Lightning Strikes: A Sobering Reminder

Hoofcare and Lameness Journal subscribers will remember this photo that ran in the magazine a few years ago, but it is a good one to look at now and again to remind us all of the power (and danger) of an electrical storm. On the rainy day of September 1, 1923, 18 horses belonging to the Christy Brothers circus died as one when a lightning bolt hit a nearby transformer as they prepared for the parade. The lightning didn't come down from the sky but travelled through the wet, muddy earth from the telephone pole to their steel shoes. This photo shows one six-horse hitch who died as one; the four-horse calliope team and the eight-horse lead wagon team were all killed in the same strike. Several people died as well. Thanks to the Wisconsin Historical Society and Circus World Museum for the loan of this photo.

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Bone-Healing Seminar In Lexington, Kentucky

(from invitation)

SentrX Animal Care, Inc. will host a reception for the equine community at the Embassy Suites in Lexington, Kentucky, on Friday, September 7, 2007. The event will feature a keynote from Louise L. Southwood, BVSc, PhD, DACVS, DACVECC. Dr Southwood is a prominent large animal veterinarian, who will present an update on SentrX’s equine bone healing work.

“We are honored to have such a notable veterinarian as Louise discuss equine bone healing,” said Dr. Richard Koehn, president and CEO of SentrX Animal Care, Inc. “SentrX’s products accelerate the healing of wounds in horses with minimal scarring. The equine community has successfully put our products to use and we are excited to provide them a brief update on our work.”

Dr. Southwood is an Assistant Professor of Large Animal Emergency and Critical Care at New Bolton Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Event Details
Friday, September 7, 2007
5:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Embassy Suites
Lexington, Kentucky
1801 Newtown Pike

To learn more, visit www.sentrxanimalcare.com

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British Farriers to Face Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Requirements Beginning in 2008

Passing the British farrier education system's stringent apprenticeship and exam systems will no longer be a ticket to a lifelong career for farriers there. Beginning in 2008, British farriers must also prove that they have spent a required number of hours per year in pursuit of new knowledge or participating in farriery-related events.

From the website of the Worshipful Company of Farriers:

"Every farrier will be required to gain 10 points per year averaged over a 3 year period. The system will start in earnest in 2008. The requirement in 2008 is 5 points, in 2009, 8 points, and from 2010 onwards 10 points per year. Farriers who have completed the required amount of CPD in the previous year will display CPD Stickers on their vans."

A similar program launched by the American Farrier's Association two years ago was withdrawn. The 2006 Grayson Jockey Club Foundation's racehorse welfare summit meeting hoof care committee recommended continuing education programs for racetrack shoers.

CPD is a growing trend in many fields. The Fourth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot was recently granted 18.5 hours of CPD credit to veterinarians.

A controversy in the US exists over veterinarians not being able to receive credits for educational events' lectures if farriers are speakers.


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Myhre Equine Clinic Announces 2007 Farrier-Vet Conference

Myhre Equine Clinic (MEC) in Rochester, New Hampshire has announced that its annual farrier and veterinarian conference will be held on October 18 and 19, 2007.

The conference will have a new format this year, with one full day or lectures on hoof wall infections and chronic laminitis and one full day on navicular disease.

Speakers scheduled are Drs. Bryan Fraley and Bob Agne of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital's Podiatry Center in Lexington Kentucky, plus farriers Patrick Reilly of the University of Pennsylvania and Rebecca Watts, resident farrier at MEC.

The clinic is offering a ten percent discount to attendees who pre-register. This conference was a sell-out last year, so pre-registrations is recommended.

Drs. Fraley and Agne provided consultation services in the Boston area on a monthly (or so) basis primarily on complex laminitis cases.

Myhre Equine Clinic is in the former clinic facility of Rochester Equine Clinic.

Rochester is convenient to airports in Boston, Manchester, New Hampshire or Portland, Maine. It's a beautiful time of the year to visit New England.

A great hotel is the Governors Inn; less expensive is the Anchorage Inn.

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"Hoofcare@Saratoga" Toe Grab Forum Explored Thoroughbred Shoeing

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK--An evening dedicated to the proposed ban of toe grabs by state racing commissioners brought out a diverse group of interested attendees on August 7th. The second of Hoofcare & Lameness Journal's "Hoofcare@Saratoga" Tuesday evening gatherings at The Parting Pub filled every seat in the restaurant's function room.

Facilitated by the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation, the evening focused on the work of the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit's hoof committee. On hand to present thewere committee chairman Bill Casner of WinStar Farm, and committee members Mitch Taylor, owner of Kentucky Horseshoeing School, and Steve Norman, a well-known Churchill Downs shoer.

A late-afternoon condensed run-through was presented for anyone who needed to attend the yearling sales that night.

Racing's Hottest Filly Is Just Plain Hot Today

Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Richess shipped to Saratoga earlier this week after three days of examinations and diagnostic tests at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center. She was given a clean bill of health. R2R galloped around Saratoga for her trainer, Todd Pletcher, than exchanged exasperated looks with me. I felt about the same way that she looked. And it would get even hotter as the day wore on.