Canadian researchers evaluate joint pressure in ridden Quarter horses with and without horseshoes

EquineGuelph is reporting that the Ontario Veterinary College's Professor Jeff Thomason, BA, MSc, PhD is working on a summer project investigating the changes of loading pressure on the joints of Quarter horses as it relates to shoeing.

Underfoot in Dubai: World Cup Hooves, Shoes and Farriers for Thoroughbred Racing’s Superstars

When the world’s best racehorses pack their bags for a trip to the golden global hotspot of Dubai to race in the World Cup, what do they pack? These days, trainers are sending more than coolers, halters and haynets with their horses.

They’re sending farriers, who in turn are shipping in a surprisingly diverse assortment of raceplates and nails. The flip side of the coin is that several of the top racehorses now don their shoes only on the morning of the race--and have them promptly removed the day after it's over.

Travel to Dubai with us, as we check in on an international troop of farriers, hard at work in the desert on some of the world's most valuable horses. What comes out of the desert may be headed for you.

Hoofmarks in Aleppo: Will the citadel's ancient inverted horseshoe curse save it again?

Heels up or heels down in Aleppo, Syria tonight? These might have been the oldest and most historic horseshoes on earth. All but one of these horseshoes is a message of defiance to any who would attempt to conquer the city. But one--and only one--horseshoe is an ancient coded message to invaders should they get past these massive gates. It's a message that is 800 years old, will it be heard again tonight?

Just when you think it can't get any worse, it looks like time may have run out for the ancient Syrian city of Aleppo. There is no cavalry coming to the rescue. There are no white knights on the horizon. For most, there is no more hoping-against-hope that the world will hear their pleas.

It's time for one last footnote from history, one last snapshot from the past. And, one last chance for a horseshoe legend to save its city, as it was designed to do 800 years ago.

Delta Mustad Hoofcare Center Appoints Scott Lampert New Product Development Manager

Delta Mustad Hoofcare Center (DMHC) has announced that Minnesota farrier Scott Lampert has joined the company as Product Development Manager. 

Farrier Charity: Brandenburg Gate of Horseshoes Earns Guinness World Record and Generous Donations

"We make iron glow, and it makes children's eyes light up."

A farrier group in Northern Germany has a habit of making the news. They undertake creative fundraising challenges that leave people gasping, and help them raise money for children's charity.

But last week they outdid even themselves, when they assembled 13,000 horseshoes into a steel replica of one of Germany's great architectural landmarks, the majestic Brandenburg Gate in the nation's capital of Berlin.

Scotland Wins 36th International Team Farrier Competition at Stoneleigh

It takes teamwork, as well as superb skill, to shoe horses all day in the world's stiffest team competition and emerge the winners. But the Scottish team did that this weekend at the 36th International Team Competition at the showgrounds in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, England. From left: Wayne Balfour (alternate), Lewis Balfour, David Varini, Team Manager (and proud father) James Balfour holds the trophy, Derek Gardner, Devin Crerar. (Thanks to Steve Cave photography and Jonathan Nunn for this photo, used with permission)

The early report from England is that the fires are cooling in the massive forges on the showgrounds in Stoneleigh, England tonight. Now, instead of hammers on anvils, you might hear bagpipes fading into the distance.

The grounds were the setting of one of the most legendary events in farrier competition. The 36th International Team Championships attracts teams from as far away as the United States and Canada. Climbing up a mere place on the ladder from one year to the next can be a victory for some nations, who watch the teams representing the home soil of the British Isles fending off challengers at the top of the scoreboard, year after year.

England won in 2012, 2013, and 2014. British farrier Jonathan Nunn sent over the photo from Stoneleigh and quoted Scottish team manager Jim Balfour as saying that this was Scotland's first win since 1997.

Team Scotland was followed by the English, with Ireland in third place, and the USA in fourth, followed by Sweden. Other nations' placings are not known at this early date.

US readers will be happy to know that the "Best Shod Foot" on Sunday was won by Victor Frisco of Team USA. This is second-hand information via British Farriers and Blacksmiths Association President Cliff Barnes.

Top five team placings: 

1 Scotland

2 England

3 Ireland

4 USA

5 Sweden

In 2014, Scotland was fourth.

It was a big day for the Balfour family of Dundee, Scotland. It wasn't long ago that Jim, now the manager, was competing at Stoneleigh himself, and now there's a new generation of his family. But the farrier world is like that: you blink and it's all changed, but you look closer and some of the faces look familiar...

Competing at Stoneleigh is one of the most unforgettable experiences a competition farrier can have. Just getting there is a superb accomplishment. Safe home to all, and enjoy your memories from the top of the world.

Many thanks to Gill Harris and Jonathan Nunn for their assistance with details today. 

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© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is the news service for Hoofcare and Lameness Publishing. 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 headlines-link email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Disclosure of Material Connection: The Hoof Blog (Hoofcare Publishing) has not received any direct compensation for writing this post. Hoofcare Publishing has no material connection to the brands, products, or services mentioned, other than products and services of 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.

California Chrome: Horseshoer Judd Fisher with a Horse on the Doorstep of History

Best of luck to California horseshoer Judd Fisher as he waits to find out if the horse with his shoes on will make history today by becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. Cross your fingers, rub a horseshoe, raise your glass--whatever happens, Judd has done a great job to get California Chrome to this point.  (Judd Fisher photo)

Read more about Judd Fisher and the special shoes that California Chrome wears.

Aachen's Walk of Fame: What Does the Plaza Paved with Horseshoes Tell Us About Famous International Sport Horses?

CHIO Aachen Show Director Frank Kemperman stood in the show's new starwalk in 2011. It has continued to grow, with three new shoes added recently.

In 2011, The Hoof Blog was delighted to introduce a terrific new "Walk of Fame" at the showgrounds of CHIO Aachen in Germany. The horse show that stands tall above all others wanted to honor some of the famous horses who have competed there. Their way of remembering was to ask for a shoe from each to sink into the pavement, surrounded by a star.

Hoofcare History: Japanese Hoof Sandals Gave Horses Removable Traction

This amazing photo from Japan shows the traditional straw sandals worn by horses there. The sandals attached with straw ties around the pastern. Notice that this horse's hind feet are left alone. (T. Enemi image courtesy of Rob Oechsle)

As much as I love reading the history of hoofcare and lameness from British and American historical perspectives, it's the other countries and other parts of the world that keep my reading lamp on at night. There is so much we don't know about how hooves were cared for in other cultures.

From my reading, it almost seems like horseshoes were one of the things that European merchants and explorers brought with them to new lands--and left behind, along with Christianity. They converted the people to Eurocentric religions and their horses to iron shoes.

But what were they using before the Europeans showed up, and is there something that we can learn from them?

Horseshoeing Trailer Heist in Oklahoma Devastates Veteran Farrier's Ability to Work

Shoeing trailers make a lot of sense, both economically and efficiency-wise. Some are really clever designs and all of them allow farriers to use a truck or hauling vehicle for something other than a work-related rig.

But it looks like thieves love them, too. This is not the first shoeing trailer that I have heard of being stolen. This news report amazed me when I saw that Mr. Ward had stamped all this shoes.

Shoes of the Stars: CHIO Aachen Creates a Walk Paved with History and Hoofwear

CHIO Aachen Show Director Frank Kemperman stands in the show's new starwalk

CHIO Aachen now has its own “Walk of Fame”. And just as the stars put their hand prints in the concrete on Hollywood Boulevard, it would have to be the horses who leave an imprint at CHIO Aachen, site of the World Equestrian Festival and what is widely regarded as the largest--and grandest--horse event in the world.

The squares contain the names of legendary horses who have shone underneath the stars of July nights in Aachen. And you can walk over it right now, because the show has just opened for 2011.

But not a hoofprint adorns the star. Instead, an actual horseshoe belonging to the respective four-legged superstar is embedded in the center of the star. There are names you might know: “Gigolo”, “E.T.”, “Ratina Z”, “Totilas” and “Hickstead”, to name just a few. There are 17 shoes, 17 stars, and 17 names of jumping and dressage horses, all of whom have either won the Deutsche Bank Prize, the Dressage Grand Prix of Aachen or the Rolex Grand Prix, the Grand Prix of Aachen.

And is there a correlation between champions and special shoes? There seem to be bar shoes of every type. It looks like a stroll down Aachen's Walk of Fame will be an education in orthopedic horseshoes. A little autograph by the farrier would be a nice touch--perhaps I will have to write a guidebook.

Embedding horseshoes in a plaque and then embedding the plaque in a walkway is much easier than trying to get real horses to cast their hoofprints in wet cement, as illustrated here by Dale Evans and Roy Rogers as they try to get Trigger to step lightly but not too lightly on his paver for Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame in 1949. The tourist guides tell us that three horses are immortalized on the famous stretch of sidewalk outside Grauman's Chinese Theater: Tom Mix's Tony (1927), Gene Autry's Champion (1949) and Trigger. Wait, what about Mr. Ed? There's no star for Mr. Ed? 

The Show Director of the CHIO Aachen, Frank Kemperman, came up with the idea of this special “Walk of Fame”. It took a year to make it happen: “We tried out a lot of things before finding a way of embedding the horseshoes into the plaques,” commented Kemperman.
The plaques were being set into place just before the show was set to open. The “Walk of Fame” can be found right next to the entrance of the CHIO Aachen offices.

Whenever I feel like everything in the world has been done: every creative idea, every perfect photo, every stunning magazine cover, every clever title or slogan has been used up by other people and there's nothing original left, I never panic for very long.

I know I need look no further than the website or magazine of CHIO Aachen. They're always up to something. More than a horse show, horse event, or horse festival, it is more like a state-of-mind...if you happen to have horses on your mind

If you're a rider, driver or vaulter, Aachen is where you want to compete someday. For the rest of us, Aachen is a giddy celebration of not just the horse, but the best that horses bring out in us.

Aachen's message is to love not just the horse, but the way horses can and should make us feel. We're pulled to Aachen because we know it is a world stage where great things will happen to horses and to ourselves. We can be innocent and awed, all over again, by what goes on there--no matter how hardened and grizzled we've become by our years in the saddle or in the barn aisle.

For some reason, Aachen always seems to send me a subliminal message or two each year. There will be photos in the magazine or news items or events that use images or concepts of the hoof that leave me smiling and saying, "Why didn't I think of that?" and I know that I can and will think of something for my seemingly impossible challenge at hand. Like the one that has me stumped right now.

I need to just let myself remember that Aachen is out there, constantly re-inventing itself with an ongoing stream of creative interpretations of everything Horse (and sometimes Hoof). And remember that so am I, and so are you. There's no end to what we haven't imagined yet.

Walk on, Aachen!

 © 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.

Dick Reid: One of the Last Traveling Horseshoe Salesmen Has Died

Dick Reid, left, shown with Dan Burke of Farrier Product Distribution, right, sold Diamond Horseshoes for more than 30 years. He was a familiar face and phone voice in the US farrier industry.

There are professions that have sort of faded away. There aren't too many milkmen. No one delivers telegrams. And the age of the traveling salesman seems to have been taken over by online shopping carts and email confirmations. If you own a store and you want to see what's out there to buy, you have to go to a trade show if you want to see it, touch it, smell it and throw it against the wall to see if it sticks.

But it wasn't always that way. Companies had salesmen who came around to stores and businesses and showed their clients new products, took orders, and acted as informal business advisers about what should be in the store, how and where it should be displayed, and what color a shop owner should paint the barn. They'd figure out a name for a puppy or help you decide which cash register to get.

There was an intimacy between these salesmen and their customers--if the salesmen were any good, that is. They made themselves indispensable.

For most of the second half of the 20th century, it was the Diamond horseshoe salesmen who knit the farrier industry together.  Diamond, headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, was the leading brand, and Dick Reid was one of their leading sales experts. 

The Diamond Tool and Horseshoe Company headquarters in Duluth, Minnesota once employed 800 people.

Diamond was sold to the Triangle Corporation in 1981, and plans were made to gradually phase out the Minnesota factory and move the company to South Carolina. Dick Reid retired from Diamond soon after that. He started a regional sales rep firm with his wife, Ruth, in 1986. They called it Farrier Products Marketing and represented then-independent Cooper nails, Russell Breckenridge Company, Bellota Rasps (Kentucky Farrier Supply) and GE Tools in ten midwestern and northern states.

But Dick's heart condition didn't like the idea of not being retired, and after a few years Dick left the farrier scene, only to return for special visits.

Dick died on Saturday, October 22nd. He lived in Urbana, Ohio and was 89 years old. I guess he must have known an awful lot about horseshoes but I know he knew even more about people.

The vast network of farrier supply stores, warehouses, internet shops and trade shows that farriers enjoy today grew out of a few lonely outposts scattered around the country until the farrier industry boom in the 1980s. What exists now was built on the shoulders and hard work and dreams and good will of generous people like Dick Reid.

A monument has been erected in Duluth to the memory of the employees of Diamond Tool and Horseshoe Company. The buildings have been razed.

© 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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Favorite Photo: Dowsing the shoes by Peter Meade

Cooling the shoes, originally uploaded by Peter Meade

Every once in a while I come across an image that shows something about hooves that I haven't seen captured before and this is one of those. And leave it to Peter Meade to catch it.

For anyone not familiar with the workings of shoeing a horse, at some point the farrier may be making or altering shoes for a horse to nail on at some time in the future, rather than one by one. You'd heat a shoe while working it, and you'd touch the hot shoe to the hoof to burn it on and judge the "hot fit" and check how level the job is, but you'd nail the shoe when the steel has cooled.

This is traditionally done by dunking the shoe in a bucket or barrel or water, which gives a satisfying hiss.

And if you're in a hurry to pack up and get on your way and you have four somewhat hot shoes that you've been working on for a horse to come later in the day, and no bucket is handy, you'd run them under a hose, as appears to be going on here. Peter's caught the cold clean water in mid-stream, splattering off in all directions.

Peter is a brilliant photographer in England whose specialty is the posh polo scene and military equestrianism but luckily for me he also likes to get up early once in a while and photograph his wife's farrier, George Crichton, at work in the eerie early morning light. His work is beautiful and he is someone who sees art in the work and role of the farrier.

Peter's photos of George were last featured on the Hoof Blog  back in 2008. You can see Peter's silhouette of George, and an early rising horse on a January morning.

You can "ooooh" and "aaaah" over Peter Meade's photographic work at www.petermeadephotography.co.uk.

Friends at Work: New Hampshire Farriers Practice for World Championship at Calgary Stampede

13 April 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

A horse at the mounted police stables in Dover, New Hampshire gets the benefit of a shoeing by veteran Jim Smith during a practice session for local farriers who plan to compete in July's World Championship for farriers at the Calgary Stampede in Canada. It's a long way to go, but New Hampshire pros Tim Bolduc of Fremont, Jim Smith of Milton Mills, George Barker of Gilmanton, and Nathaniel Bruss of Bradford are preparing to represent the "Live Free or Die" state and are being sponsored by the Horseshoes Plus farrier supply store in Barrington, NH. Click here to read a nice story about their practice session that appeared in yesterday's Foster Daily Democrat newspaper, and which included this and other photos of the team.

© 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.

Good Luck for the Easter Bunny: Tiny Hungarian Horseshoes Decorate an Ostrich Egg to Remember

This egg is decorated with more than 1000 tiny horseshoes. 

Gyula Laszlo is the egg farrier. That's right. He shoes eggs. And he does it in a most beautiful way.

Hungarian tradition calls for Easter eggs to incorporate horseshoes into the design or pattern. But the shoes aren't painted on or even glued on. Over the centuries, talented artisans have perfected the ancient craft of actually applying--nailing!--tiny horseshoes to the fragile eggs.

Amazing artists like Gyula Laszlo create hundreds of horseshoe-adorned eggs each spring.

Watch this video to see some of his work:

© 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).

Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Lost Legend Found: Meet Man o' War's Horseshoer (Finally)

by Fran Jurga | 28 March 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

The statue of champion racehorse Man o" War is the centerpiece of the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park outside Lexington, Kentucky. (Frank Parsons photo, used with permission)

Today is Man o' War's birthday. An announcement that 1987 Kentucky Derby winner Alysheba died last night made me think again about Man o' War and how little anyone seems to know about who shod him, or how he was shod.

World War II: Spike Jones' comic horseshoer, beach patrols by horseback, and a Chinese horseshoeing school

Here's a bit of horseshoeing history disguised as entertainment. The catchy Blacksmith's Song 1942 video posted today was created by Spike Jones, who plays the role of the bare-chested horseshoer. You have to love the desktop anvil!

Was Popeye the Sailor Man a Farrier, too ? Vintage Popeye Horseshoeing Cartoons

(Sorry, you may have to watch an ad before the Popeye cartoon.) If the video does not play, click here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x44xxuu
So you think woman farriers are something new? How about Olive Oyl for a role model?

Friends in Need: Ribbons for Linda

Linda Best in healthier times, showing one of her Miniature Horses.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl with a big heart and some big plans to help her friend. And it worked.

Today was a special day. A little girl named Michaela put on a horse show today, with some help from a lot of bigger people. She wanted to help the woman who got her involved in showing. And she knew the woman needed her help.

The horse world turned out today to help Linda Best, a farrier from New Hampshire who is battling pancreatic cancer without the benefit of insurance. Linda is also trying to keep up her half of the shoeing business that she runs with her husband, Paul. She's also trying to run her farm. She's also trying to home-school her children. Do you get the picture?

But today, she was the guest of honor at a horse show to raise funds for her healthcare. All planned by a little girl who believes that Linda needs and deserves help.

The horse world responded in a big way. The show was helped with a lot of free publicity from the local media, and a lot of sympathy and affection for Linda.

If you'd like to help Linda, you can read about the horse show here.

There is a PayPal donation button at the bottom of that page if you want to forward a donation electronically to Linda's fund at the bank.

You could also send a check to:
Ribbons for Linda Best
c/o Kennebunk Savings Bank
P.O. Box 1880
Ogunquit, ME 03907

UPDATE: A fund-raising auction to benefit Linda will be held this Saturday at the open house at Horseshoes Plus farrier supply company in Barrington, New Hampshire. Farriers have made and donated hand-crafted artwork for the auction. Call 800-382-5434 for details.

Linda has been shoeing horses around here and in New Hampshire since she was 19 years old. She and Paul first subscribed to Hoofcare and Lameness in 1987. They have a unique business, since both of them are farriers. I am sure that Linda hasn't asked for this help, and no one asked me to ask you to help.

Sometimes, you just know what to do. I hope you will, too.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online or received via a daily email through an automated delivery service.

To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness, please visit our main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Favorite Photo: The Magnificent Shire of Shoes

Now here's something I haven't seen before. This Shire is crafted from hundreds of horseshoes by retired Yorkshire, England businessman Donald Punton. Click here to learn more about him and the horses he builds. I think the blaze and feathers paint is really clever, although I am not sure if the body and legs are painted or just rusted!