Speedy Recovery Wishes to Farrier Allen Smith

Some horses in Massachusetts have had to allow a stranger to pick up their hooves lately. Forgive them if they're restless; some of these horses have never even known another farrier. That will be the case today when a Dutch Warmblood named Iabony lifts his big feet for Tom Maker, who'll be helping out a friend.

Allen Smith normally shoes for a very select client list; his list hasn't changed much over the years. But right now, Allen is recovering from cataract surgery and a detached retina, so Tom and some other farriers are lending their able hands for an old friend.

Allen is known, of course, as the former president of the American Farrier's Association and its de facto ombudsman. But he really does shoe horses when he's not quoting Roberts Rules of Order.

The AFA has always depended on Allen to see things clearly and he hopefully will be doing that again very soon.

(I've known Allen so long that the photos of him in his file with the magazine are black and white!)

"Farriery: The Whole Horse Approach" Nudges Farriers to Take A Look Above the Hairline

Author David Gill contends that the normal supporting limb (during the progression of the stride) is positioned at an angle of around 84 to 86 degrees, rather than directly perpendicular to the ground as often portrayed in diagrams. Therefore, he writes, lateral heel landing should be considered normal.

Hoofcare and Lameness Journal is the exclusive US source for the new book Farriery: The Whole Horse Approach by British farrier David Gill. The first copies have arrived and already found their way into the hands of eager readers. And the discussions are beginning!

This is the first book to truly focus on grazing stance, shoulder angle, chest width, back pain, “handedness”, crookedness, etc. and their effect on horses with mismatched feet and/or limb deformities and gait asymmetries. It redefines evaluating the foot as an indication of the horse’s development and athleticism, both normal and abnormal. And it suggests that "normal" may not look like what we have been studying in textbooks all these years.

This is the most in-depth treatise on imbalance in the modern horse that has been written. The author perceives the hoof as the dynamic structure that is the great equalizer (or victim, in some cases) of asymmetric weightbearing, gait and conformational challenges from above, and suggests how to recognize problems that can be corrected and compensate for those that cannot.

Chapters: Anatomy (40 pages), Hoof Balance Revealed, Anterioposterior Balance, "Odd But Normal" Hooves, Mediolateral Hoof Balance, The Crooked Horse, Farriery in Practice.

From a subscriber who bought one of the first copies: "The book I bought from you at the meeting (Farriery: The Whole Horse Concept by Gill) is a very good book and I'm reading it cover-to-cover. It is very succinct and the illustrations are excellent. References cited in the book are current and reflect the author's obvious study of leading edge research."

The illustrations are excellent. Whether you agree with the author or not, you will admit that this book diagrams functional hoof anatomy at a level not available to us before. As with our other new book, Hoof Problems by Rob Van Nassau, I wish the illustrations were available in a cd-rom archive for educators (and journal editors).

Introductory Price: $80 (subject to change) plus post
Postage: USA $6, Overseas $15; actual cost will vary by country and may not be insurable.
Specs: 7.5 x 10" with 146 pages, laminated hard cover
Illustrations: over 200 (estimated) color photographs and drawings
Availability: Now in Stock
Click here for a faxable/mailable order form.
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You may order by phone (01 978 281 3222), by fax (01 978 283 8775); by email (books@hoofcare.com) or by mail (Hoofcare & Lameness Journal, 19 Harbor Loop, Gloucester MA 01930 USA). Visa and MasterCard accepted.
The author is meticulous about the fresh specimen prepared for his photos. He used mostly white feet. All the photos of cadaver limbs are identified as such, and all photos of limbs have been vignetted so there is no distracting background except when living horses are shown. This photo of the laminae making their hairpin turn at the heel is coupled with a photo of a corn seen from the solar surface.


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New "Duplo" German Horseshoes: The Concept is Change

The foot surface of the German Duplo shoe.

Something else to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend: clever people keep trying to build a better horseshoe so I always have fodder for articles.

I think mousetraps are over-rated. The horseshoe is certainly the world's great design-improvement challenge. The latest new shoe concept to catch my eye is the "Duplo" shoe, a fine example of German engineering, and the latest entry in the 3-D horseshoe design challenge.

Before I even looked at this shoe, I was sidetracked by the sizing system. They make two models: round and oval, which roughly translate to front and hind. And each shape comes in 13 different sizes...and the company apologizes for not having shoes big enough for some warmbloods and draft horses.

I know the Germans like to be precise; the diameter increases by 4 millimeters from one size to the next. (For the metrically challenged, that's about 3/16" increments.)

The choices don't stop there: the 26 sizes are available in three hardnesses. (I can see some of the farrier suppliers starting to twitch now.) So now we are up to 78 possible configurations of this shoe. There are also winter models and closed therapeutic models, so I think that must take them well over 100 models and sizes.

Another interesting thing is that this is a plastic shoe with a metal insert for stability. The horseshoe is made of soft plastic, which is cast around a plate of laser-cut sheet-metal. This metal insert provides purchase for the nail heads.

This view shows the height of the teeth that grip the wall. This is the foot surface of the shoe.

But the piece de resistance of out-of-the-box thinking is that there are no clips. Instead, the profile is textured or "studded" on the foot surface to prevent slippage. Any "studs" (more like teeth) close to the sole can be ground down. The thicker the hoof wall, the more rows of studs (teeth) you'd leave in the shoe.

And the manufacturer says that the nail holes are "punched" perpendicular to the white line. I've read the literature about the shoe but I'm still foggy on this one. (Do the nails come back out?) There's also an inverse inner plastic rim.

Hubert Frank, the shoe's designer, is a farrier in Germany and he has managed to engineer a shoe that goes where none has gone before. His intriguing horseshoe concept is not a prototype; it is for sale in Germany. I wish him and all the other innovators out there the best of luck. Keep the ideas coming!

Note: Hubert's website is: http://www.duplo-frank.de/en/Duplo-Plastic-Horseshoes is in German, French and English.

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Thankful Thoughts: Veteran Farrier Joe Kriz Sr. Loses Lower Leg But Keeps on Going

Thanksgiving makes you stop and think. You look around the table and see the ghosts of those who aren’t in their seats. Or maybe there is no table this year at all. It’s a good idea to stop and give thanks for those are there, those who make your world what it is, and those who have inspired you to keep going, whether they are at the table or not.

For me, a lot of thanks go to the older citizens of the horse world and especially the older farriers who have inspired me so much by sharing stories and encouragement and being my friends.

The two gentlemen in this photo are great examples. On the left you see Bob Skradzio from Pennsylvania. No one works harder than Bob, and no one has more energy left at the end of the day to share with younger people. I had the honor of hosting a clinic for farriers this summer with Bob in Saratoga Springs, New York. Bob seemed to know instinctively how to approach the farriers and push their buttons in a kindly way. His stories are legendary but his kindness and generosity to farriers is so inspiring.

One horseshoer said he wondered why I was walking the backside at the track with a grumpy old man at my side. The next day, he was shaking my hand and saying “Thank you so much for introducing me to Bob Skradzio.”

I’m thankful that I know Bob.

And then there’s Joe Kriz about whom it can be said: it’s hard to keep a good man down. The most-photographed Connecticut farrier and poster boy for Capewell Horse Nails is now 91 years old and recently had to take a break from his lively life as America’s Senior Farrier. Joe told me the other day that he has had an operation to amputate the lower part of one of his legs.

Translation: Joe Kriz has been forced into retirement. He has stopped shoeing horses, at the age of 91. Was he the oldest working farrier? His son, Joe Kriz Jr. says that his dad has been fitted with a prosthesis and has already gotten a scooter and is down at the barn and zooming to the mailbox each day.

Some advice: hide the keys to the shoeing truck.

Joe, along with his late brother Johnny, probably trained more farriers than anyone in the USA in the second half of the 20th century. Among his former assistants: Michael Wildenstein, farrier instructor at Cornell, and Siggi Siggurdsen from Iceland, who gave such a great presentation at Cornell last weekend. And a long, long list of others.

Join me in wishing Joe the best; send a card or message to Joe Kriz Sr., 7 Bear Hill Road, Bethany CT 06525.

Who’s on your thankful list?

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Les Quatre Ecoles: The Turkey Alternative for the Jet Set

As you sit down to the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce this Thursday, consider that it will be a historical day for the world of classical equestrianism.

They are calling it "Les Quatre Ecoles d'Art Equestre à Paris". In Paris, France, the four leading international schools of horsemanship will demonstrate their skills under the same roof, at the same time. France's Cadre Noir cavalry from Saumur, the Spanish Riding School lipizzaners from Vienna, the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art (Jerez, Spain) and the School of Portuguese Equestrian Art of Lisbon, Portugal (Lusitanos) will send their best riders and horses to demonstrate the airs above the ground and the unique training approach each school brings to its equally unique horses.

Football will be far from their minds.

Job Announcement: Research Opportunity in England

Myerscough College in England is offering a research studentship leading to the award of a University of Central Lancashire Master of Science by Research (MSc by Research). The research topic area is: "relationship between the physical characteristics of equine sports surfaces and equestrian performance".

The studentship is planned to run for a period of 12 months. The successful applicant will be expected to base his / her studies at Myerscough College and will join the existing staff research team in their respective areas of work.

More details are available at:
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/JO634/Research_Studentships_2007-08/

Closing date: 07 December 2007

Photo of Blue Hors Matine's hooves making good use of the excellent arena surface at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany by Kip Houghton, courtesy of FEI.