2,000 Guineas, the Derby and the St Leger in 1973. Camelot may attempt the crown, or his owners and trainer might choose other options.

Camelot is trained by Aiden O'Brien at Coolmore's Ballydoyle training center in Ireland, where footnotes to victories abound. A special aspect to his victory today is that he was ridden by O'Brien's teenage son, Joseph.

The victories by Camelot and St Nicholas Abbey are especially sweet for Coolmore; both winners are  by their late, great stud Montjeu, who became ill and was euthanized this spring at the age of 16 after siring (so far) four winners of the Epsom Derby.

To increase the international connections of Camelot, his lineage goes back to the great Hungarian mare of the 1870s, Kincsem, undefeated in 54 starts, including major events in Austria, Hungary, Germany, France and England, according to the experts at pedigreeconsultants.com.

In basic American breeding terms that US Hoof Blog readers and Thoroughbred racing fans can celebrate, Camelot is from the European continuation of Canada's Northern Dancer's dynasty on the sire side and Kentucky's Mr. Prospector line on his dam's side.

Horse behavior observers may have noticed that Camelot wore the comforting Monty Roberts-designed "barrier blanket" into the starting gate yesterday. His sire, Montjeu, had to be ridden into the paddock by his groom, according to Thoroughbred Daily News.

The horse's name reflects much more than a famous Broadway musical; Camelot was the legendary mythical kingdom of Britain's King Arthur and his knights.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. 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.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Guinness TV Commercials for St Patrick's Day

If you can't be at a St Patrick's Day parade today, you can feel the spirit of the day with a few great Guinness commercials. It might be safer, too.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Whatever you do today, there's a chance you might run into some of the products or culture spawned by the Guinness Brewery of Dublin, Ireland.

Hillside Horse Gets a Jockey...After 3000 Years, Thanks to Irish Bookmaker Prank

England's Uffington Horse is a 3000-year-old iconic carving into a chalky hillside. Was it designed by the ancient Celts as a sign to the gods, like some sort of equestrian crop circle? No one really knows. It's always been there, galloping freely across the vast clear hillsides.

Until this week, that is, when the local people woke up to find a jockey on the horse. and reins.

The amazing publicity stunt was pulled off by the Irish online gambling shop ("bookmaker") Paddy Power. We're in the final run-up to the Cheltenham Festival of National Hunt racing (steeplechasing, more or less, in US racing terms) and an annual prank was expected.

As you can see in the video, they didn't carve the soil, but rather used canvas to create the rider.

Paddy Power is known for its pranks and its controversial (and usually quite humorous) television commercials about gambling.

If you needed to end the week with a smile, this should do it.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. 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.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Deformity in Motion: Neglected Hooves Respond in Ireland

Johnny and James are two otherwise anonymous donkeys in Ireland who have been lucky enough to be rescued and find some kind people at The Donkey Sanctuary there.

Horses and ponies and donkeys with overgrown hooves are not uncommon to find. We routinely see photos of them when they are rescued by agencies or brought to farriers and vets for care.

But Johnny and James are different because these are not still shots, these are videos. You can see not just how overgrown they are, but that these strong, adaptable donkeys can still get around. They've had to adapt their gait a bit, perhaps, but they're still on the move.

We are always taught that the hoof wall bears the horse's weight and that the weight is transferred down the bony column of the limb. But nature obviously has a plan B, so that the horse can transfer its weight to the heels.

Another thing we're taught is that the toe is the strongest part of the hoof and the heel is the weakest and most deformable. And yet in these donkeys and so many other neglected equines, the heels are standing up to the job. The foot doesn't collapse, the heels don't rupture.

The second video shows that Johnny began to recover once his feet were under him again. The sanctuary mentioned that the hooves were radiographed and that the trim would be fine-tuned over the weeks to come until his weightbearing and gait could be normalized.

The hoof has to be one of the most adaptive structures in nature, yet we always try to make it conform to our ideal--whatever that may be. Surely there is a sweet spot for every hoof, a place where that foot finds optimal function.

The trick is to find it, to find it before it is too late, and to keep the hoof shape and position under the limb within a range of that spot throughout the animal's life.

Visit The Donkey Sanctuary web site to learn more about the charity's work on behalf of donkeys in Ireland--and everywhere.

$176 + $11 P+H US only; ready to ship: Tel 978 281 3222, fax 978 283 8775, email: books@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. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. 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.  
 

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

The Royal Thoroughbred Tour: Irish Farriers Greet Britain's Queen Elizabeth at National Stud

When Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth set her royal foot on Irish soil last week, it was the first of her family's to do so since the Republic of Ireland gained complete independence from British rule.

But she didn't waste much time getting to the bits of Ireland that she'd probably been dying to see, like the Irish National Stud, the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud, and the legendary Coolmore Stud. All are leading Thoroughbred breeding establishments where forebears of the Queen's horses may have begun their lives or where she may have sent her mares to be bred, or where the horses originated who beat her own at Epsom or Newmarket or Ascot.

And at her first stop, the legendary Irish National Stud in County Kildare on the edge of the sweeping Curragh plains gallops, the Queen was appropriately greeted by a group of farriers.

Stud director Chryss O'Reilly escorted the Queen around the National Stud. I'm sorry I don't know who the gentleman in black is. Notice the shoe boards and signage about Irish farriery in the background. Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/Fotoglif

When I saw this press photo with the shoe specimen boards in the background, I was soon on Skype to Martin Leahy, farrier at the Stud. It's hard to imagine, but even Martin seemed a little excited by what had transpired that afternoon. "She's actually a very nice lady," Martin reported, "and I'd say she'd be quite spry for her age, now." (The Queen is 85 years old.)
  
In other words, yes, he had met her and Prince Philip and he was quite pleased about it.

Also meeting the Queen were Irish Farrier Authority directors John Brennan, John O'Connell, and Jeremy Stanley, and Irish Farrier School coordinator Sue Lilley, who was widely interviewed in the press, as well as a crew of apprentices who were set up and working to impress the Queen. You can hear their anvils in the background of the video when the Queen is watching the jockey student on the simulator horse.

I think the Queen enjoyed herself at the Irish National Stud. Pool/Reuters/John Stillwell photo

This looks like the smile of someone who is really enjoying herself. I imagine it was snapped when she saw the farriers up ahead and she knew she could relax a bit. Somehow I think relaxing was probably the farthest thing from their minds but I'm sure she left with a good impression of Irish farriery and farriers, and with an anvil ringing in her royal ears.

Congratulations to Martin and all our friends in the Irish Master Farriers Association and at the Irish Farrier School and the Stud for what Sue Lilley described as "the biggest day of our lives."

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission.  
 

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofBlog
 

Read special Facebook-only news and links when you "like" the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page
 

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Irish Farrier Wins Alltech's World Equestrian Games Trip

Irish farrier Damien Gallagher let some sparks fly when he learned he would be coming to America as the guest of Alltech to attend the World Equestrian Games next month.

Damien Gallagher, a farrier from remote County Donegal in northwest Ireland, will be coming to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games next month at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

No, he's not one of the Irish team farriers. No, he's not a personal farrier to an Irish rider. He won't be packing an apron, and he probably won't be checking a toolbox through customs. What he will be is a VIP. Damien is on the list to be a guest of Alltech, title sponsor of the Games and international horse feed manufacturer.

Customers were invited to fill out entry forms accompanied by a “golden ticket” that was affixed to thousands of Gain Horse Feed bags in Ireland over the past number of months; the contest was to devise a slogan extolling the benefits of the feed, which is the official Irish Animal Health and Nutrition Partner of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

After an exhaustive trawl through more than 5000 slogans submitted, the judges agreed that Damien’s entry best summed up the objectives and achievements that go hand in hand with Alltech and Gain Horse Feeds products.

Damien wrote: “The best thing about Gain Horse Feed is empty feeding pots, happy healthy horses and red rosettes!”

For his winning entry, Damien will receive a pair of tickets to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games along with flights and hotel accommodation. When notified of his win, Damian commented “I am delighted to have won this great prize, it is a trip of a lifetime and I am really looking forward to going on it. Thank you very much to Gain Horse Feeds and Alltech!”

Damien qualified as a farrier in 2005 after completing the four-year apprenticeship program of the Irish Master Farrier Association. After qualifying, he set up his own business in County Donegal.

"Each year it has gradually expanded and I find myself shoeing a wide variety of horses from leisure to competition horses," Damien told Hoofcare and Lameness by email. "I always enjoy working on our native breeds--namely, the Irish draught and Connemara pony--and look forward to our summer when I get the opportunity to carry out corrective work on foals. I mainly work from a mobile unit traveling from yard to yard.

"Both my wife and I are active members of the Letterkenny riding club," Damien commented, regarding his own involvement with horses.  "Although we only compete at amateur level we take great enjoyment from show jumping, cross country and dressage."

"My wife, Nadine, and I will be in Kentucky from the 5th to the 11th of October," he said. "I would love to meet up with some American farriers."

The 2010 World Equestrian Games, by the way, might be quite naturally linked to Ireland; title sponsor Alltech has its roots in Ireland, where its founder, Dr Pearce Lyons, was born. Thirty years ago, he established his animal nutrition company in Kentucky and the rest is history! Alltech now has headquarters in the USA, Ireland, and Thailand. The Games will feature an "Irish Village" promoting Irish horses and horse culture in addition to many more exhibits and pavilions. Damien should feel right at home.

(Note to American readers: when you leave the USA you may be surprised to learn that our blue ribbon is second prize in many countries, and the red ribbon is first prize!)

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. 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.
 

Follow the Hoof Blog on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Join the Hoofcare & Lameness Facebook Page

Tweet