Hoof Lifting Device Tests Foot Ligaments, Navicular Pain

One of the most interesting products demonstrated at the Luwex Hufsympsium in Germany in October was what I called the “hoof lifter”, developed by Italian vet/farrier Hans Castilijns DVM, made in Italy, and demo’d by Swiss farrier Bernard Duvernay.

The horse stands on the device, which is covered with a rubber mat. It looks like that puck-like thing that curlers push around on the ice, with a three-foot handle and a protractor on the end. The operator stands one foot on the device and then stands back and slow raises the angle so that the horse is putting more and more pressure on the back of the foot as the coffin joint flexes.

After observing the horse, the operator than simply swivels the handle, without having to move the horse, and then can raise the lateral side of the device, tipping the foot to the medial side.

Accordingly, without moving the foot, the operator moves to the other side of the horse to test the lateral side.

The Europeans have always been keen on the hoof-lifting coffin-joint flexion tests for navicular pain, and this device gives expanded pain-response capabilities. It is well made and simple to use, but seems to keep the handler safe, too.

Mustad Equilibrium Shoe Debut with Dieter Krohnert at Germany's Luwex Festival

Before: Dieter Krohnert's spider shoes had been on this horse for a year. The horse has developed an infection in the back of the heel bulbs and up the pastern (blue arrow) and was possibly neglected. (Fran Jurga photo)

In October, I was on hand at the Luwex Hufsymposium in Krueth, Germany to see the first horse shod in public with Equilibrium shoes, the new shoe design from Mustad that was developed using research techniques pioneered by Meike Van Heel during PhD studies at the University of Utrecht in Holland.

But first, the horse! One of the interesting things about the Luwex event is that they brought back the horses that the speakers had shod the previous year, and they discussed how the horses were doing. He was a mature Hanoverian stallion training at the Grand Prix level.

Dieter Krohnert,
German team farrier

They spoke in German, of course, but I think I understood. This horse had been shod with spider shoes by Dieter Krohnert, farrier to the German international teams, in 2005. He developed the shoe, which is similar to our aluminum spider plates that are riveted to shoes as an interface device.

Dieter said he thought the shoes had been successful the year before but that the horse had not been well cared for and perhaps had gone long periods without trimming. The heel bulbs contracted and thrush or some other bacterial infection had gone up the back of the pastern. The horse had medial quarter cracks in both front feet.

This is the same foot, re-shod with one of the brand new Equilibrium rolled toe shoes from Mustad for a demonstration. There was a big crowd around, photography was difficult. The shoe was "invented" via research protocols to test characteristics of horseshoes at Utrecht University in The Netherlands during the PhD research of Meike van Heel. Mustad is now manufacturing the shoe. (Fran Jurga photo)

Dieter re-shod the horse with the new Mustad Equilibrium shoes, which are designed for easy breakover across the entire toe surface of the shoe.

Meike van Heel, researcher

The horse strode out very freely after standing for three hours to be shod in the demonstration. Dieter asked his helper to really trot the horse out and show what he could do, which he did, and then took a flying, bucking leap into the crowd. About 50 farriers ducked and ran, missing the flying hooves by inches.

I think I saw Dieter's hair turn gray right before my eyes but, as always, he kept his cool, shrugged, and said with classic understatement, "See, he's sound now."

For more on the festival, visit http://www.luwex.de

For more about Dieter Krohnert, read "High-End Hoofcare for High-Flying Horses : Dieter Kronhert and Steve Teichman" by Fran Jurga in Hoofcare + Lameness: Journal of Equine Foot Science, Issue 76. (print only) Also search the blog for articles about Dieter.

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To learn more about new research, products, and treatments for the horse's hooves and legs as reported to veterinarians and farriers in the award-winning "Hoofcare & Lameness Journal", go to http://www.hoofcare.com
Contact Hoofcare Publishing anytime: tel 978 281 3222 email fran@hoofcare.com

Farrier Truck Competition in Germany

At the education-oriented Luwex Hufsymposium in Krueth, Germany in October, the only competition was for the title of “best rig”. What a collection! One of my favorites was a full cab old-timey Land Rover. Perfect for the farrier who does safari horses. And a homey Mercedes station wagon with a forge in the back. And there were trailers and vans and trucks, oh my.

And then there was The Truck. Loic Entwistle’s new Mercedes custom truck is worth a second look, and a third. It even has a “store” full of horsecare supplies and supplements for customers to buy. It is hidden from view until he pushes a button and it glides out with all the products on display.

Loic is a German farrier and an old friend of Hoofcare & Lameness. He has been a subscriber since 1994. And I think he has been dreaming about this truck even longer!

Also in the photo: Italian veterinarian Lorenzo d`Arpe, who will be a speaker at the Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium in Louisville, KY in January 2007.

Champion Desert Orchid Has Died

I'd like to write a tribute to Desert Orchid, the great steeplechaser of modern times, who died in England this weekend except that The Sunday Times' obit is such a fine piece of writing, I'd like to just post a few lines of it here. If you don't know who Dessie is/was, you missed a great one. From the Times, no author listed:

(begin quote) Reading The Catcher In The Rye, many Britons nod instinctively when Holden Caulfield remarks: “A horse is at least human, for God’s sake.”

This might explain, to bemused foreigners, why today’s newspapers are so brimming with news of the death of the great steeplechaser Desert Orchid.

Every decade or so, in a process almost as mystical as the emergence of a new pope, the name of a thoroughbred escapes the cloistered world of racetrack bookies, and of punters hunched in betting shops tearing up betting slips scrawled with the names of nags so slow that they were beaten to the finishing line by the groundsman cutting the turf for the next meeting, to become as familiar to the general public as Lester Piggott’s tax returns.

Desert Orchid belonged to this elite stable, which stretches from Arkle — reckoned to be the greatest steeplechaser of all time — through Nijinsky, the last horse to win the English Triple Crown, Red Rum, the only one to win the Grand National three times, Shergar, the kidnapped winner of the 1981 Derby, and the explosively fast Dancing Brave, to Best Mate, the first steeplechaser since Arkle to bag three successive Cheltenham Gold Cup wins.

These are names as well known to most Britons as Silver, the Lone Ranger’s mount, Roy Rogers’ Trigger or Boxer, from Orwell’s Animal Farm.

We have measured out our lives in great horses. There is now a vacancy. (end quote)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,542-2452393,00.html

"Castaway" Day for Barbaro at New Bolton Center

KENNETT SQUARE, PA-- Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro’s right hind leg cast was removed today, according to his medical team. “Barbaro was placed under general anesthesia for the cast removal,” said Dr. Dean W. Richardson, Chief of Surgery. “In addition, his foot was trimmed and a new shoe glued on. A padded bandage with plastic and fiberglass splints was placed on his lower limb for support.”

Barbaro's lower right hind leg had been in a cast since surgery at Penn’s George D. Widener Hospital following his accident at the Preakness on May 20. “He had a perfect pool recovery and immediately stood; he walked easily back to his stall,” said Dr. Richardson. “He used all of his legs quite well.”

Barbaro’s left hind foot, which had laminitis, was also fully evaluated while he was under anesthesia. “There are no signs of new problems with that foot, but the hoof needs several more months of growth before we will know how much foot structure and function will be recovered," said Dr. Richardson.

(This news report was provided by the University of Pennsylvania.)

Laura Florence Has Left New Bolton Center

Resident farrier and researcher Laura Florence has resigned her post at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center after almost five years of service there. Laura reports that she will now pursue a private consulting practice under the name of Holistic Hoofcare, and that she plans to stay in the Philadelphia area.

“(My) impetus is to concentrate more on therapeutic benefits of trimming/barefoot. Though I won't be ruling out shoeing...it will not be a focus,” Florence predicted by email.

An interesting part of Laura’s work has been research on the hoof growth and adaptation of a herd of left-alone ponies at New Bolton Center with behaviorist Dr. Sue McDonnell. Florence’s research will be published soon in Equine Veterinary Journal; watch for the title “Hoof growth and wear of semi-feral ponies during an annual summer 'self-trimming' period”.

Laura's official title was Special Research Fellow of the Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation for 2004–2006. To quote from the UPenn web site: "This appointment supports ongoing research of the hoof growth and natural trim cycle of the semi-feral equid. The goal of the study is to systematically describe equine hoof growth and wear characteristics under natural environmental and social conditions, using the semi-feral herd at New Bolton Center as one model."

Laura also played a key role in the 2nd International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot in Palm Beach.

We hope that Laura Florence will continue to provide positive input to Hoofcare & Lameness Journal.