Beyond Navicular Disease: Racing Commissioners Call for Regulation of Bisphosphonates in Sale Horses

Portions of the following information is edited from a press release:

The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) is formally calling for the independent regulation of the breeding and sales industries, including regulation of the class of drugs known as bisphosphonates, which are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of navicular disease.

Watch Now: "Lost Dog" Budweiser Clydesdales Super Bowl Commercial Released; Puppy Ads Under Scrutiny

I don't know about you, but I'm still snowbound. Cable service returned just in time for me to catch the new Budweiser Clydesdales Super Bowl commercial (a.k.a. "Lost Dog") on The Today Show this morning. And here it is, along with a behind-the-scenes reel, thanks to Budweiser, to share with you.

I wonder what people will think of this one. Who hasn't had a cat shut in a trailer? But should that side escape door pop open when the pickup slams on its brakes? That's trailer safety 101 and sure to elicit the biggest shudder from horse people since the hitch gelding cantering on pavement in the first ad.

How Much is a Famous Horse's Shoe Worth? Derby Winner Orb's Raceplate on eBay Today

A horseshoe worn by 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb is being auctioned today on eBay. The auction benefits equine research.

People often what a shoe from a famous horse is worth. The answer isn't easy. Authentication is tough, and fraud could be rampant.

Have there ever been horseshoes on PBS's "Antique Road Show"? History Channel's "Pawn Stars" authenticated a horseshoe as having been on Secretariat's hoof based on the brand. Yet secretariat.com says that Secretariat always wore Victory plates. Most of the "authentic" shoes auctioned off as having been on Secretariat seem to be Thoro'bred plates. Will we ever know?

Good Luck Reading My Shoe: The Rest of the Story about Secretariat's Raceplate Auction on eBay to Benefit Charity!

One of the original shoes worn by Secretariat in his Futurity Stakes win at New York's Belmont Park on September 16, 1972, has been put up for auction on eBay by Secretariat.com, the official website of Secretariat. The shoe was mounted on a wooden plaque by the late Jim Gaffney, Secretariat's exercise rider for Meadow Stable from April 1972 through May 1973.

That day--September 16, 1972--was Penny Chenery's father's 86th birthday. She called him at a hospital in New Rochelle, New York where he was a patient to give him the news that their horse had won--again! The nurse informed her that he already knew that, according to the account in Bill Nack's book.

That day was also the day of Bull Hancock's funeral. He was the owner of Claiborne Farm, the great character in the film Secretariat who stares Penny Chenery down with the coin toss to see who gets the colt. Again, according to Bill Nack, he was buried at Paris (Kentucky) Cemetery, at about the time that Lucien Lauren was saddling Secretariat for the Belmont Futurity.

Working in concert with groom Eddie Sweat and regular Meadow Stable farrier George Collins, Gaffney collected many of Secretariat's racing plates, meticulously cataloging each one as the colt was routinely shod. The Futurity shoe was obtained on October 8, 1972, when Secretariat was re-shod after winning the Futurity Stakes and prior to his following race, a winning effort in the Champagne Stakes. The Futurity was Secretariat's third stakes victory and his first start at Belmont Park.

The Futurity shoe, from Secretariat’s left front hoof, is mounted on a wooden plaque with blue metal backing, and it contains a plate engraved by Gaffney that identifies the race. On the reverse side of the plaque, the frame has the handwritten inscription documenting the mounting by Gaffney along with the individual identification numbers. The plaque is signed by the Meadow Racing Stable team of Gaffney, owner Penny Chenery, and Secretariat's Hall of Fame winning jockey, Ron Turcotte. The shoe is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and the official winner's circle photo from the race.

The nails from Secretariat's shoes were saved too, and you can buy them. Note that this is a Japanese Izumi nail. Now there's a bit of Secretariat trivia for you!

I shared the eBay photo of the shoe with Ed Kinney, president of Thoro'Bred Racing Plate Company, Inc. of Anaheim, California, which manufactured the shoe. Ed confirmed that, as far as he knew, Secretariat wore Thoro'Bred plates throughout his racing career. This shoe is what is called in racing circles a "low toe", referring to the height of the toe grab, and Ed estimated the size to be a 5 or 6. Neither of us could read the size on the shoe in the photo.

Here's what Ed said in an email, "It is a Thoro'bred Low Toe Front shoe.  The size is hard to see, it is either a 5 or 6.  The two marks under the number indicate Low Toe. I would say that it is authentic.  He raced in our shoes his entire career to my knowledge. (My) Dad knew George Collins, and the name is familiar to me too, but I don't remember, sorry."

The most interesting thing we noticed about the shoe are the little bumps back by the heels. These would be what's left of copper rivets that held either a felt or leather pad. Why did a two-year-old colt need a pad? Nowhere in Bill Nack's Big Red of Meadow Stable is there a mention that the horse had a definite problem, although he does mention rumors that Secretariat was not sound at that time. Did his soles sting? Did he have some kind of an infection? And what did Jim Gaffney do with the pad? We know he kept the nail heads--wouldn't he have kept the pad, too?

Here's a front Thoro'bred raceplate, also attributed to Secretariat, that was auctioned off by Claiborne Farm. It's a different shape from the two-year-old shoe, and perhaps a different size. Presumably this would be one pulled off Secretariat when he arrived in Kentucky from New York to stand at stud. He would have still had his raceplates on, so it would make sense that Claiborne Farm would have them.

If anyone reading this knows anything about George Collins, I would surely like to know more about him.

Proceeds from the sale of this shoe will benefit the Secretariat Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization created by Secretariat's owner Penny Chenery to assist the Thoroughbred industry in the areas of research, rehabilitation, retirement and recognition.

The auction will end December 19th at 9:00 p.m. (ET). As I write this, 60 bids have been placed on the shoe, which is now up to $5,950 and expected to go much higher. Bidding ends on Sunday, December 19, 2010 at 3:22 p.m. EST.

I noticed that there is another shoe up for auction on eBay that says it is off Secretariat; it is priced at $3500 (not an auction) and is for sale loose. That's not the one for the fundraiser!

© 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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When Art and Craft Combined in One Tool: Steve Teichman's Hoof Nippers

by Fran Jurga | 23 June 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

Back in the depths of winter, I was at the American Farrier's Association Convention in Tennessee. The annual fundraising auction there is a special treat because it is a collection of work by farriers, for the most part, or by artists who have painted or sculpted farriers or hooves or horses. From the tiniest, most delicate ring to a huge, rough-hewn coffee table or a towering wine rack, each treasure is one of a kind and somehow bears the indelible stamp of farrierism on it. Unmistakably. Undeniably. The prices that these items usually bring are as impressive as the workmanship.

This year, I was knocked out the most by this pair of GE nippers. Yes, this is a standard out-of-the-pouch pair of GE nippers. But they have been transformed by farrier Steve Teichman of Pennsylvania, who is also a master at artistic engraving. Steve's work is subtle and very fine, and the fact that he would choose to engrave a tool that has reins that are edged in different ways is testimony to his confidence in his art. Surely these are the nippers that would have manicured the hoof walls of the horses in some fantasy kingdom faraway. They looked enchanted.

What are nippers?

For those readers who are not in or around the farrier world, nippers are sort of long-handled toe-nail clippers for horses. The three main cutting tools used in trimming horses are the nippers for the wall, the sole knife, and the rasp for flattening the foot and dressing the wall. Nippers come first and there's no going back if you nip too much. They are used to clip the edge of the hoof wall and come in different lengths, and there are racetrack nippers and saddlehorse nippers. The cutting edges of the blades, where they meet, are very sharp, so that a farrier can nip accurately and get a clean cut on a hard, dry hoof wall as well as a soggy, soft one. Farriers take very good care of all their tools, but are especially careful of their nippers. The nippers in this photo are made from a high grade of steel by the GE Forge and Tool Company of Arroyo Grande, California. I've always wondered when riveted or hinged nippers first came into use and where. Does anyone know?

I admired Steve's nippers all week but when the auction started, they were one of the first items to go. The room was only half full and they sold for far less than their real value, many of us thought. I was crushed, and glad Steve wasn't there. The buyer got a real bargain. And he knew it, too.

As much time as Steve spent engraving the nippers, I think I have spent trying to get a good Photoshop image of them. My friends Liz and Garnet Oetjens took great photos, but they always look different on the computer screen and I've been afraid to post a photo because I want to do Steve's work justice. But enough time has passed: suffice to say, the dark areas are just shadows, not any artifact of the engraving or manufacturing the nippers.

The next AFA auction will be at their 2010 convention in Portland, Oregon February 24-27. I'm sure all the artists are busy working on their masterpieces now. Enchantments are underway in studios, forges, basements, garages and through camera lens across the USA. I'll be amazed, all over again.

© 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.

Best of 2008: World Champion Farrier Clock Is in a Class of Its Own

Please double-click on the image to enlarge it and see details of the shoes. The image is extra-large for this reason. For those unfamiliar with elite farrier pursuits: these shoes were made from cold bars of steel, heated in coal or gas forges, and crafted using only hand tools such as hammers, rasps, pritchels and fullering blades. No power tools were used...although I can't vouch for the making of the clock! Photo courtesy of Carl Bettison.

World Champion's shoes and year of championship:
Left top to bottom: Fullered hunter shoe by Richard Ellis (1997)
Heart bar shoe by Jim Blurton (2005)
Hind heeled cob shoe with toe calk by Paul Robinson (2008)
Center: front fullered Clydesdale shoe with toe clip by David Wilson (1985)
Right top to bottom: French hind shoe by Grant Moon (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994)
Front fullered wide-web straight bar shoe by Darren Bazin (2000, 2002, 2004)
Hind calk-and-wedge roadster shoe by Billy Crothers (1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2006)
(Note: shoes identified by Fran Jurga, corrections are welcome!)

Looking back on 2008, there are some stories for the blog that have been in the pipeline for a while, dangling for details. This one definitely falls into the category of "Best of..." on several levels. I was challenged by labeling the shoes in the photo, but today I feel brave and am taking a stab at it.

The story begins with our friend Carl Bettison. Carl is a farrier and supply company executive for Stromsholm in England; he is also the new owner of Gibbins, the farrier apron and work clothing manufacturer.

But Carl's life this year is defined by being an executive of a different sort. He is the master of the Worshipful Company of Farriers, which is a livery company of London. What started 600 years ago as a craft guild to protect the practice of farriery in the city of London has evolved into a high-powered members-only "club" of influential professionals from all walks of life. The twist is that the club is still charged with the protecting the best interests of farriery and in fact, is the benefactor and advocate for the farrier educational system throughout Great Britain.

Since I have been involved in farriery, there have been four "masters" of the company who were farriers: Howard Cooper, Mac Head, Simon Curtis and now, Carl Bettison. It is an incredible honor and also an incredible duty to hold this office. I can also remember that Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth, was the master one year. Normally, however, the master is a "normal" non-farrier member of the company. That would usually be a successful businessperson in London executive circles.

Some farriers are members of the company and participate in the events and programs, but all farriers are technically products of the WCF through the examination process that qualifies farriers in the UK. When a young farrier successfully completes college and the rigorous three-year apprenticeship, s/he earns the title of DipWCF, for the "Diploma of the WCF".

Among Carl's innovative activities since taking office was the commissioning of a centerpiece for a fundraising auction, the shoe-plaque/clock you see in the photo with this article. It's quite spectacular but even more so when you realize the sources of the shoes:

"I asked all the Calgary (Stampede) World Champions from UK plus Ireland to make a shoe each. Then Richard Ellis, helped by his father, made this clock. It was sold at a Worshipful Company of Farriers Auction last Friday for £5000 (approximately US$8000). The winning bid was placed by Grant Moon on behalf of Sarac Hotels Limited," Carl writes.

The clock wasn't the only interesting item in the auction. Carl mentioned that other items included a signed photo of European champion eventer Zara Phillips (grand-daughter of the Queen, daughter of Princess Anne) and her top horse Toytown, including a horseshoe from Toytown, authenticated and signed by her faithful farrier, our friend Bernie Tidmarsh from Wiltshire. (Toytown was injured just before the Olympics and Zara missed Hong Kong.)

Also on the list included the lucrative promise of a day's fly fishing in Scotland with Ayrshire farrier Jim Ferrie, and a day's golf at Woburn for three people with Billy Crothers.

This was no backyard auction. Carl reported, "We were lucky to have Hugh Edmeads, the chairman of Christie's (art auction house) in South Kensington (London) as our auctioneer. The total raised was £8240."

Thanks to Carl for this news, and thanks to the individual champions for pulling together for this project. If it looks like the British Isles dominates the world championship, it is quite true, although several Americans have won, as well. It is interesting to note that until David Wilson won in 1985, the champions were British born and trained: Bob Marshall, now of Canada, and Dave Duckett, now of the USA.

Another bit of interesting trivia here is that of the seven British Isles champions, four of them are originally from the tiny nation of Wales.

© 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.