Title: Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine FootAuthor: Pete Ramey, lead author, with collaborative chapter authors
Chapter authors:
Robert M. Bowker, VMD, PhD
Hilary M. Clayton, PhD, Dipl ACVSMR, MRCVS
Brian Hampson, PhD
Eleanor Kellon, VMD
Kerry Ridgway, DVM
Debra R. Taylor, DVM, MS, DACVIM
Kathryn Watts, BS
CHAPTERS BY GUEST AUTHORS: Concept of the Good Foot: Its Evolution and Significance in a Clinical Setting (Bowker); The Feral Horse Foot: The Australian Brumby Studies (Hampson); Growth of the Hoof Wall from the Foal to Adult Horse (Bowker); The Horse’s foot as a Neurosensory Organ: How the Horse Perceives its Environment (Bowker); Metabolic Laminitis (Kellon); Nutrition and the Hoof (Kellon); Carbohydrates in Pasture Plants: A Moving Target (Watts); Hay Analysis (Kellon); Balancing the Diet (Kellon); Equine Ulcers: Are We Seeing Just the Tip of the Iceberg? (Ridgway); Veterinary Management of the Laminitis Patient (Taylor); Radiographic Imaging of the Laminitis Patient (Taylor); Hoof Mechanics During Locomotion (Clayton); Low Heel/High Heel Syndrome (Ridgway)
Chapters by Pete Ramey: Hoof Care Theory; The Hoof Trimmer’s Attitude; Evaluating and Trimming the Sole; Evaluating and Trimming the Frog; Evaluating and Trimming the Bars; Heel Height: The Deciding Factor; Care and Rehabilitation of the Hoof Walls and Lamellar Attachment; Distal Descent of P3; Under-Run Heels; Club Foot; Angular Deformities; Contracted Heels; Hoof Protection; Laminitis; Navicular Disease: Special Considerations for Donkeys and Mules; Reflections/Closing
Review: This is much more than a book about barefoot vs shod. In fact, it’s not about that at all. This is the new way of thinking about care for the foot--care takes on a double meaning. Instead of just compensating for the horse’s problems, look at how to help the horse grow a better foot. Think ‘rehabilitation’ instead of ‘compensation’, when you can. It might make people turn their heads, especially for work on young horses--the idea is to anticipate problems and avoid them instead of fix them.
We live in an age where collaboration is not just an interesting undertaking--it's almost a requirement. Pete Ramey has wrapped his reference book in a cloak of collaborative experts to create a synergistic look at how hooves can be nurtured back to health--or rehabilitated to a state of health that the horse may never have known in its life.
Forget what you know about barefoot trimming and be prepared for the launching pad to the next era of collaborative hoofcare technology. Ramey admits that he has softened his stance on shoeing, but believes we can do better than continuous shoeing with steel or neglectful long intervals between re-shoeings. This book is a snapshot of where we are now--with bare hooves, booted hooves and metal/aluminum/plastic shoes creating the spectrum of choices. It may not be what we choose, he concludes, but how we use the materials and methods.
I like the way that this book opens the door to the future--and leaves it open. Innovation is the path through the door and this book should encourage everyone to decry neglect, ignorance and lack of skill as hooves worst enemies. Some horses may be well through that door, thanks to having new materials and methods and smart, skilled people on their side. I hope in our quest for innovation we don't create a divided society of "hooves" and "hooves not". The best solutions will be the ones that are affordable and usable in many hands.
Ramey also includes veterinary support, imaging, nutrition, pasture management and locomotion in his spectrum; without working them into the hoof equation, the rehabilitation is not going to be realized. Collaboration is not an option, it's a requirement. The hoof needs to feel the influence of much more than a rasp and a knife to find its way along recovery road.
The road through this massive book passes through the clinics, laboratories and research expeditions of authors well-known to Hoofcare + Lameness readers. I hope their names in the table of contents will encourage some readers who might dismiss this book as a "barefoot tome". You can read it on many levels and believe me, you will.
--Fran Jurga, Hoofcare Publishing
Specifications: Hardcover, 8 3/4 x 11 1/4; 464 pgs, full color, 630 pictures+ drawings, index, references.
Ordering information: Cost $176 + $14 Postage in USA (+ $33 to Canada; +$50 elsewhere) via Paypal, Visa, MC. US Postal Service does not specify delivery time. Packages are generally not trackable outside USA. Priority Mail service (6-10 days) available to most countries.
Order via PayPal link or contact office directly: Email books@hoofcare.com or call 978 281 3222. Checks in US $ to Hoofcare Books, 19 Harbor Loop, Gloucester MA 01930.
Availability: In stock after 1 February 2012.
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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 soliciting retail sales of the book from 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.
