What's on that hoof knife? Biosecurity for British farriers

What's on your hoof knife?

A new and forward-looking education initiative is helping shine a positive light on the potential role that responsible farriers can play in preventing and containing an equine disease outbreak. Earlier this fall, Great Britain was on high alert when at least 41 locations were affected by cases of highly-contagious equine influenza. Racing was cancelled. Incomes were lost.

But something was gained.

Breeders Cup: Innovative Copper-Shield Racehorse Shoes Debut Under British Turf Runner Decorated Knight

Kerckhaert horseshoes treated with a copper "shielding" process, along with copper-coated Liberty CU Carrera nails, give British runner Decorated Knight a unique flash as he trains at Del Mar in California for this weekend's Breeders Cup. The process, called Cu Shield Technology, transforms the normal plates. (Ashley Berry photo)

It’s that time of year. The best racehorses in the world have been winging their way to the USA to line up against the best of the home team. The Breeders Cup races, to be held Friday and Saturday at California’s Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, will be the Super Bowl of horseracing.

Once the horses are out on the track, they all look pretty much alike, no matter what countries they call home. Maybe you’ll see a few minor differences in tack, or the way the jockey rides. And as you watch the horses trot by in the post parade, you catch the flash in the sunlight as horse after horse shows you a glimpse of the four silver-y aluminum plates adorning their feet.

Wait a minute. What was that? As one horse trots past, the California sun catches a flash of red copper, instead of silvery aluminum. That was different...what's going on?

Will Golden Horn Make History at the Breeders Cup? Meet His Farrier, Ed O'Shaughnessy

Newmarket, England farrier Ed O'Shaughnessy looks like he's about to share a bottle of champagne with his #1 customer, champion three-year-old Thoroughbred Golden Horn, trained by Ed's client, John Gosden. Earlier this month, Golden Horn became only the seventh horse in the long history of British racing to win both the English Derby and the French Arc. And today, Golden Horn will run in Ed's shoes in the Breeders Cup Longines Turf to make history by winning the third great turf race, in a third country. British farrier supplier Stromshom Supplies presented the bottle of champagne to Ed, who was their "plater of the year" for 2014.

It's Breeders Cup day. Click around the Internet and you can see the races through the eyes of the breeders, the jockeys, the trainers, the owners, the bettors, and everyone else with a stake in the world championship race day.

Here's a chance to look at one of the world's top horses through its shoes, as told by his farrier.

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.

Equine Locomotion Research: Qualisys Mocap System Captures Dressage, Jumping, Trotting, Icelandic Gaits...and Your Imagination

Today we go across the ocean and behind the scenes. The location is Stromsholm, Sweden, home of Professor Lars Roepstorff,.DVM, PhD and his amazing research into how horses move.

Whether you want to know how a horse moves or how the surface beneath the horse affects his gait, speed, or traction, this is one of the places in the world that could help you figure it out.

At the recent International Conference on Canine and Equine Locomotion, a field day (literally) was held at Stromsholm to showcase the capabilities of the research facility and of the technical equipment used in the research.

Both the horse and the rider are being tracked by the Qualisys cameras.

One setup showcased the three-dimensional motion capture ("mocap") capability of 60 Qualisys Oqus cameras. With a motion capture system this big, it was possible to have a capture volume of 20x40 meters--this gave dressage and jumping horses the freedom of being evaluated for a series of strides and movements at full canter. Measurements were made on dressage horses, jumpers, trotters, Icelandic horses (pace & tölt) as well as German and Belgian Shepherds running at full speed--who didn't make it onto this little video.

In the outdoor setting, the horses can work naturally and be captured in a series of strides.

The camera system was first used indoors, in a 60 camera setup. It was later moved outside into a 42 outdoor-camera system for the Icelandic horse and the trotter.

Qualisys is the clever tech firm that developed the software and assists the researchers in ramping up the technology to ever greater accomplishments. Their software is often featured on the Hoof Blog, and we look forward to what's next!

--written by Fran Jurga

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© 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.  

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