Duct Tape Laminitis Treatment for Ex-Racehorse Wins Prize

Dan Gardner, a retired farrier from Gladstone, Virginia, took home the $5,000 grand prize and a year’s supply of duct tape in this year's "How Duct Tape Saved the Day" competition sponsored by Henkel Corporation's Duck® brand duct tape.

While Dan's use of duct tape may be commonplace to most Hoof Blog readers, it was a novel use for the judges at Henkel.

Here's Dan's story:

"In 2003, I was volunteer working at a local equine rescue center. One day a winning Thoroughbred horse, named Early Start arrived at the facility. He had broken down on the track and for some time had been left unattended. He subsequently foundered which means the wall of his hoof and the internal tissue and bone had separated causing serious lameness.

"The choices were obvious. The humane thing to do would have been to destroy the horse, but the rescue facility wanted to try and save him. As a retired farrier, I took on the task. Beginning that day, I used a disposal infant diaper with antibiotic salve to protect and cushion the foot and wrapped the dressing with duct tape. Duct tape is the only suitable wrap that can withstand the wear until the next daily treatment.

"It took over 2 years and hundreds of rolls of duct tape to bring Early Start to a complete recovery. Today, he 10 and he is my youngest daughter's foxhunter and event horse. Simply, duct tape saved everyday for Early Start making my family and this horse winners for life."

(Remember: he's telling about using the tape; obviously trimming was done and other care was given to aid the horse's recovery; duct tape and diapers alone can't do it!)

Second prize went to a woman from a search-and-rescue posse in the Arizona desert who duct-taped her horse's shoe back on while searching for a lost child.

Hoof Lectures at This Week’s North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando

Saturday, January 19 will be “hoof day” at The North American Veterinary Conference at the Gaylord Palms Resort Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. A full day’s program alternates between Scott Morrison DVM (above, left) of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, KY and Michael Wildenstein FWCF (Hons) (above, right) , Adjunct Professor at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Morrison’s topics are: Hoof Balance and Function, Difficult Foot Cases, Practical Approach to Heel Pain, Rehabilitation of the Foundered Foot, and Sterile Maggot Debridement.

Wildenstein’s topics are: Trimming and Evaluation of the Hoof, Advanced Therapeutic Horseshoes, Fungal Infections of the Foot, and Clinical Case Discussions.

Visit http://www.tnavc.org for registration information.

(Photo of Michael Wildenstein by Lexy Roberts)

Lo! And Behold! Re-energized American Farrier’s Association Offers News, Launches Convention Web Site

It’s not easy being a journalist in the hoof business. What should be the #1 source of information, the office of the national farriers’ association, is usually busy trying to keep its internal affairs out of the news. When the American Farrier’s Association (AFA) offers news on a hand-forged platter, it's a red letter day.

The remarkable news is that the AFA is being pro-active in announcing that the latest of the AFA's executive directors, Jon Bonci, has made his exit. Vice President Dick Fanguy explains that Bonci has returned to a job in the media business in his native New York. Dick stressed that the resignation was bad timing with the AFA’s convention coming up in February, but that the move was not based on politics or interpersonal relations.

Bonci took over following the exit of acting director Michael Nolan a year ago. Nolan, in turn, was brought in to manage a fractured association following the resignation of Bryan Quinsey only a few weeks after a hard-fought election in the wake of a damaging scandal over a top-secret task force with an agenda to push for licensing of farriers in the United States.

The good news is that former employee Rachael Highton has returned to the AFA and will serve as office manager in the Lexington national headquarters. Rachael has worked on administration of previous conventions for the AFA.

In February, the AFA re-invents itself with a smaller region-based national board, replacing a congress of large and small local association representatives, and a new slate of officers. Andrew Elsbree of New York is the incoming president.

The AFA has also launched a standalone website promoting the upcoming convention, to be held the last week of February at the Kentucky Horse Park and Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington.

News from the site is that the roster of sponsoring companies for the AFA’s big competition has evolved, with Vector horse nails taking over sponsorship of the “live” shoeing class and Delta taking over the specialty forging class. (Will they still have the big "Capewell Cup" trophy, I wonder?) Also, the AFA voted to offer free convention registrations to Australian farriers impacted by the equine influenza outbreak there.

Overall, farriers and industry types from all corners are optimistic about a return to Lexington, Kentucky for a national convention. See you there!

Friends at Work: George Crighton in England

Farrier, originally uploaded by Peter Meade.

Here's another of Peter Meade's lovely images of early morning farrier work in England. This is the companion image to yesterday's, which showed the horse's steamy breath; here's George's to add to the atmosphere. Thanks so much to Peter for sharing these images, which include some beautifully lit close-ups of George's hands and tools.

British News: Worshipful Company of Farriers Hosts Veterinary Students for Seminar

(received via press release from the Worshipful Company of Farriers)

The Worshipful Company of Farriers is to hold an important one-day Symposium on Saturday 1st March at The Forge, National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, England. This is aimed at Veterinary Students, and focuses on Farriery: the art and its use in the treatment of lameness.

Please note that farriers - particularly farriery apprentices - are welcome to attend and attendance will be added to their 2008 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) record.

Three experts, and well known speakers, Roger Clark FWCF, Simon Curtis FWCF HonAssoc RCVS and Ben Ryder-Davies BSc BVM&S MRCVS will cover topics ranging from the essentials of foot trimming and of shoe-making and the use of farriery in treatment of lameness in horses.

Program:10.40am: Introduction to the Farriery profession.
11.00am: The essentials of foot trimming. (Simon Curtis)
12.00pm: The essentials of shoe-making. (Roger Clark)
1.00pm: Lunch
2.00pm: The use of farriery in the treatment of lameness in horses. (Roger Clark, Simon Curtis and Ben Ryder-Davies)
4.00pm: Close

The event lasts from 10.40 am to 4pm and aims to give a close insight into this key area. There will be plenty of time for discussion with the speakers, and those interested in attending should sent their name, and details, along with a cheque for £30 (which includes lunch) and payable to The Worshipful Company of Farriers, to: Smith Ryder-Davies & Partners, 18 Grundisburgh Road, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4HG England. Tel: 01394 380083.

"Horse" of the Year is a Pony! Teddy Wins 2007 Farnam® / Platform® USEF Horse of the Year

Karen O’Connor’s popular pony “Theodore O’Connor” was selected from among horses representing all USEF breeds and disciplines as the nation's most exceptional horse for 2007.

Owned by The Theodore O’Connor Syndicate, LLC, the pony is one of the most successful horses in the history of U. S. Eventing. "If size truly does matter, Teddy has proven he is a giant and a huge champion in the hearts of all his fans," said Karen O'Connor, Theodore O'Connor's rider. "It is truly a privilege to be a part of his life."

At 12 years of age, Theodore O’Connor was the first pony in history to compete at the Pan American games. Known as “Teddy”, the 14.1-hand Thoroughbred/Arabian/Shetland cross led the U.S. Eventing team to a Gold medal and brought home an Individual Gold, as well. When the medals were presented, Theodore O‚Connor certainly wowed the crowd as he galloped around the arena, inches shorter than his Gold-medal teammates.

The chestnut gelding captured the heart of the eventing world last spring at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, where he placed third in the four-star eventing competition. Teddy's farrier is Hoofcare and Lameness Journal's contributing editor Paul Goodness. Paul, who founded the successful group practice Forging Ahead, is also farrier at Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Virginia, has been farrier to the Team O'Connor horses for many, many years.

Other 2007 accomplishments for Theodore O‚Connor include: Reserve Champion of the USEF National CCI**** Championship, the first pony ever to compete at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day-Event, Winner of The Fork CIC*** and United States Eventing Association Horse of the Year.

USEF Members, media and the USEF Board of Directors voted to select Theodore O'Connor for the prestigious honor , which was presented at the Horse of the Year gala at the Louisville (Kentucky) Marriott Downtown Hotel last night.

Other finalists for the award were: Aequus+//, an Arabian owned by Hazelbank Investments; Esteban, a Friesian owned by Deb Goldmann; Free Willy, a Hackney owned by Blevins Farms; and Sapphire, a Jumper owned by McLain Ward and Blue Chip Bloodstock.

Farnam's line of Platform® horse feeds and equine health supplements sponsors the Horse of the Year program.

(Information from a supplied press release was used in this post. Thanks to Carrie Foote at Farnam for the photo of Teddy and Karen at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day-Event in April 2007.)

Good Morning!

Morning, originally uploaded by Peter Meade

This photo is a good post card to the world of what life is like around here in January. But photos of horses with steamy breath and furry coats just hint at all that goes into taking care of horses when the ground is frozen (or knee deep in snow) and fencelines are mere suggestions on the landscape. This image is by Peter Meade, a polo photographer in the UK who embarked on a farrier photo adventure recently. I will post some more of his images. They are very nice!

Monty Roberts Joins Up with Farriers, Hosts Clinic at California Ranch

Join-Up® With Your Farrier! Is the title of an interesting new clinic to be hosted later this month (January 19-20) by natural horsemanship maestro Monty Roberts at his Flag Is Up Farm in Solvang, California, near Santa Barbara.

In fact, Monty has “re-joined” up with his former farrier, Ada Gates Patton of Pasadena, and the two will offer expertise to both farriers and horse owners.

Both Ada and Monty are concerned about farriers being injured by frightened or untrained horses; they are also concerned about the safety of nervous horses who are often on cross-ties.

Here's what Monty has to say about people whose horses won't behave for the farrier:

"In every country I have visited, I have found that some people believe that the farrier can educate the horse himself when it comes to standing and behaving while the footwork is done. This is an unacceptable mind-set. A farrier is a professional and should be treated as such. His expertise is to care for your horse’s feet, not to train him.

"While it is true that some farriers are also good horsemen and quite capable of doing the training, most horse owners do not plan to pay the farrier for training services. The farrier often feels that he is being taken advantage of and should not be required to take the time necessary to train. This can result in short tempers, and horses dealt with in an inappropriate way. While farriers are generally physically fit, muscular and capable of administering harsh treatment, should something like this occur, the blame should rest with the people securing their services, and not the farrier."

In his book, Monty describes a mophead-like tool that he uses to get a horse accustomed to activity around its feet from a safe distance; he describes it on his web site, too.

Monty and Ada will work with farriers and horse owners to demonstrate simple training and handling techniques, with the aim of conquering the specific fears that some horses have of farriers and/or having their feet handled.

Ada will also demonstrate simple methods of hoof measuring that she uses to evaluate hoof balance and achieve a more level, balanced trim.

The fee is $150 per day, and the clinics will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

Please call Flag Is Up Farm at (805) 688-3483 for more information and to reserve space.

Flag Is Up is located at 901 East Highway 246 in Solvang.

Freinds at Work: Farrier to Racing Legend Desert Orchid Becomes a Trainer

The last time we checked in with British farrier Paul Henderson, he was micro-managing corns (inflamed heels) on the precious hooves of the great National Hunt ("steeplechase" in American lingo) champion Desert Orchid. Fast forward ten years or so and Paul is now dabbling quite seriously as a trainer and had a winner on Boxing Day; the horse won again last week. Such success for a new trainer meant that he would be featured in a British newspaper today.

And, no, he hasn't given up his day job!

Friends at Work: Victor Harbor, South Australia

Here's Budd Glazbrook shoeing one of the tram Clydesdales out in the courtyard in the seaside town of Victor Harbor, South Australia. His work day is also a public demonstration of farrier skills. The Clydes pull tram cars over a wooden causeway to a nearby island and have been doing it every day in the old whaling port since the 1890s. The tram runs year round and is one of the last in the world. Budd has 14 Clydesdales to shoe. Photo from the Victor Harbor Times.

Night Owls and Tivo-ers: Catch Vet-Stem on ABC's Nightline Tonight

Southern California's Vet Stem corporation will be the star of the show tonight on ABC News' Nightline news program, which will air a special segment on stem cell treatments for joint disease and arthritis in dogs.

While the show focuses on dogs, Vet Stem claims to have been involved in the treatment of more than 2000 cases of lameness in horses. Suspensory ligament injuries are the highest success rate for Vet Stem treatment, according to the equine portion of their web site.

The web site, by the way, has case studies of 20 or so different horses. You can download the documents as PDF files from this page. Scroll down to almost the bottom to read a case study on stem cell repair of coffin joint lameness in a four-year-old Quarter horse.

On the news page, there is also a video about the sprinter Greg's Gold at California's Del Mar racetrack who was treated with Vet Stem technology, which consists of extracting stem cells from fat deposits near the horse's tail head, culturing them so they multiply, and injecting them at the injury site. (That is a massive over-simplification!)

On the east coast, Nightline airs at 11:30 p.m.

Santa Anita: Los Angeles All-Weather Race Surface Prefers Nice Weather

Rainy weather has closed down lovely Santa Anita Racecourse outside Los Angeles, California since Saturday; the track will re-open today, Thursday. Santa Anita received approximately seven and a half inches of rain in 72 hours over the weekend. In spite of sealing the track before the rain and not allowing training on the main track, the new artificial racing surface is not draining properly. The surface has been plagued with drainage problems.

Jockey Mike Smith, quoted in the Los Angeles Times, said an inconsistent track can result in injuries to a horse. "A horse's hoof is sinking about one inch into the surface at one point, then suddenly the hoof is sinking in four inches," he said.

Rumors abound that the rest of the meet will be moved or that the track itself may be excavated. A major announcement is expected on Thursday.

The California tracks received a statewide mandate to switch to artificial surfaces for Thoroughbred racing. The same surface, Cushion Track, was installed at Hollywood Park and Santa Anita, but the Santa Anita surface has problems with the drainage pipes beneath the surface. The entire surface was dug up over Christmas in an attempt to fix the problem. Several major stakes races are scheduled for this weekend at Santa Anita.

Conference on Walking Horses and Horse Protection Act Planned for Ohio in April

"The End of Soring" is the goal of the first Sound Horse Conference to be held in Columbus, Ohio, later this year.

The event is set for April 11-12 at the Hilton Garden Inn and is sponsored by the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the American Horse Protection Association, Friends of Sound Horses and the Humane Society of the United States.

Described as two days of "stimulating conversation and action," the goal of the conference is to accelerate progress to end soring "by bringing all interested people together to share ideas, increase knowledge, resources and action plans."

Discussion will include the challenges to enforcement of the Horse Protection Act, technology for future enforcement, proposed research that is needed, detection of pressure shoeing, how to prevent soring and other related topics.

The Equine Affaire, an all-breed, all-sport horse expo, will also take place in Columbus during that week.

"Soring" refers to illegal methods used to exaggerate a Tennessee Walking Horse's natural high-stepping gait in the show ring. Under federal law, horses may be inspected for signs of soring prior to competition, and are disqualified if they are found to have been sored.

Disputes between trainers and federal officials over the inspection process plagued the industry during 2006, resulting in the cancellation of the World Grand Championship class at the Walking Horse Celebration, but the 2007 horse show season appeared to go much more smoothly

From more information about the conference, e-mail data@fosh.info or call (800) 651-7993.

Traction Counts at the Rose Parade (Just Ask Ada)

In 1932, movie star Mary Pickford rode in the parade.

It wouldn’t be New Year’s Day without Pasadena, California's Rose Parade, America’s most extravagant (and fragrant) parade. It’s mostly about flowers—every float in the parade is made out of flowers, but it's about horses, too. Hundreds of them!

Draft horses pull floats. Four matched chestnut Quarter horses pull a Wells Fargo stagecoach. Mounted posses. Painted Indian ponies. And, this year, even some of the US Equestrian Team riders hopped on borrowed horses and joined in the parade.

What do all those horses have in common? At sometime during the night last night, each and every horse was visited by a woman with a flashlight and a clipboard.

For the seventh year in a row, Pasadena resident (and farrier) Ada Gates Patton was up way before dawn and marched through a half-mile long string of vans and horse trailers and picked up the left front foot of each and every horse. (Ada is an icon of American farriery and was the first woman licensed to shoe horses on a racetrack in America.)

This morning, Ada was looking to see what was on the bottom of the horses’ feet. The parade route is five miles (not counting the staging area) and a horse slipping on the pavement or worse yet, falling, is not something that would enhance the image of the parade.

So, Ada checks that each horse is either a) barefoot or b) shod with either Borium or Drilltek hardfacing or c) nailed with Duratrack “hard head” nails. Plastic shoes are also an option. I asked her if hoof boots were allowed; she said they are not on her list.

Here’s Ada’s report:

1. No increase in barefoot horses this year. As usual, the minis, the Peruvian Pasos, and the Bashkir Curlies were barefoot.
2. The Marines used Borium on the shoes of the Palominos in their color guard that led the parade.
3. No Drilltek was seen by Ada who then quipped, “Well, it was pitch dark out there and it’s hard to tell in the dark if it’s Borium or Drilltek.”
4. Draft horses tended to wear rubber shoes, like you’d see on city carriage horses.

“The biggest increase is the move toward Duratrack nails,” Ada said. “I’ve been pushing them in that direction. I was surprised to see that some used as many as six Duratracks in one shoe. It's a no-brainer. The Duratracks (nail heads) are good for about five miles on pavement, which is the length of the parade.”

Ada said that no horses slipped and there were no mishaps, as far as she knew, and there haven't been any since she has been inspecting the horses for the Parade committee.

Ada said that she had full compliance today from the horsemen. No one needed to have their horses re-shod. She mentioned that one group of silver-saddled Palominos from Long Beach brings two farriers "just in case" but there was no official farrier on hand. There were, however, three veterinarians and a humane society horse ambulance standing by.

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Looking Back at 2007: This About Sums It Up, or: Israeli Vet Reminds Us Why We Are Still Just Spinning Our Wheels in Hoof Research

{Syndicated content copyright 2008 Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog and www.hoofcare.com}

"Incorporation of more advanced analysis systems in recent years has provided veterinarians with abundant new information related to the various effects of common shoeing and farriery techniques on foot and lower limb biomechanics. It is quite obvious however, that some aspects are still controversial or unclear. Among these controversies are the effects of change in heel height on the angles of the PIP ("pastern") and MCP ("fetlock") joints and on the strains of the flexor tendons and SL ("suspensory ligament").

"Comparisons of unshod and shod horses are rare, but the use of analysis systems, such as the pressure mat, may help to clarify debate about the purported benefits of shoeing horses versus leaving them barefoot. Fine (finite element) analysis of the distal limb seems to be limited by the complex anatomy. Indeed, it seems that a full understanding of the function of smaller structures, such as the distal sesamoidean or collateral ligaments, may only be achieved with the use of computer simulation.

"Finally, it should be noted that from an evidence-based perspective, most studies that have been performed evaluating the biomechanical effects of the common shoeing and farriery techniques have been performed using sound horses, and many others have been in vitro studies. Thus, although the information obtained from such studies is interesting, its direct clinical relevance is speculative and the strength of evidence is not as strong as is desirable. "

--from the summary of the paper "An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Biomechanical Effects of the Common Shoeing and Farriery Techniques" by Ehud Eliashar, BSc, DVM, MRCVS, published in Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice, in August 2007.

Translation: when it comes to hoof research, "evidence-based" is a relative term. The same sentiment was voiced at the Fourth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot by Rustin Moore DVM PhD DACVS in his lecture "Evidence-Based Treatment for Laminitis".

For years, many respected voices have called for a standardizd protocol for foot research. We are expected to accept as gospel studies performed on treadmills. Bar shoes or wedges tacked on to only one front foot. Horseshoes nailed onto untrimmed, unbalanced feet. Shoes tested on ponies instead of horses. Raceplates on high-heeled non-racehorses. Shoes applied for testing without following manufacturer recommendations. And, in almost all studies, the lack of control data of the horse without shoes, or at least with normal flat shoes. Contrary data even exists as to whether horseshoes dampen or increase concussion.

Dr. Eliashar's paper points out changes in study results on the same condition when the horse is on a treadmill and controversies over interpretation of statistics on toe grab relevance in racetrack breakdowns.

Looking ahead, it makes sense to draw parallels between the struggles between Darwinism and creationism when comparing the arguments for the benefits of shoes vs natural (shoeless) trimming. When scientists like Eliashar and Moore are cautious about labeling existing scientific data as "evidence-based", the boat has some serious leaks.

For years, researchers like Chris Pollitt have asked, "How do you expect us to explain laminitis when we don't know how the normal foot metabolizes and grows and functions?" Researchers like Robert Bowker have mused, "I discovered this really interesting facet, but I don't know what it might mean..."

Kudos to those willing to admit that the function of the foot of the domesticated horse is still a mystery and that science doesn't have all the answers. Science may not have even been asking the right questions.

Happy new year, anyway!

Photo courtesy of Royal Veterinary College.

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Happy New Year!

The Hoof Blog will be closed for the rest of the year while we try to recreate the scene in this beautiful old photo.

(Double clock on the photo for an enlarged view.)

American Farrier Associations Elections Near

Maybe it's my proximity to New Hampshire and all the US Presidential election publicity here, but I've taken a keen interest in the American Farrier's Associations elections this year and have compiled some of the minutiae about the candidates.

A new system of government goes in place in February when New York farrier Andrew Elsbree takes office as president over a smaller board of regional directors instead of representatives of individual chapter associations of farriers.

Two former AFA presidents, Bruce Daniels of New Jersey and Walt Taylor of New Mexico, are candidates for the new board. In fact, most of the candidates are former officers, committee chairs, or chapter presidents.

Commercial interests are heavy in the elections; two candidates are technical reps for manufacturers and another has his own line of tools. At least three of the candidates are (or at least have been) commercial clinicians for a horseshoe distributor. What's oddly missing is the competition constituency, although Jason Harmeson was recently on the American Farriers Team and several candidates mentioned their competition experience as helpful to their professional development.

Of the 28 candidates, 21 hold the AFA's journeyman certification and only one is not certified.

AFA elections are always interesting. In the candidate statements, each candidate provided a photo. Three posed with horses. Two posed with their dogs. Seven sent in photos of themselves in a work setting or anvil-side pose. Two donned neckties. Nine chose to be photographed wearing ball caps; two preferred stetsons. One was excluded from the montage of candidates on the front cover of the election guide. The only two bearded candidates are from New England.

One thing they all have in common: they are all men. And they all want the job.

Quarter Horse Web Horseshoe Poll, Certification Article Published

The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) has been working with the American Farrier's Association (AFA) lately; the two organizations have an educational partnership exchange.

To that end, the December issue of America's Horse, the AQHA's promotional magazine, has an article about the conduct of an AFA Certification Testing Day in Oklahoma earlier this year.

I highly recommend that anyone who reads this blog find a copy of that magazine (it's not posted online, I checked) and read it. Pay particular attention to the last page, which shows a finished shod foot as presented to the examiner, who then reviews the clinches and explains what is wrong or right with each.

If you know anything about nailing horseshoes, it's interesting to see if you saw what the examiner saw.

My guess is that the nailing shown, imperfect though it may have looked to the examiner's eyes, is of a higher standard than most readers of that magazine would normally see. They might miss the whole point.

What I did find on the AQHA site was a poll of site visitors on the types of shoes their horses wear.

Barefoot was given as a choice, of course, but with the comment "barefoot is better" embedded in the survey question; roughly one-third of the site visitors agreed and said their horses were not shod. If that percentage is indicative of Quarter horse owners in America, then one-third will really disconnect from the AFA's nailing critique in the magazine.

More interesting, though, is that the AQHA listed Natural Balance as a separate category of shoes (bar/therapeutic? normal? sliders? Natural Balance?) To me, Natural Balance is a "normal" shoe.

I wonder how many owners are truly conscious that their horses wear Natural Balance shoes. Apparently five percent of the total is savvy to their brand name shoes, but the actual total might be higher. There are also Natural Balance lookalike shoes sold, and regular shoes can be re-shaped that way. And just to confuse matters, a horse could be shod with sliders made by Natural Balance or therapeutic shoes based on the Natural Balance pattern, as well!

Hoof boots were not listed as a choice. I've just heard about a sliding plate hoof boot that is coming to market; that should be interesting!

The poll is ongoing; check it out here. Results showed that only roughly 52 percent of the total horses were shod with normal shoes; 32 percent were barefoot, 5 percent wore Natural Balance, 7 percent had sliding plates, and 4 percent wore therapeutic or bar shoes.

Thanks to the AQHA for the educational initiative. It's a jungle out here, isn't it?

GAIT ANALYSIS: Western Pleasure Show Classes Under Scrutiny for Gait Anomalies

A meeting in Dallas in September, jointly hosted by American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and National Snaffle Bit Association (NSBA), invited the top 100 riders from NSBA, the top 10 riders from open Western Pleasure at AQHA’s World Championship Show from the past three years and a team of judges who specialize in western pleasure.

They took the classes apart and looked at the equitation, the judging rules and especially the gaits and movement and speed of the horses in the ring. A special sub-committee is now working on a video to educate the entire industry on the specifics of Western Pleasure horse movement.

Some of the points to be covered in the video include:

• Placing more emphasis on judging the walk and using the video to educate exhibitors on improving the walk.
• Finding a balance for the amount of time spent judging the jog and the moderate extension of the jog.
• Addressing the head-bob at the lope, why it occurs and ways to avoid or correct it. This included educating exhibitors on lengthening their horse’s stride versus shorter, manmade strides; addressing the importance of conformation and what movements certain horses are physically capable of; and reassuring exhibitors that it is OK to show off the rail and that passing another horse can give exhibitors an opportunity to demonstrate their horsemanship, and show their horse’s ability to guide while maintaining an even cadence and consistent performance
• Educating rank-in-file members and beginning western pleasure competitors on the positive and negative characteristics of western pleasure horses, and on how the discipline continues to improve.
• Additional education for judges and continuing to push for and establish industry standards.
• Varying the gait calls to make it more interesting for horses, exhibitors and spectators.

As far as I know, this is the first time that the head-bobbing lope has been mentioned by Western Pleasure officials. What they describe as "manmade gaits" will confuse readers who are not familiar with this type of showing. How a horse can win a blue ribbon for a head-bobbing lope is something that takes a bit of getting used to, and video will be the best way to get the message across, surely.

For the uninitiated, this sport also has a unique training phenomenon called the "spur stop" or even rating the horse by leg pressure so that the reins don't have to be shortened.

(Sorry, I know that is not a very accurate description. The video should explain the logic behind the spur stop. The absolute perfect cadence of these horses is a script that must be followed and trainers have figured out how to achieve it. The result is that a moving horse need not cover much ground.)

Western pleasure survived the "peanut roller" controversy a decade or so ago and the classes only grew larger, so surely this latest revamp will also move things forward and improve the well-being of these horses.

Re-Worked Cushion Track Ready for Santa Anita's Opening Day

Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California will open for its winter race meet today. The track opened its one-mile oval main track for training on Saturday, after having been closed for additional repairs since December 3rd. Workers labored around the clock to adjust the new synthetic surface. Rainy weather complicated repairs.

Cushion Track, installed over the summer at a cost of more than $10 million, is comprised of silica sand mixed with synthetic fibers, elastic fiber and shredded rubber. The material is coated with a blend of wax.

“Our original Cushion Track surface simply was not draining properly,” said Santa Anita President Ron Charles. “Even though it’s not draining to specifications, it has improved and we’re hoping that will remain so. This project has taken longer than we originally intended and we know this has inconvenienced everyone, but the main thing is that we had to address these issues now, in advance of the winter rains that we do expect."

The Cushion Track surface was well-received by jockeys, trainers and horsemen during the recent Oak Tree meet, which concluded on November 4. Cushion Track proved that it was a sound and consistent surface, after withstanding summer temperatures that at times exceeded 100 degrees.

However, due to continued concerns about drainage, Santa Anita has solicited numerous track surface and soil preparation specialists, who have conducted a number of maintenance programs on the main track and water tests in the seven furlong chute. These experts all agreed that it would be advisable to conduct further investigative efforts on the Cushion Track and its drainage foundation before the Santa Anita meet begins today.

Although the same major components—silica sand, synthetic fibers, elastic fiber and granulated rubber and wax are present in every Cushion Track surface, the combination of these elements is custom designed to meet the weather conditions at each track. So too is the size, porosity and composition of the underlying rock layers that cover the miles of drainage pipes that have been installed.

In addition to remixing the Cushion Track material, workmen had to address the two-inch thick blacktop underpinning of the track as well. “Due to the fact we had far too much fine sand in the original mixture, a lot of that material had coated and effectively sealed the blacktop, which is designed to be porous. It was quite a job, but we’ve got the blacktop cleaned and draining well,” said Charles.

Horsemen based at Santa Anita have had to work their stock either on Santa Anita’s six-furlong dirt training track, or ship across Los Angeles to Inglewood to use Hollywood Park’s Cushion Track.

"Santa Anita has now invested over $11 million to provide a safe racing surface,” Charles added. “We are looking to Cushion Track to provide the ultimate answer to this problem.”

The traditional opening day feature is the Grade I Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs; the race attracted a full field of 14. Ninety-nine horses are entered in races at the beautiful racecourse today.

Santa Anita will host the 2008 Breeders Cup on Friday and Saturday, October 24 and 25, 2008. It will be the first Breeders Cup run on an artificial surface instead aof dirt.

Note: Information for this post was supplied by Santa Anita as part of Hoofcare and Lameness Journal's ongoing efforts to report on new surfaces used for equestrian sports and racing and how they may impact equine safety and soundness.