Hidden Anatomy: Researchers Make a Case that Modern Horses Have Five Toes--Even If We Can't See Them

One of the keys to the Solounias research is the leafy construction of the Eponychium hoof covering in the fetal horse. The researchers dissected fetal hooves and paid close attention to the construction of the Eponychium. From left: Medial view of fetal horse hoof;  Dorsal view of the fetal hoof, showing a smooth singular surface, representing the dominant digit III; Ventral view of a fetal horse specimen, showing four distinct infoldings that depict evidence of the Solounias paper's proposed digits I, II, IV and V.  (Detail from one of the many figures in the article.)

Scientists have long wondered how the horse evolved from an ancestor with five toes to the animal we know today. While it is largely believed that horses simply evolved with fewer digits, researchers at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) pose a new theory suggesting that the remnants of all five toes are still present in the distal limb of the horse.

Dave Duckett Downunder: Hoofcare Education and Farrier Competition in Australia

Special report from Australia by Betsy Lordan, DVM

The Professional Farriers’ Association of New South Wales, Australia recently hosted farrier legend, Dave Duckett, FWCF for a series of educational clinics and a horseshoeing contest.

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.

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.

Hoof Explorer: Discover and Interact with the Horse's Foot in Three Beautiful Dimensions, Online

Hoof Explorer is a new interactive 3-D anatomy education tool that is in four languages and has almost infinite capacity for displaying the anatomy of the distal limb.

It's official: 2013 is the year of 3-D hoof anatomy on the web. 

3D Printing in the Forge and Clinic: Hoof Anatomy Models, Veterinary Applications, and Horseshoes

3D printing in the horseshoe world probably was done first in some high-tech factory in Asia, but let's give some credit to Curtis Burns in the United States, who has been using 3D printing in the design of Polyflex glue-on shoes. Watch for Mucho Macho Man to run in the Breeders Cup Classic wearing shoes derived from this 3D printing technology on Saturday. (photo courtesy of Curtis Burns/Polyflex Horseshoes)

Anatomy Resource: Alex zur Linden's Clinical Equine Imaging Reference Site

What's new on your iPad?

How We Learn: Bracy Clark's Intricate "Model Hoof"

How can we know where we're going if we don't know where we have been?

Video: Inside the Online Veterinary Anatomy Museum with Mark Evans

The Online Veterinary Anatomy Museum ("OVAM") continues to mature, expand, blossom and amaze, and now British television host (and veterinarian) Mark Evans adds his two cents to the value of this web-based resource of sharable resources with this video feature.

Friends at Work: Meet Andrew Crook, Anatomy Technician at the Royal Veterinary College in Great Britain

Meet Andrew Crook, head of the anatomy service of the Royal Veterinary College in Great Britain. He'll explain more about his job to you in this video, which is designed to introduce new students to the anatomy services of the college.

Have you ever considered the variety of specialty professional positions within the broad category of "hoof-related"--meaning that they are available to someone who is interested in applying (or pursuing eternally) their knowledge of the horse's foot?

Hoof Blog Fun: Animated Anatomy Models of the Imagination

It's Sunday, so let's have some Hoof Blog fun.

As you can imagine, the walls here at Hoofcare Publishing are plastered with new and old anatomy posters and gait diagrams.

This one needs a stud girth and over-reach boots.

One day I started wondering about the horses who model for anatomy diagrams. Were they chosen for their ideal conformation--or did they even exist at all? Are there such ideal horses out there?

I like to think that when I turn out the lights in the office at night, the fun begins. Books open and close on their own. Trophy hammers hit on trophy shoes (but never leave a mark). Rasps rise up and sing a duet.

But until I saw this video, I hadn't considered what might happen with the anatomy posters and the gait charts. Maybe they have fun too and those horses that stand still so perfectly all day on the wall suddenly rear up and take off.

Michael Mansfield, who animated the anatomy models in this video, obviously has a great sense of humor, as well as a lot of patience to have animated all these still images.

What's wrong with this picture?

Obvious too is that Mike Mansfield's anatomy model horses never attended a Hilary Clayton lecture on equine locomotion.

I like to think that when I turn out the lights tonight, all those perfect standing models will give the gallop a try.

Thanks to Mike Mansfield, for inspiring me to think that anatomy diagrams might have a secret life!

Let's just hope they gallop more like this horse, used in an equine locomotion research project at the Royal Veterinary College in England:

Hoof and lower limb anatomy like you've never seen--and you control it! Click to orde

© 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

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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 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.

Animal Inside Out: Plastinate Anatomy Exhibit Showcases Real-World Horses and Hooved Mammals at London's Natural History Museum

Hoofcare + Lameness had a front row seat at this week's press preview of the Natural History Museum of London's brand new exhibition: Animal Inside Out.

The exhibit opens to the public today but we were allowed to see it without the crowds in our way, so here's a very special report direct from London,just for Hoof Blog readers.

Have a Heart: Hoofcare's Plastinated Valentine to the World

Today's a big day for hearts. Whenever I think of hearts, I think of that racehorse champion of days gone by, Phar Lap. He's always associated with Australia, but the truth is that he was foaled in New Zealand. Next month will be the 80th anniversary of his tragic death at the heigh of his racing career.

When Phar Lap died, his heart and his hide went to two museums in Australia, and his skeleton went to a museum in New Zealand. Phar Lap's heart, at 6.3 kilograms (13.86 pounds) was considered extraordinarily large by horse standards; it lives in a museum in Canberra, Australia. The average weight of a horse heart is four kilograms and there's even an Australian saying: "a heart as big as Phar Lap's".

On the clinical side, horses' hearts are the subject of a lot of studies lately. Research and education are aided by plastinated organs, such as this heart preserved by Christoph von Horst, PhD, DVM of  HC Biovision in Germany. Yes, that was once a living, beating heart.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. 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.

Inside the Thoroughbred Racehorse: Just Watch This!

Of course you have never taken the Thoroughbred athlete for granted, but after watching this 48-minute documentary, you'll be in even more awe of the complex biomechanics and physiology of the running Thoroughbred. Anyone who's squeamish in a dissection might want to skip over this, but you'll miss a lot!

This documentary, part of the multiple award-winning Inside Nature's Giants series broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 over the past three years, is hosted by veterinarian Mark Evans. Hoofcare + Lameness readers may recognize contributors Renate Weller and Alan Wilson, two leading veterinary researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in England.

Farrier Billy McQueen has a few minutes on screen.

There are several sections of the documentary that focus on the racehorse foot. This clip (below) details the function of the flexor tendons in moving the limb and hoof forward, not the anatomy of the foot itself, but it has some great animation and a startling demonstration by Alan Wilson and a scalpel.

You might not agree with the way that everything is presented on this video. Students of equine evolution may be surprised at the way presenter Richard Dawkins (6:06 in the full video) describes the progression of the hoof from multi- to single-toed (the way that everyone was taught in Pony Club). It must be easier to explain it to a television audience as if the horse just kept dropping toes to run more efficiently. Weightbearing theories that include the horse employing more than just the hoof wall are not mentioned, either. But the producers had the task of explaining a running horse in 48 minutes to a universal audience, so this is pretty general information in some parts.

You'll have to watch the entire documentary to see all the information on the foot. But it's all connected. Don't miss a minute of this documentary, even if you're sure you know it all. You just might see it presented in a new way.

Are you a professional who works with horses--a farrier, trimmer, veterinarian, vet tech, gait analyst, or bodyworker? Or an educator? This video is highly recommended to explain to anyone who doesn't "get it", why you do what you do: because the athletic horse is simply the most amazing creature on earth.

Note: the video team made a stop at the breeding barn at Coolmore Stud in Ireland, so if you are sensitive to what goes on there, or have children or students who might be, you might want to skip over that part.

© 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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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.

Educational Hoof Anatomy Gifts to Give and to Get from the Hoofcare Collection

Let's make things perfectly clear...educational gifts go on giving!

Click on the arrow in the lower right corner of the Scribd window to scroll between the pages of our new brochure about educational, creative and crystal-clear hoof anatomy specimen preserved by plastination.

The "relief" or "plain" handheld specimen without acrylic $50

These specimen--or ones quite like them--are ready to be shipped from the Hoofcare Collection in time for holiday gifts. Prices range from $50 for the "handheld" sagittal hoof in relief (no acrylic sheet, but the actual tissue is plastinated) to $250 for the most complex models, such as a foal limb showing growth plates.

"Tall" sheet specimen of a foal's limb--size and age vary but growth plates are clearly visible. This specimen was photographed on a flat surface but would look like the others shown if held up to the light. $250

A "sheet" of the whole hoof is usually $95. "Sheets" that are as large as 6x12" likely extend to or beyond the fetlock and are priced by size and speciality up to $250 for special items such as foal limbs.

A standard "slice" or "living x-ray" of the whole foot varies in how much of the pastern is included; shape and thickness of  the acrylic may vary.  No two are alike. $95.

These specimen make great gifts for veterinarians and farriers--it is like carrying a living radiograph with you to illustrate conditions or structures. They are also becoming standard equipment for classrooms. They wipe clean easily and are resistant to heat and breakage. The freestanding "block" specimen are beautiful for display at home, in offices or at clinics and farrier shops.

An entire set of blocks cut from one hoof create a simulation of an MRI image and can be used by equine practitioners for imaging study. These sets are sold by special order and can be horizontal, as shown, or sagittal.

Both normal and laminitis hooves are available, along with all thicknesses of sole, variations of hoof-pastern axis, and conditions of the foot. Laminitis is shown in many forms in these models and is sometimes open to interpretation. The colors of the specimen vary considerably. Some are quite intense while others are pale. Light passes through them to illuminate all the structures.

Freestanding half-inch thick "block" models. $200. 

Note: these specimen are for sale only to US readers. We will gladly arrange for orders to be shipped from Germany to other countries. All orders shipped from the Hoofcare collection are subject to changes in price and 6.25% sales tax to Massachusetts readers.

Laminated posters are also available for $20 each. You can write on them with a dry-erase pen.

An email or telephone consult can determine an exact price, shipping charges, and a low-resolution sample snapshot can be emailed to you for approval. Orders can be made by PayPal, once the price is determined, or by Visa/Mastercard, or you may send a check.
Click on this link to download or view at full size the new Equine Hoof Anatomy Plastinate Brochure. This brochure details many customization alternatives for commercial orders. For educational and professional uses, the plastinates are embedded in clear acrylic without labels. or logos.

Hoof anatomy has never been so clear!

© 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

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Disclosure of Material Connection: ALthough I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post, Hoofcare Publishing acts as a sales agent in North America for these educational models.. 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.

A Slice of Life: Behind-the-Scenes of Equine Anatomy with Dr. Christoph von Horst

Suppose you could suspend the animation of a bird or a fish or a horse...by preserving its anatomy in whatever angle or gesture or exposure you wished. That's the power that Germany's Christoph von Horst wields in his plastination laboratory.

Everything that was once alive not only lives again, but lives forever. It may no longer be living and breathing, but it's catching light and revealing its form to anyone who cares to have a look. And it has taken on an artistic, minimalist power.

You've heard plastinate slices of hoof tissue called "living X-rays" before; now we have living MRIs! (image © Christoph von Horst and Hoofcare Publishing)

Dr. von Horst's company, HC Biovision, is the world's leader in preserving anatomical specimen for educational and exhibition purposes. We are fortunate that he finds the horse's foot especially fascinating. He has been encasing microscopically thin slices of hoof tissue in Lucite for several years now, and has created a portfolio of hoof pathology to rival any in a museum.

A horizontal section of plastinated hoof tissue reveals a slice-by-slice tour of a horse's hoof anatomy (image © Christoph von Horst and Hoofcare Publishing)

Dr. von Horst will visit the USA this month; he will be helping Hoofcare Publishing introduce a new collection of plastinated hoof tissue specimen at the International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot in West Palm Beach, Florida this weekend, October 29-31.

He visited previously this year to speak at the international plastination conference at the University of Toledo and the annual convention of university veterinary anatomists at Cornell University.

Keep a hoof in your pocket; this new technique, called the "basic hoof" is impregnated with plastic but not cased in Lucite. Basic hooves cost only $50US (plus shipping) and will fit in your pocket. No two are alike!

Each plastinate is treated to resist light damage and will not fade. The cost on most blocks is $200. Most are about an inch thick and will stand up on their own.  But relief "basic" hooves start at $50--without plastic casing, just plastic impregnating the hoof tissue--and the "sheet", or thin plastic casings are $95 each.

Plastinates have many applications in the way that professionals interact with each other and with clients. On another level, they are used in anatomy education and on still another, for corporate use in detailing product or service details. When a veterinarian needs to explain why a horse with a fetlock problem might benefit from a course of Legend, this "slice" is an inexpensive, indestructible, reusable and portable tool for showing a typical fetlock to a client. (Christoph von Horst image)

Please contact Hoofcare and Lameness if you are looking for a unique gift, award, trophy, or a real treat for your own study of the hoof. Navicular damage and chronic laminitis samples are available as real models or in laminated poster form for reference, with areas of interest like the toe of a laminitic foot or a cross-section of a navicular bone and its ligaments greatly enlarged.  Sheet plastinates of the distal limbs of foals clearly show the growth plates and are perfect for explaining to horse owners why their horses need therapy sooner instead of later.

Dr Denoix's book is the perfect companion to plastinated specimen. Highly recommended for reference for academic or professional use of specimen or diagnostic images. It is simply "THE" book to have on hand. Call 978 281 3222 or email Hoofcare + Lameness to order your copy. A superb gift!

Vascular Plastination Casts of Equine Feet Ready for Shipping from Hoofcare Publishing

Note: these casts are temporarily not in stock. Because of the delicate work involved, they will be offered on a "special order" basis in the future. Please contact us to find out what the status of supply is at any time and we'll do our best to assist you. We do also sell beautiful posters of images of the blood supply

A plastinated "corrosion cast" of the blood supply in a horse's foot is created from the foot of a cadaver. Plastic is injected into the veins and, after removing the hoof capsule and processing away any non-vascular tissue, what is left is virtually a three-dimensional venogram. Hoofcare and Lameness is offering these for sale on a special order or as-available basis beginning in November 2010.

This over-exposed and light-enhanced image of a corrosion casting shows the delicate structure of the blood supply inside the hoof capsule.

Hoofcare and Lameness is now taking orders for full-hoof vascular casts, preserved by the plastination process of Dr. Christoph von Horst of HC Biovision in Germany. Dr. von Horst will be shipping these to the USA.

Some of you may have seen the half-hoof cast that has been on display in the Hoofcare and Lameness booth in the past. Everyone wanted it, but it wasn't for sale. A special-order trial set of casts was sold this spring, and new sets have followed.

The cost for a whole hoof corrosion casting in the USA is $352 plus $10 shipping. The casts cannot be shipped to foreign addresses.

The plastic is quite resilient, but these models should be handled with care. It's hard to imagine a better tool to explain why a venogram is needed, or as an asset to an anatomy class.

Photos can be shown to preview a model. They vary in the amount of detail and thickness in the hoof wall and sole; many have high detail in the coronary band papillae and digital veins.

One model that has been popular was affixed to a plexiglas base, making handling easier and insuring longer life. To view the underside, you can just look through the plexiglas. This is an excellent model for anyone who would use the model in a classroom setting.

A great variation exists in the amount of capillary tissue that has clung to the plastic through the mastication process. Models with more external capillaries are attractive to represent the whole hoof and the complexity of the hoof's blood supply; models with fewer capillaries allow better examination inside the capsule and more attractive light transmission for photography. The two models in the photographs with this article illustrate the extremes of these variations.

Partial models mimic venograms of horses with severe laminitis so that the owner can see in three dimensions what the damage to the vascular system might look like. This is just a gross approximation and is not meant to represent any particular case or stage of laminitis, but to illustrate where the damage might have occurred. These partial models are fragile.

Special orders can be arranged with Dr. Von Horst if you are looking for a vascular model of a certain type of foot. The casts available are a mixture of front and hind feet of average-sized, presumably healthy horses with no medical history available.

Please contact Fran Jurga at 978 281 3222 or email fran@hoofcare.com to inquire about the models. They are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Pre-payment is required on all orders.

Hoofcare & Lameness has some amazing plastinated equine educational tools from HC Biovision.

These models are used in natural history museums, universities, veterinary hospitals, farrier clinics, and natural trimming schools around the world. They are permanent, low-maintenance, colorful, and durable preservations of actual tissue slices of horse hoof and limb tissue.

© 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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Introduction to Hoof Anatomy: Dermal and Epidermal Structures

18 December 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com



Time for an anatomy review? The exterior of the horse's hoof is pretty familiar territory to anyone reading this blog, but sometimes the anatomical reference terms used in this article are all new to someone from outside the hands-on world of horses, or maybe some blog readers get confused about the terms in the English language, since, according to the statistics I've been checking, this blog is read by people from just about every country on the planet!

This simple video reviews the structures of the hoof capsule with an emphasis on dermal vs epidermal (inner vs outer, in plain language; sometimes referred to as sensitive vs insensitive in older terminology that described the laminae and sole).

If an anatomist was comparing the hooves of several mammals, he or she would use the terminology you will hear in this video. Everything has a noun to identify and an adjective to modify or locate it. The most common ones you'll hear are directional--medial or lateral, dorsal or palmar, but listen for things described as epidermis and corium, and for the characteristics of the layers of tissue in the coronary band. It's nice that the narrator speaks so slowly.

I apologize if this is too basic for you, but maybe you'll watch it anyway, and pass it on to someone who would like to study anatomy.

Lately it seems like some people don't study anatomy as much as they interpret it, according to their theories of the function of the hoof, but that seems backwards to me. I think my own theory on this is based on years of marveling at the hoof and hearing the most learned scholars marvel too at the complexity of the hoof's design and yet the efficiency of its functions.

I don't think we've cracked the case yet, but when we do, I believe it really will be like finishing a jigsaw puzzle: you just can't have any leftover unexplained anatomy pieces lying off to the side when you're done with your explanation of the foot. Everything that is there, is there for a reason and is doing something. All the parts work together. All the parts are important. That's the beauty of it...and the mystery of it, as well.

Thanks to mido851114 , an Egyptian vet who obviously found this video helpful, and posted it on YouTube so I could embed it here for you. The video was originally made for a set of comparative species dissection narrations at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1995 with credits to Drs. Nongnuch Inpanbutr and Maureen Caito. Dr. Inpanbutr is from Thailand. And so the world gets smaller and smaller...

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

Equine Hoof Vascular Supply Plastination Cast for Equine Education is a 3-D Venogram

2 December 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

A plastinated "corrosion cast" of the blood supply in a horse's foot is created from the foot of a cadaver. Plastic is injected into the veins and, after removing the hoof capsule and processing away any non-vascular tissue, what is left is virtually a three-dimensional venogram. Hoofcare and Lameness began offering these for sale on a special order basis on December 1, 2009.

This over-exposed and light-enhanced image of a corrosion casting shows the delicate structure of the blood supply inside the hoof capsule.

Hoofcare and Lameness is now officially taking orders for full-hoof vascular casts, preserved by the plastination process of Dr. Christoph von Horst in Germany. Dr. von Horst has agreed to ship these fragile wonders to the USA on a special-order basis.

Some of you may have seen the half-hoof cast that has been on display in the Hoofcare and Lameness booth for the past year. Everyone wanted it, but I couldn't sell it.

The cost for a whole hoof corrosion casting to the USA is $280 plus air shipping from Germany, which is probably about $20 since the cast does not weigh much, but does require a lot of protective packaging.

These models are fragile and little bits have been falling off mine for the past year but it still looks wonderful. Dr. Von Horst warns that this "shedding" of plastic particles is inevitable and unavoidable. It probably doesn't help that my sample travels from trade show to trade show and is handled a lot.

The plastic is quite resilient, but these models should be handled with care. It's hard to imagine a better tool to explain why a venogram is needed, or as an asset to an anatomy class.

If you would like to order a vascular cast or any type of plastination model, please contact Hoofcare and Lameness by calling 978 281 3222 or emailing fran@hoofcare.com. Advanced payment by Visa or Mastercard is required.

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

Advanced Radiography for Heavy Horse Breeds Leads to Anatomical Disovery

2 December 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

Horse, originally uploaded by Cuff. (Thanks!)

I was saving this for April Fool's Day but every time I see it, I just start smiling, so why not spread the fun around?

I hope you can see this image clearly. You may need to double-click on it.

Now you know what's really inside those big guys.

If your monitor isn't high resolution or you are reading the blog on your cell phone, watch this YouTube video, it might help explain the heavy horse anatomy. It's a take-off on Wheatabix cereal commercials (I guess).