Racetrack Welfare and Safety Summit Nails Horseshoes as Culprit

Welfare and Safety Summit Participants Recommends Banning Toe Grabs, Stickers, Turndowns and Jar Calks.

A cross-section of prominent participants from the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry who attended the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit in Lexington, Ky., on October 16 and 17 have drafted action plans in six areas to improve conditions in various facets of the Thoroughbred industry.

The six areas are Education & Licensing; Racing Conditions/Racing Office; Research; Health & Medical Records; Racing Surfaces/Shoeing/Hoof Care; and Breeding Practices.

Among the recommendations coming out of the two-day summit were:
* Make efforts to have scientific research more widely distributed among industry stakeholders.
* Examine the use or ban of certain horseshoes, such as toe-grabs, in the wake of presentations and research by Dr. Sue Stover and other participants.
* Provide continuing education for all horsemen, exercise riders, farriers and make initiatives like the Groom Elite Program more available throughout the country.

Above material quoted from a press release provided by the Jockey Club.

Mitch Taylor gave a brief presentation about shoes and shoeing and was on the working session committee designated to tackle the subjects of shoeing and surfaces.

Hoofcare & Lameness reached Mitch Taylor at home this evening. He said that he had been contacted before the meeting by the Jockey Club to present information about shoeing and hooves, and that when he arrived at the meeting, he realized that he was the lone representative of the farrier profession. Mitch gave a half-hour presentation which included an overview of hoof anatomy and function.

At the working session, the sub-committee recommended banning grabs, stickers, jar calks and turndowns by the end of 2007. Mitch Taylor was charged with reporting the group's recommendations to the larger group. The subject did come up about the use of toe grabs on hind feet, with a question being directed to Dr. Sue Stover of the University of California at Davis. As a result of her answer, the recommended ban would only cover toe grabs on the front feet.

Other recommendations included that horseshoers, trainers, and grooms should be required to show proof of continuing education efforts. One recommendation was that cd-roms be distributed for study, with questions to be answered before a track license can be granted.

Mitch said that he had discussed his role in the meeting with Thoroughbred expert farriers Steve Norman of Kentucky and Simon Curtis FWCF of England. He said that he had not been asked to be a spokesperson for any farrier group or school, but simply to provide information.

A few trainers and jockeys also provided information, but the majority of information came from a massive binder of research studies compiled from veterinary research. Veterinary surgeons Wayne MacIlwraith, Rick Arthur, Larry Bramlage and Sue Stover made presentations, as did Mick Peterson, a footing engineer who specializes in racetrack impact studies.

"I am glad that the Jockey Club decided to invite someone like me to be part of this meeting," Mitch told Hoofcare & Lameness. "Farriers and the work they do should be part of the big picture of lame horses, decreased numbers of starts, and breakdowns.

"A lot of good information was presented at this meeting," he continued. "I really believe that each person who was there wanted to do what they can to prove that the racing industry really does have the interest of the horse at heart. The recommendation about education was especially important, I think. More education will be good for the industry."

No date was set for a second meeting of this study group.

American Farrier's Association Moves Magazine to New Publishing Vendor

According to the AFA's web site, the association has moved its "Professional Farrier" publication from Ink and Anvil in Washington to Sebastian Publications in Georgetown, California. SP, which formerly published "The Anvil", a farrier magazine that went dormant several years ago, will be the third publisher of "Professional Farrier" since 2003. Ink and Anvil will launch a new magazine called "Today's Pro Farrier".

"Festival der Hufschmiede" in Germany This Month

One of the world's largest assemblies of farriers is planned for October 26-28 in Krueth, near Nuremberg in the Bavaria region of southern Germany. Organized by Josef Luber of Luwex, the "farrier's festival" is in its fourth renewal; last year's event attracted about 600 farriers from 21 countries.

The Luwex event is a marathon of farrier lectures and demonstrations from morning to midnight. Held at Europe's largest equestrian show facility, farriers stay at a four-star hotel on the showgrounds, and eat in on-site restaurants.

This year's theme is better educational cooperation between the USA and Europe. US speakers are Mike Savoldi, Michael Wildenstein and Scott Morrison. European speakers include Hans Castelijns (Italy), Billy Crothers (Great Britain), Lorenzo d`Arpe (Italy), Bernard Duvernay (Switzerland), Andy Hermann (Austria), Kai Kreling (Germany), Dieter Krohnert (Germany), Rob Renirie (Holland), Sigi Simonson (Iceland).

Also from Germany: Uwe Lukas, Carsten Neumann, Björn Tangemann, Simon Alt, Jörg Ohl, Rainer Koch, Thorsten Egert and Gudmundur Gudmundsson.

Translations into Spanish, English, French, Italian and German will be provided, and a trade show of international vendors is planned.

For more information, visit http://www.luwex.de/ and click on your favorite language.

Or call 011 49 09604 9099222 (from the USA).

Quarter Crack Patch Comes in Handy

Carlos Lara of Mustad/Capewell/St. Croix loaned us this photo of an elephant's foot that had been patched with one of Mustad's glueable crack patches. The elephant's foot is fascinating, but many elephants develop foot problems in captivity, with cracks being high on the list. There is a veterinary textbook dedicated solely to diseases of the elephant's foot. Giraffes in captivity seem to have a lot of hoof problems too. Thank you, Carlos, for sending this image!

Barbaro Update: New cast, new progress report

Veterinarians at Penn’s George D. Widener Hospital in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania changed Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro’s cast on Monday, October 9. Barbaro is recovering from injuries suffered at the Preakness on May 20.

“We placed Barbaro under general anesthesia to remove the old cast on his right hind limb and took new radiographs to assess the continued healing of the original injuries,” said Dr. Dean Richardson, Chief of Surgery. “I was pleased with the continued progression of healing and the overall condition of this leg.”

Barbaro had another successful pool-recovery, and was resting comfortably in his stall after the procedure. In addition to replacing the cast, doctors trimmed his feet and applied a new shoe on the right hind foot. A few hours after recovery, he was taken back outside to graze and was comfortable on both hind legs.

“There are no signs of infection and the primary incisions have healed surprisingly well,” said Dr. Richardson. “Because he has had a cast on for so long, there are a few cast sores, but nothing serious.”

Barbaro’s left hind foot, which had laminitis, continues to gradually improve. “There is good growth along the quarters (closer to the heel) but there will need to be much more healing along the front of the hoof,” said Dr. Richardson, who cautioned that “we still have many months of healing ahead of us.

For more information on Barbaro, please scroll down to read previous news articles on this high profile case.

4th International Equine Laminitis Conference in Palm Beach, Florida Planned for November 2007

Mark your calendars for the first weekend in November of 2007, and plan to attend the 4th International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot, a.k.a. "Palm Beach Laminitis".

The 2005 event was probably the single largest gathering of Hoofcare & Lameness subscribers ever. I loved every minute of it and look forward to seeing you all again next year!

I'll set up a separate blog for the event and post photos from last year. Watch this space for more information!

In the meantime, here are a few favorites:


Drs. Sue Dyson of England and Jean-Marie Denoix of France, who both spoke at the conference, danced beneath the stars on the top deck of the yacht chartered for all the attendess, speakers, and exhibitors, thanks to our gracious hosts, Mr. and Mrs. John Castle.











A mock trial presided over by judge Susan Hankin (center, a law school professor in real life) pitted two expert witnesses against each other: Drer: Dr. David Hood (left) of The Hoof Project and Dr. Chris Pollitt of the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Un









Speaker Katy Watts of Safergrass.org in Colorado discussed grass laminitis with Ivy and Pete Ramey of Georgia after her wet lab.


All photos copyright 2005 Hoofcare & Lameness Journal.





Wet lab demonstrator Aaron Gygax of Switzerland is currently living in the USA and working as a farrier at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital's Podiatry Clinic in Kentucky; he is chatting with James Gilchrist, farrier at Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Florida.









Dr. Ric Redden, recipient of the conference's Lifetime Achievement Award, checks something on the laptop of Japanese researcher Dr. Kuwano, who is an expert on white line disease.