Survival of the Best Informed: Convention Insider's Guide Published

Once again this year, Hoofcare and Lameness Journal has collaborated with Vettec to produce an official insider's tip sheet for the American Farrier's Association convention, which begins in Lexington, Kentucky on Thursday. Here you see the front cover, which is graced by a Michael Murfin painting of a farrier competition. Competitions for the AFA this year will be held in the arena at the Kentucky Horse Park outside Lexington.

Anyone headed to the convention? If so, I can email you a pdf version of the Survival Guide so you can read our suggestions.

A few facts about the convention:

600 farriers from all over the world have pre-registered...

A big crowd is expected on Saturday, March 1 for a half-day program on racehorse shoeing and toe grab research...

Allie Hayes of Horse Science has revived the "anatomy lab" concept and has a crew of distinguished crew leaders including Dr. Ric Redden and AFA President Dave Ferguson. The lab this year will be on Thursday and Friday mornings and have a "wet" component with dissection groups supervised by Paul O'Sullivan of Kentucky Horseshoeing School. Water Varcoe will have a complete horse skeleton on display in the lab.

Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital has two speakers: Dr. Scott Morrison, who will speak on injuries and distortion of the hoof capsule, and farrier Chuck Jones, who will speak on therapeutic shoeing of sport horses, primarily show hunters.

The trade show has 98 companies listed as exhibitors. The big booths seem to be Delta Horseshoe Company and Farrier Product Distribution, each of whom has a city block of booths! Vettec will have a big presence too; they will be teaching everyone about their new Sole Guard product for barefoot horses. (See previous post on Sole Guard from February 1.)

Booths I will visit: Harry Patton Horseshoeing Supplies (Ada Gates has designed a new hoof measuring tool that I want to check out); Life Data Labs, to check out their expanded line of supplements; Vibram (as in the soles of your work boots; they are now making horse hoof pads); Footings Unlimited because I really do need to learn more about footing; AirShod because I want to see how the pump-me-up shoe inserts are going; Gibbins UK because Carl Bettison is bring over a treasure trove of old farrier books from England and they are for sale!

I want to check in with Thoro-Bred and Victory to see if either has plans for a shoe specifically designed for synthetic tracks, and with TracMe Shoes to see how their improvements are going with the high-tech new aluminum shoes.

The best things at trade shows are the ones that you don't know about until you get there. I'm sure there will be the usual flood of new products from all corners of the globe and I am prepared to be amazed at the world's largest hoof products trade show!

Good Morning!

Friends at Work: Cheryl Henderson in Jacksonville, Oregon

If you looked into a crystal ball and could see the future of hoofcare for horses, you would probably see Cheryl Henderson smiling back at you. Cheryl started out as a hoof trimmer convert, but the bigger mission of sharing expertise with others, and studying the hoof more deeply inspired her to launch "www.ABC Hoofcare" and position herself as a clinic host and a friendly ambassador to veterinary researchers and anyone who might have something to share or learn.

The Southern Oregon Mail Tribune heard about Cheryl and her work with lame horses and sent a reporter out to get the story. I bet that reporter had no idea what a fun time she would have on this interview. And I bet she left with a head full of hoofish aspirations.

Be sure to visit Cheryl's website, http://www.abchoofcare.com/

Note: “Friends At Work” is a regular feature of the Hoof Blog. When newspapers and web sites alert us to features on our hard-working readers and friends, I sometimes can figure out how to link to the story and share the photo with blog readers. Preference is given to people who aren’t normally in the news…and the more exotic the locale, the better! Scroll down the blog to read more "Friends at Work" posts from all over the world. You could be next!

California Update: Foot injuries up, shin troubles down since synthetic tracks installed

A six-hour meeting yesterday reviewed the status of synthetic racing surfaces at Thoroughbred tracks in California.

The California Horse Racing Board organized the meeting, which was attended by about 150 people, according to the Daily Racing Form.

I have reviewed three quite different reports on the meeting and extracted a few key quotes that relate to the concerns of Hoofcare and Lameness readers. Here are some key quotes, but I hope you will read the reports in their entirety:

Veterinarians Sue Stover of the University of California at Davis and Northern California track vet Diane Isbell reported that injury rates on synthetic surfaces often dropped when horses ran without toe grabs behind. Dr. Isbell said that some trainers have had success training their horses without shoes and urged the CHRB to allow horses to race barefoot. (from Blood-Horse report)

Jeff Blea, a private vet in Southern California, provided evidence that the number of shin X-rays conducted by his five-person practice had dropped since synthetic tracks were installed, but that injuries related to the pelvis and feet had increased. (DRF report)

Rick Arthur, D.V.M., the CHRB’s equine medical director, presented statistics showing that fatalities have decreased by 60% in racing over synthetic surfaces in California, compared to the previous dirt tracks. (TT report)

Trainer Bob Baffert: "I think these surfaces disrespect the ability of a horse and they disrespect the contest of horse racing, where the best horse is supposed to win.” (BH)

Trainer Ron Ellis: "I can unequivocally say that horses stay a lot sounder." (DRF)

Trainer John Shirreffs: “It’s like being in quicksand.” The Blood-Horse also attributed Shirreffs as saying that he sees more hind-end injuries, hoof bruises, and gravel (hoof abscesses). (BH)

Dr. Greg Ferraro of the University of California-Davis called for a five-year study on synthetic racetracks to gain information on how the tracks change over the short and long term. "You want consistency day to day," Ferraro said. "These synthetic surfaces are engineered surfaces and are the beginning of a new science to construct racetracks. This isn't the end, it's the beginning." (DRF report)

Read the Racing Form's report on the meeting, posted on the CBS Sports site so subscription is not required.

Read the Blood-Horse 's report.

Read the Thoroughbred Times report.

Laminitis Prevention: Body Condition Podcast for Scoring Exam

The International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) has a new podcast, which is now available for downloading via their website. The podcast is part of the ILPH's comprehensive educational effort to increase horseowners' awareness of the problem of obesity in horses. The audio program coaches owners through the weight tape evaluation to determine both weight and relative condition of horses.

Obesity and irregular body fat storage have been linked to a high risk of laminitis in horses; with spring on the way, now is the time to identify horses that may be at high risk for laminitis when spring grass increases carbohydrate intake in many horses.

The fat scoring podcast brings an expert (via ear buds) to the barn with owners while they "fat score" a horse for the first or the twenty-first time. By downloading this podcast onto an iPod (or any mp3 player), owners can follow steps correctly; then the audio helps them interpret the weight of their horse.

Project leader Samantha Lewis said: “We already have a body condition video on our website as well as a leaflet but we realized something was missing. We felt that if you could listen to someone while actually having a go at fat scoring, owners would be able to understand exactly what we were talking about and how this relates to their own horses.”

To download the free podcast go to www.ilph.org and follow the instructions.

Ian Hughes of Wales Will Head Farrier Services at Hong Kong Olympics

Welsh farrier Ian Hughes DipWCF will be head of services in the farrier clinic at the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events, to be held in Hong Kong in August.

It's a long way from Mold, Wales to Hong Kong, but Ian Hughes DipWCF already knows the way. After heading up farrier services at the Olympic test event there in 2007, Ian has been named head of farrier services for both the 2008 Olympics and the Paralympics.

In an interview yesterday with Hoofcare and Lameness Journal, Ian shared some of the details of his upcoming assignment, which may be of interest to readers who are connected to horses that will be traveling to Hong Kong without a dedicated Team farrier, or who may aspire to this type of work.

Ian will be assisted by Greg Murray, head farrier for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and fellow British farrier Kelvin Lymer DipWCF of Worcestershire.

Ian spent 3 1/2 weeks in Hong Kong last year for the test event, trying out the new purpose-built forge area in the new veterinary center at Sha Tin racecourse. Only about 36 horses competed then, but the event put the footing, stables, humid climate, and facilities to a good test.

An estimated 240 horses are expected to arrive in Hong Kong; many will arrive in advance so that the horses can adjust to the climate and fulfill quarantine requirements. Only a few countries will send their own farriers, but many horses will arrive with spare sets of shoes all made up, and, hopefully, will have been shod before leaving home.

Ian said that he did not have much input on the design and layout of the forge and shoeing floor, and was glad to have had the test event to try it out in advance. The forge area was served by lots of fans but not air-conditioned, he said, "But it will be when we are there!" he remarked. He said that the workings of two double-burner gas forges cancel out the effects of an air-conditioner, so the shoeing floor would be separated from the forge area, so the horses (and the farriers) will be cool except when forges needs to be fired up.

Ian said that he would have to arrive before the horses to set up the service area, and that he would stay until September and serve the same role for the Para-Games. He'll need to be gone from his home in Wales for a total of eight weeks; he'll leave his busy practice in the hands of his two apprentices and his "qualified man" (a graduate farrier working as his employee).

Ian runs a general practice in Wales, and also serves as farrier consultant at Ashbrook Equine Hospital in Cheshire, England, one of Britain's leading clinics. He lectures on lameness one day a week at the veterinary college at the University of Liverpool.

One country whose horses Ian probably won't be shoeing will be those of his own Team GBR. Ian said that the British horses would probably be served by fellow Welshman Haydn Price and eventing specialist Brendan Murray. (You may remember my story about Brendan, who was one of the four escorts in the horse-drawn funeral procession of Princess Diana. According to tradition, the farrier must be present, in the event of a shoeing mishap on one of the horses pulling the gun carriage and casket.)

One note about "Olympic farriers" (and their tools, supplies, and equipment): Ian said that all gear will be shipped out several weeks in advance. Olympic protocol does not allow companies to make advertising claims that their products were used in the forge at Hong Kong. However, the policy is to allow nonreturnable donations of certain supplies, tools, and equipment that do not have strings attached.

Ian's announcement is great news, but I realize it should come as no surprise. Wales is a tiny country that has a penchant for producing farriers who excel on the international level. Calgary Stampede World Champion farriers Grant Moon, Billy Crothers, Richard Ellis, and James Blurton all are from Wales and come to mind, along with Haydn and Ian, and I remember from an earlier generation Glyn David and the late Tommy Williams excelling in the profession, too. I'm sure there are many, many more. John McEwen, chair of the FEI's veterinary committee and head vet for Team Great Britain, also lives in Wales.

Best of luck to Ian and all the farriers who head to Hong Kong this summer. It's great to see the role of farriers be recognized for the important part it plays in the safety and ultimate performance of the horses. The same is true if the farrier is working at a local horse show or the Olympics.

Read an interview with Ian Hughes for potential farrier apprentices.