Alternative Farrier Schools Ready to Open in USA

So, you want to be a farrier! Great, but could you summarize your philosophical view of hoofcare for me before I recommend a school?

Matching potential farriers to farrier schools became a lot harder--or maybe easier--recently when two new schools announcedp plans to open this summer.

The Academy of Hoof Technology in Lexington, Kentucky will be a branch of a successful school already operating in Germany. Run by Alexander Wurthmann, the school teaches "alternative" farriery, and advocates barefoot trimming, plastic shoes, and hoof boots.

Meanwhile, in Plymouth, New Hampshire, the Bridge Gap Farrier School will be launched at a facility that will include a "founder farm" recovery center for laminitic horses. The school also will run seminars for horse owners. Robert Bowker, VMD, PhD and foam-support enthusiast Tommy Lee Osha will be part of the instruction team.

We hope to have more information about both schools' actual offerings soon.

Michigan State Honors H&L's Bowker and Lancaster, Contributing Editor and Author, Respectively

Dr. Robert Bowker and Michigan State student Lisa Lancaster have both received awards from Michigan State University. (Fran Jurga photo)

Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine recently conferred honors on two leading contributors to Hoofcare & Lameness.

First, Robert Bowker DVM PhD, associate professor of pathobiology and diagnostic investigation at MSU, received the Carl J Norden Distinguished Teacher Award.

Then, third-year veterinary student Lisa Simons Lancaster, MSc, PhD received the university's award for best oral presentation by a veterinary student for her lecture "Laminar Density Variation in the Equine Foot".

Lisa is a researcher in Bowker's Equine Foot Laboratory at Michigan State. She collaborated with Bowker on the research, which was featured in Hoofcare & Lameness Issue #78.

Lisa is also the author of The Sound Hoof, a new book sold by Hoofcare Publishing.