English Farrier Stephen Beane Wins Calgary's World Championship Title

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

Farrier Steven Beane of North Yorkshire, England, won the World Championship at Calgary this week.

English farrier Steven Beane outdueled his countryman Darren Bazin in 2009’s final of the Calgary Stampede’s 30th anniversary World Championship Blacksmiths’ Competition. Steven earned his first career global title in the process after two previous close calls under the Stampede Big Top. Beane, who was the Calgary runner-up, or reserve champion, in 2005 and ’06, took home first prize of $10,000, a limited-edition bronze trophy, and a handcrafted gold-and-silver Stampede championship buckle. Beane had trailed Bazin, a two-time WCBC winner, by seven points entering Sunday’s five-man final, but stoked up a fantastic finish, finishing with 153 points to Bazin’s 141. England’s Derek Gardner was third with 118 points; Welshman Grant Moon was fourth with 109 points; and Canada’s Iain Ritchie finished fifth at 88. Point totals for all competitors reflected three days’ work in front of the forge. Roughly 25 first-time competitors made the trip to Calgary, after winning national competitions in their home countries. A large number of past champions and runners-up made the trip because it was the 30th anniversary, making this one of the most impressive fields ever contested at the Calgary Stampede. Other class winners were Gene Leiser of Texas USA in a forging class, and in the artistic division, Mike Chisham of California USA, Stephane Demartinprey of France (I think), and John Steel of Pennsylvania. Ben Casserly of England won the rookie award. (Thanks to the Calgary Stampede for this photo and the results information.) Congratulations, Steven! © 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.

"Relax Dressage Medication Rules!" Anky Speaks Out in Support of Isabell, Defends Meds for Therapeutic Use

by Fran Jurga | 6 July 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

They are the Affirmed and Alydar of the sport horse world. Venus and Serena on horseback. One wins one day for technical perfection. The other wins the next day for taking risks on a horse that seems barely under control...and yet delivers in artistic superlatives. A single hoofprint out of line often is all that separates the two.

When Germany's top dressage star Isabell Werth was suspended last week for a positive medication test on her lower level horse, her arch-rival Anky Van Grunsven of Holland did not shout with glee that her rival would not be at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen this weekend to oppose her.

In a poignant moment of sport solidarity, Anky stepped up to microphone and voiced her criticism for the zero tolerance medication rules that make it impossible to sedate a nervous horse for a routine stable procedure like shoeing or clipping. In Isabell's case, it was a medication for the condition known as "shivers". (Click here to read post about Isabell and shivers medication.)

Here's Anky's statement, taken from a video published in Dutch last week:

"I am not a supporter of doping at all but I want to do what is best for the horse.

"An example: when I want to clip my horse before a show, I would like to give him a light sedation to relax because my horse is a bit afraid of the clipping machine. The stuff we use to relax the horse is doping positive. Imagine, I asked the vet how many days before the show I can clip my horse and he says three days. But what if it is found in my horse’s blood at the show five days after I used it? That means my horse is doping positive! But I think it’s for the horse benefit to clip him.

"I think the rules have to be changed. The research regarding doping is very expensive but it will be a good idea to work with a logbook and write down what had been given and why.

"If the medication is not to improve the performance, I think there is no reason to maintain the zero tolerance for these cases."

Click here to watch the video. It's in Dutch but has some nice footage.

Note: in another poignant twist of fate, Anky did not win at Aachen this weekend. That honor went to the American, Steffen Peters, on Ravel. One can only wonder what might have happened if Isabell had been allowed to compete.

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© 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.

Drama at Aachen as German Horse Pulls Up Lame During Dressage

by Fran Jurga | 4 July 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

The limb in question: photo Kenneth Braddick of dressage-news.com.

I may not be in Aachen, Germany this weekend for the World Equestrian Festival, but the Internet certainly had me ringside at the dressage competition today when Germany's best hope for a high score in the Grand Prix Special was pulled up after entering the arena.

Niels Knippertz of the Aachen press team wrote: "Ulla (Salzgeber) was riding around the arena when all of a sudden Herzrufs Erbe went lame by (arena marker) "B". Ulla dismounted and led her horse out, but he was still very lame."

An RSS feed from US journalist Kenneth Braddick of dressage-news.com showed the leg in question and provided more details. Click here to read Kenneth Braddick's report and see more photos.

Ulla schooling Herzi at home. (Jacques Toffi image courtesy Ulla Salzgeber's web site)

Even more amazing was that Ulla Salzgeber posted a report on her web site about the incident within hours. Roughly translated, she recalled being stopped in the arena, waiting for the veterinarian, and wrote that the preliminary diagnosis was fairly devastating: a severe "Sehnenzerrung", or bowed tendon. Ulla was so shocked by that news that she immediately withdrew her mare Wakana out of the Grand Prix Freestyle and retreated home.

"Meanwhile, Herzi's hoof is packed in plaster to give it relief. And on Sunday he goes to the clinic to Dr. Brake, for further treatment," Ulla wrote.

Ulla predicts that a year will be required to heal the tendon and believes her horse deserves the chance to come back.

Ulla and Herzi placed 15th in the Grand Prix on Friday, which was won by American rider Steffen Peters riding Ravel in his Epona plastic glue shoes.

Many thanks to Niels, Kenneth and Ulla for their excellent communication across the Atlantic and across the language barrier.

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© 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.

Independence Day in the USA

Happy Fourth of July to all the Hoof Blog's USA readers!

Illustration: "American Cincinnatus 1783" appeared on the cover of Literary Digest on March 21, 1931; it later appeared several times on the cover of the Horseshoers Journal, also in the 1930s. Jean Leon Gerome Ferris was an American painter who created a series of 78 paintings called "An American Pageant". He died before this painting was publishing on the magazine covers. Perhaps that is why this painting is not very well known. It's terrific!

Isabell Werth: Illegal Substance Found Was Shivers Medication

by Fran Jurga | 1 July 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

The sport horse world was shocked last week to learn that Olympic Gold Medalist Isabel Werth of Germany has been provisionally suspended from competition for a doping violation and now faces up to two years' suspension.

Werth issued a press statement (below) which states that she administered the banned anti-psychotic substance not as a sedative but as a treatment for the horse's shivers condition. She had believed that all traces of the medication would have left the horse's system before the competition but that was not the case.

Shivers is a difficult to treat condition seen usually in warmblood sport horses and draft horses. It is often confused with stringhalt, which is a completely different condition, and has been studied at the University of Minnesota by Dr. Stephanie Valberg.

Farriers are extremely familiar with shivers, as the horse has difficulty balancing itself on three legs. Shoeing or trimming can be dangerous for the farrier and the horse.

Click here to read an article previously published on the Hoof Blog about shivers, with an illustration. An excellent article by Dr Beth Valentine in Hoofcare & Lameness #75 is also a good resource.

Here is Isabell Werth's statement:

Yesterday I was informed by the FN (German Equestrian Federation) that during a medication test on May 30, 2009 at the CDI in Wiesbaden, traces of the substance FLUPHENAZINE were found in a sample taken from my small tour horse Whisper. Therefore I feel the need to inform the public personally – in addition to today's FN press release – about the background of this matter.

Whisper suffers from the so-called SHIVERING SYNDROME. This affects the central nervous system and causes imbalances if the horse has to stand on three legs for a longer while – for example when being groomed, bandaged or shod. Feeling insecure, the horse begins to shiver and lunges uncontrollably for fear of losing its balance and keeling over. This illness is not painful and does not influence a horse's ability to compete, but it entails an increased risk for the persons working with the horse (farrier, groom, rider).

Therefore I asked my veterinarian Dr. Hans Stihl (SUI), if and how this Shivering Syndrome can be treated. Dr. Stihl explained to me that so far there is no cure for this ailment, but that several horses in his care had showed positive reactions to a drug called MODECATE. This drug contains FLUPHENAZINE as an active substance. So we treated Whisper once, on May 16, 2009, with this drug, in order to find out if he responds to it. This was the case, the shivering was reduced, and there was less uncontrolled movement when we raised one of his legs.

When asked for the settling time, Dr. Stihl told me that according to his experience, six days are enough, but one could never be completely sure. So, to be on the safe side, we decided to let Whisper compete again on May 30, 2009 in Wiesbaden. I took this decision to the best of my knowledge. In spite of this, the FEI doping lab has now found traces of said substance. One reason may be that the lab has used new analyzing methods.

The FEI has suspended me immediately, as dictated by the rules of procedure. The fact that only ineffective traces of the drug were found does not matter according to those rules. I deeply regret this incident, but I was convinced that I had acted correctly. I wish the rules were revised as quickly as possible in a way that allows reasonable treatment of sport horses without risking long suspensions because the settling times change constantly with each new method of analysis and become literally “incalculable”.

I am aware that I have given reason to doubt the honesty and cleanness of my person and of our sport. I herewith apologize to everyone who is close to me and to equestrian sports. Of course I will do everything to help clarifying any questions that still remain.

(Isabell Werth)

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© 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.

Grayson Jockey Club Summit's DVD "The Hoof: Inside and Out" Ready for Free Downloading

(Continuing Education Announcement) Welfare and Safety Summit Committee Releases Free Educational DVD on Hoof Care

The Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit’s Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee is now offering a free educational DVD. The Hoof: Inside and Out examines the physiology of the equine hoof and demonstrates proper care and shoeing techniques. “The hoof is the foundation of equine performance so it is imperative that those entrusted with the well-being of racehorses possess the knowledge necessary to properly care for and maintain this core component of equine locomotion,” said WinStar Farm co-owner Bill Casner, chairman of the Summit’s Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee. “This DVD provides some basic information that will be helpful to owners, trainers, grooms, and anyone else involved with the racehorse, to have a better understanding of the hoof and its care.” The 65-minute DVD, which was produced by the Keeneland Association’s broadcast services department under the direction of G.D. Hieronymus, includes seven segments: Introduction and Overview Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit Physiology — The Equine Limb Basic Hoof Care and Trimming The Basics of Horse Shoeing Types of Shoes Farrier’s Role and Communication (with Trainers and Owners) The video is available for download (at no charge) from the summit’s website at http://www.grayson-jockeyclub.org/summitdisplay.asp. (Note: this is a large file download.) A DVD copy of The Hoof: Inside and Out can be obtained free of charge (limit one per customer) by contacting Cathy McNeeley, The Jockey Club’s administrative assistant for industry initiatives, at (859) 224-2728 or cmcneeley@jockeyclub.com. The Hoof: Inside and Out features the insights of a number of hoof experts and industry professionals, including Mitch Taylor, director of the Kentucky Horseshoeing School; prominent Kentucky-based farriers Steve Norman and Colby Tipton; Dr. Scott Morrison of the Podiatry Center at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital; Dr. Sue Stover of the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine; Dr. Mary Scollay, equine medical director for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission; Kentucky Derby-winning trainer John T. Ward; Bill Casner; and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation President Ed Bowen. The Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, coordinated and underwritten by Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and The Jockey Club, featured a wide cross-section of the breeding, racing, and veterinary community for two-day workshops in October 2006 and March 2008. Both summits were hosted by Keeneland Association. Additional information about the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit is available on the summit’s website at http://www.grayson-jockeyclub.org/summitdisplay.asp.

Note: Fran Jurga and Hoofcare & Lameness Journal were involved in making this DVD. Readers of the journal and blog will recognize authors, photos and video clips from Hoofcare projects. In addition to the "stars" listed above, the video includes still photos and clips by Sarah K. Andrew, Rob van Nassau and his Hoof Problems book, Michael Wildenstein and other sources. The 65-minute video is a large-file download.

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Hoof Blog contents © 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.

Rachel's Hoof Blog Confidential: Hind Hooves of the Hottest Filly in the USA

by Fran Jurga | 29 June 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

The jock in the shower: Preakness Stakes winner Rachel Alexandra enjoyed a bath after her 19-length romp in Saturday's Mother Goose Stakes at New York's Belmont Park. She set a new stakes record, in spite of being eased to a rolling canter by rider Calvin Borel at the finish.

Photographer Sarah K. Andrew (Rock and Racehorses) followed the filly back to the barn and waited patiently for Rachel to do a little dance so you could clearly see at least one of the four fleet feet on this filly.

As far as I know, Rachel is still being shod by David Hinton from Oklahoma.

Rachel has now moved to the Asmussen training camp at Saratoga Springs, where the rest of the racing world will join her in a few weeks.

Hoofcare & Lameness and The Hoof Blog will be there, too. Join me on Tueday nights at The Parting for speakers and social time, and plan to be at our special Hoofcare & Lameness night at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on Tuesday, August 4, where we will celebrate the addition of lots more horseshoes and hoof paraphernalia to the RideOn! exhibit on horse health.

Horseshoes from the Rood and Riddle Podiatry Clinic are prominently featured in the new exhibit, along with hoof boots from Castle Plastics and Hoofeez from New Zealand, another handmade shoe by Cornell vet school's Michael Wildenstein, the new hoof pads from Vibram, a Plastinate hoof model from HC Biovision (formerly featured just in photos) and much more. Watch for speaker and sponsor announcements!

Did I just say that Rachel Alexandra was the hottest filly in the USA? Make that the hottest racehorse, period, in the USA, although I would still give equal time to her older rival, Zenyatta. The buzz surrounding these two horses is enlivening a racing scene that had been written off by the doom-and-gloom set a few months ago.

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© 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.

Ireland's Fine Horses Once Passed Through This Arch

County Carlow in Ireland is home to this skeleton of a once proud forge. Double-click on the image for a larger view. Photo kindly loaned by Paddy Martin.

Throughout the lifetime of this blog, I have periodically shared evidence of a few special remaining buildings that are scattered around the globe. These buildings are usually in the British Isles. They are special in that they employ the simplest and most elegant form in nature, the arch, to emulate a horseshoe as the supporting doorway of a smithy or shoeing forge.

True to form, as soon as you publish one, another one pops up. Or, in today's case, two pop up.

We have Paddy Martin from Ireland to thank for these, and I do thank him heartily.

The top photo is my favorite. The arch of the old forge may soon be all that is left. It was definitely the strongest form. Notice there is also an arch in the fence gate. And even the ivy on the cottage is attempting to imitate the form of an arch. This must be a magical place.

I can't help but notice that the scale of this arch is more powerful than many of the horseshoe doorways seen in other smithies from days gone by. You could drive a truck through there, or a loaded wagon. Surely either this farrier was a proud man, or a prosperous one, or both, and that must have meant that the horses in the area enjoyed visiting a fine smithy, back in the day.

But why hasn't it been preserved? There's certainly something beautiful in the neglectful state, but how long before it crumbles?

Paddy writes, "I'm now 60 years old and the first time that I saw this old forge was when I was walking or 'driving' cattle from a farm near Castledermot to another farm near Rathvilly in County Carlow...a distance of about seven miles. I was helping my father and I must have been about 10 at the time. I seem to remember the name Cummins or Cummings being associated with this old forge. At about 18 I moved away from the area and I have only become reacquainted since my daughter moved into a house two minutes away a couple of years ago.

"The forge is located at Corballis Cross Roads which is on the 'back road' from Castledermot to Baltinglass through Crop Hill in South Kildare. The building itself seems not to be past restoration...must have a closer look when I'm there again."

Note to Paddy: Find out if it is for sale....

And this slightly different rendition on the arched doorway is in County Kildare. Photo kindly loaned by Paddy Martin.

Paddy's second forge photo is one that I believe I have seen pictured before; he says it is on the road from Kildare Town to Rathangan in County Kildare. It is very similar to others found in Ireland but it doesn't have the single window above the keystone--or maybe it did and it has been bricked over.

I need to make some sort of a Google Map with all these great old forges marked on it so someone (maybe even me, someday) could go on tour and visit them all. We could have some sort of a smithy architecture road rally up and down the British Isles. In order to win you'd have to have a picture of yourself in front of each forge. That's the sort of farrier competition I might be able to win.

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.

Father's Day Video Treat: Buster Keaton in "The Blacksmith"

"Under the scrawny palm tree,

 the village smithy stands..."

It may have been made in 1922, but it will still make you laugh. One of the world's all-time great film stars and comedians didn't need a voice. You don't need to hear his hammer strike or his fire hiss or the horse's hoof hit the smithy floor. He's so good, he makes you hear it.

Settle down for 20 minutes and watch a bit of film history. And if you're a father, happy father's day.

Old car buffs will like the vintage Rolls Royce in this film! I like the rolling ladder, not to mention all the wooden boxes of horseshoes. I liked the display of sample horseshoes too; it looked like he had a sample of a rope shoe or pad, used to prevent slipping on pavement.

Don't you wonder how they set this up for filming and where they found the props? Or did they just remove one wall of an existing shoeing shop somewhere outside Los Angeles?

Keaton was the director as well as the star of this film. I wish I knew more about how and why and where he made this little gem of a film. The video is hosted from archive.org, and we appreciate their help in making it possible to share it with you.

Update: In 2013, a new cut of this film was unearthed, so there are now two versions of this film, with different scenes. This one is the original, longstanding version but wouldn't you love to watch them both!

Thanks to Susanna Forrest, author of If Wishes Were Horses, for assistance with this article.

Here's one of my favorite-ever covers of Hoofcare & Lameness Journal, perfect for Fathers Day! If you double-click on the image, you should be able to see it in a larger size.

© 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.