The April issue of Smithsonian hit the newsstands today and the good news is that you can pick up a copy and enjoy a first-class article about Barbaro's struggle, written with sensitivity and intellectual curiosity by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Twomey.

The even better news is that you can read the text online:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2007/april/barbaro.php

with an added interview with Twomey here:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2007/april/barbaro-author.php

But the images are visible only in the printed copy. If your newsstand doesn't have it, your library probably has a subscription.

Hoofcare & Lameness Journal is proud to have been a part of this article. I wish that he could have interviewed all our readers to learn just how much you all and your horses are affected by the disease of laminitis. Even though Barbaro is gone, horses continue to suffer from this horrible malady. Hopefully, having laminitis profiled in a magazine like Smithsonian will help focus more attention on the disease and the need for research.

See you at the newsstand. Save one for me!

Real Quiet, Real Comfortable

Who'll be the next Kentucky Derby winner to grace the gates of the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center? Barbaro was still in the headlines when Real Quiet was referred to the facility after developing breeding problems that were suspected to be related to hind foot problems.

According to the Blood-Horse today, he has now been released and is back breeding mares at Pin Oak Lane Farm near New Freedom, Pennsylvania, after spending more than a month at the hospital. According to the Blood-Horse, the problem was abscesses in both hind feet. Ouch.

Book Announcement: LAMINITIS & FOUNDER by Butler and Gravlee Goes on Sale Today!

March 25 is the first day we will be taking orders for the new book "Laminitis and Founder" by Doug Butler and Frank Gravlee. The book is an overall guide to the causes and mechanism of acute laminitis, chronic laminitis and especially what we call "metabolic" laminitis.

The hoofcare chapters of the book are limited to steel heart-bar mechanics and contains excellent information on how to properly fit these technical shoes. Dr. George Platt is referenced in this section, along with farrier Burney Chapman.

I recently interviewed one of Burney's sons about the book, and Blaine Chapman, who had just returned from doing a clinic for farriers in Michigan, had this to say:

"The book is, of course, easy to read and very informative. It is not filled with a bunch of propaganda. There is technical information on every page. What you have here is two credible authors who also have class. Besides the fact that they are both masters at what they do, they present the book with dignity and honor. Whether you agree with them or not, you'll have a hard time discounting their information.

"What I like is that Dr. Butler, before he does anything else, gets the foot in balance, even if it is atrophied or deformed. He gets the foot right and then applies the apparatus."

The books are $30 each plus $5 for postage and handling in the USA; $10 postage to the rest of the world.

Call 978 281 3222, fax 978 283 8775 or email books@hoofcare.com to order your copy.

Dubai Horse Fair: No Nails

For the next few weeks, the eyes of the racing world will be focused on Dubai, where the World Cup races will be held on March 31. They'll feature a showdown between champions Discreet Cat and Invasor, with a purse of $6 million in that race alone. Did you know, by the way, that there's no parimutuel betting at the races in Dubai?

Once the racehorses head back to their jumbo jets, the Dubai International Horse Fair begins. It sounds like a pretty wonderful event for any continent, but what struck me is that yes, there is a vet conference (including an intriguing topic of the outbreak of glanders in UAE--wasn't that disease eradicated eons ago?) but the horse care lectures and demonstrations include one on glue-on horseshoes and one on barefoot trimming.

Not too long ago, it took trends in the horse world years to make their way around the world. Now things are the same the world over. The desert in Dubai would be a great testing ground for any shoe or trim.

A Grey Horse Makes Winter More Beautiful...

Mike Wildenstein sent this photo of what it looks like on his farm in upstate New York this week. That's Mike skidding a log with one of his Percherons. Thanks for a beautiful photo!

EQUITANA 2007: German Horse Fair Is Still the Ultimate--For Farriers, Too

ESSEN, GERMANY--The world's fair of horse sports has just wrapped up for another year. "Equitana," held in a campus of convention halls in the city of Essen in northern Germany, is the ultimate horse destination. In addition to demonstrations, exhibits and live clinics featuring virtually every horse sport and breed, add horse shopping, parties, and an evening extravaganza arena show.

Where else in the world would you find clinics by Klaus Balkenhol, Christine Stuckelberger, Otto Becker, Isabel Werth, Rudolph Zellinger, Bettina Hoy, Ingrid Klimke, Franke Sloothaak, and Linda Tellington-Jones all under the same roof?

On the serious side, there are a series of professional congresses held in the big theater on site, as well. This year there were conferences on equine veterinary medicine (featuring Hoofcare & Lameness consulting editor Sue Dyson of England and Alan Nixon from Cornell), equine osteopathy, riding as therapy, and farriery.



The farrier meeting was the annual congress of EDHV, or Der Erste Deutsche Hufbeschlagschmiede-Verband e.V., which is the national organization of farriers in Germany. Speakers included our friends Dr Hans Castilijns of Italy, farrier Uwe Lukas of Warendorf, Germany and Dr. Michael Weishaupt of the University of Zurich. Two speakers unknown to me were Dr Alexander Merz and Dr. Michael Nowak but I am sure they were excellent as well.

In the photo is Hoofcare & Lameness subscriber Claus Linde of Germany doing a demonstration; the photo was provided by Equitana. I don't know what the plaque is, but it looks impressive.

I can tell you more about this meeting when I am able to get the information more accurately translated. Kudos to the German farriers for placing themselves front and center at what may be the world's largest-attendance horse event. I think there are 16 exhibit halls, not to seven arenas, stables for 1000 horses, and the convention theater. One exhibit hall is for only horse health and veterinary products, and includes Equitana's "Hoof Village." In 2005 (Equitana is only held in odd-numbered years), 220,000 people from 25 countries attended Equitana in spite of snow storms and icy roads.