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.

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.  

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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!

Plastinate Anatomical Tools Make Everything Perfectly Clear

by Fran Jurga | 12 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

It's Columbus Day, so you're invited to "discover" a new equine anatomy reference tool that will be a boon to your ability to creatively and constructively communicate with colleagues, clients and students no matter where you are.

Plastination is a tissue preservation process that gained worldwide fame this decade with the Body Worlds museum exhibit. The last I heard, Body Worlds was set to overtake King Tut as the most viewed exhibit in the world. It shows human organs and muscles preserved in various positions or medical conditions. But everyone I know came out of it saying, "Wow, if they could just do that for horses..."

And someone has. Germany's veterinary anatomy expert Dr Christoph von Horst has patented a process for preserving veterinary specimen in this way; he's done birds and rats and ticks and dogs. But thanks to the encouragement of people like Dr. Chris Pollitt and a loud cheer from Hoofcare and Lameness, Dr Von Horst is preparing spectacular hoof and distal limb anatomy specimen, and you end up with a hoof music video slide show on a day of discovery.

I remember for years how I struggled trying to learn anatomy from textbooks. I couldn't get the 3-D part. I believe that 3-D models from HorseScience are the absolute way to learn and study anatomy and that they revolutionized my ability to understand the hoof, to the extent I can say that I do.

These plastination models are a step somewhere between anatomy models and an x-ray. They come in different models, designed for more or less portability. Many will slip inside a briefcase or agenda planner...or even a jacket pocket.

I can't wait for you all to see these teaching aids. They are like living x-rays...in equally-living color! They are actual paper-thin slices of tissue vacuum sealed inside layers of crystal clear acrylic resin.

You can keep one in your briefcase, or collect a set to show different conditions like laminitis, a navicular cyst, ringbone, etc. or use them to show where a shoe will sit, where you will trim (or won't trim) or where an injection or surgery site will access a joint or problem.

This specimen illustrates ringbone quite clearly but, like most anatomy models, the medical history of the animal is not available for reference. (Dr. Christoph von Horst image)

The plastinate tissue is very clear and well-defined because it is paper-thin and light passes through, illuminating the details and edges of structures and their relative textures. (Dr. Christoph von Horst image)

The specimen come in two types: flat sheets, which are about 3/8" thick, or the block versions, which are about 3/4" to 1" thick. The blocks are stunning and look fantastic on a desk or bookshelf, particularly if there's a light nearby. They make a beautiful gift or presentation award.

Of course, no two are alike. Hooves are available in sagittal, coronal and transverse sections, with the vast majority being sagittal, since that is the primary view people are accustomed to using for reference.

Right now we even have a foal's limb and a huge draft horse lower limb with what Dr Von Horst labels as lymphangitis-type swelling. There's also a stunning example of pastern ankylosis.

Even a large joint like the hock can be encapsulated into a plastinate specimen. (Dr. Christoph von Horst image)

Also available are laminated posters of several popular types of distal limb and hock plastinates; you can write on the plastic, draw a shoe or cast on, or use the poster for teaching by asking students to fill in labels for specific structures. Plastic casts of the blood supply and plaster casts of hooves are available by special order.

The best news? Prices start at under $100, plus shipping, with the blocks selling for about $200 at the current exchange rate.

Be sure to visit the Hoofcare and Lameness booth at conferences this fall to see these amazing teaching and learning aids, or contact the office to arrange an order to be selected and shipped directly to you.

If you have trouble with my video widget, you can also view the slide show on Hoofcare's slowly-expanding video channel. The widget seems to be skipping over some of the images in favor of text slides.

© 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.

Congratulations to Allie Hayes of HorseScience

by Fran Jurga | 9 February 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

Congratulations to our friend Allie Hayes of HorseScience, who was recently inducted into the Horseshoeing Hall of Fame.

Allie's fame in the hoofcare world began when she retired from active shoeing in the 1980s, after a long career as a farrier here in Massachusetts. She was one of the first women to go through farrier school, and was challenged by instructor Bud Beaston to complete the course at his Oklahoma Farrier College. She met the challenge, and went on to do advanced studies with Dr. Doug Butler at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. And this was after she had finished both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in liberal arts!

Allie said in her acceptance speech that sitting in Bud's classroom was the first time that a lecture really hit home with her and meant something in her life.

In the mid-1980s, Allie's ability to shoe was limited by a freak accident on the job, and she switched her attention from shoeing to making educational hoof models. Her "HorseScience" business has expanded to a point where she is the world's leading (and almost exclusive) source of freeze-dried educational models, and she also supplies much more than legs. The models are freeze-dried in a monstrous freeze-drier machine on Allie's farm, a stone's throw from her wildlife rehabilitation and re-homing projects (anyone for a blind skunk or a one-winged crow?), her farm animals, and her how-many-are-here-today cats.

She's also well-known to FedEx, as vets and farriers from all over the country ship legs amputated from euthanized cases to her to be eternally preserved for further study. People must wonder...

As one farrier said in an email, "It's too bad Allie had that accident and had to stop shoeing, but it was a great thing for us that she started making her models!"

Allie gives clinics, lectures, and slide shows on the anatomy of the foot and lower leg and occasionally presents a museum-like collection of her most unusual specimen. At the Cincinnati conference last week, she casually pulled out a camel's foot, and mentioned a giraffe foot as well. Her show-and-tell discussions with farriers and veterinarians are legendary.

Needless to say, Allie is the first woman to be inducted to the hall, and it is a sign of respect for her that the living members voted for her to join them.

Allie has a hard time drawing the line between education and business and has not been utilized as much as a formal speaker and consultant, partly because her business keeps her so busy. If you are in the hoofcare industry, it is important to support Allie and HorseScience as she leads us all ahead on the road to understanding horses and their problems. She has enabled many people to "see" inside the horse and probably learn things they would not otherwise be able to comprehend. Allie Hayes is a unique treasure in the hoofcare world, and deserves this latest honor very, very much.

Allie makes foot and leg models like this one, which has magnetic bones that snap in and out.

HorseScience also makes hock and knee models, and specialized ultrasound interpretation models.

© 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.