Riding for Real: Snapshot from the Paralympics Equestrian Games in Hong Kong

Bettina Eistel of Germany won the bronze medal in division III at the Paralympics in Hong Kong this week. She was born without arms. Notice both sets of reins.

View a gallery of photos from the Games, from which this one was selected, on Yahoo.com's horse racing channel. Great Britain won team gold with three out of four riders scoring over 70! The USA finished 10th.

I hope the Paralympics will earn a lot of good press this week and help restore some good will to equestrian sports after the embarrassment of the drug test violations in horses competing at the "real" Olympics.

Maybe the Paralympics is the real Olympics. It certainly embodies the spirit of what the Games are supposed to represent, perhaps much more than professional riders are capable to pretending to convey.

Save the Date: Cornell Vet School Hosts 25th Annual Farrier Conference in November

(Double click on image to enlarge and/or print it.)

Conference announcements are being mailed this week for the 25th Annual Farriers Conference at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, to be held November 8-9, 2008 in Ithaca, New York. The mailing was sent to all Hoofcare and Lameness Journal subscribers in the Northeastern USA, among others! If you don't receive the mailing or would like to know more about the conference, the information will be posted on the vet school web site at this link: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/education/ConEd.htm.

Cornell's conference is annually one of the premier events on the farrier education calendar. Led by Michael Wildenstein FWCF (Hons), who is now adjunct professor of farrier science at Cornell, the conference attracts farriers from around the country and Mike continually brings fine speakers from all over the world to share their work with attendees.

This year includes two British farrier instructors, Mark Caldwell and Neil Madden, who are both deep into advanced studies of hoof shape, hoof balance, and hoof mechanics, as well as the ever-personable American draft horse specialist Bruce Matthews of Vermont, who has developed a program for teaching horses to stand (safely) while being trimmed or shod.

Among the Caldwell/Madden presentations will be a tech-based demonstration comparing high-speed video with pressure-mat results in evaluating hoof landing and weightbearing, and a session on hoofmapping by British parameters. Sunday's entire program will be given over to Caldwell and Madden to present their work on static vs dynamic hoof balance in a lecture/PowerPoint format.

After a fabulous full course dinner on Saturday, Dr. Lowe will reminisce about the first farrier conference at Cornell, and veteran farrier and horseman Steve Kraus will lecture on conformation faults and how they affect performance horses.
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I look forward to this event so much every year, both for the high quality of the speakers and the chance to snoop around the Cornell vet school library. It is also special because of the people who attend--many of them never miss a year. Over the past 25 years, the group has seen the finest vet and farrier speakers on the hoof stride onto that stage; I believe the repeat attendees must be among the best-educated farriers in the world. Anyone who is asked to speak at this conference should be honored...and had better show up prepared to answer excellent questions and talk late into the night. It's a great group of people...and this conference supplies wonderful food, as well!

Note: hotel rooms can be a problem, especially if Cornell has a football game that weekend. Book early! Most people stay at the Best Western University Inn, which is the closest to the vet school. Call 607 272 6100 and ask for the farrier conference rate.

Ithaca is served by major airlines like Northwest, US Air, and United. Check flyithaca.com for fares and details. Another (somewhat) nearby airport is Syracuse, New York. New York City would be a few hours' drive. Ithaca is right in the middle of the state.

For more information, or to inquire about sponsorship or space in the trade show, call Amanda Mott in the vet school's continuing education department at 607.253.3200 or email her: amm36@cornell.edu. Amanda has been on (much-deserved) vacation and I'm not sure exactly when she will be back.

If for some reason you need the brochure and cannot reach Amanda, email Hoofcare and we will forward the PDF file to you as an email attachment.

Hoofcare and Lameness is proud to be associated with this event.

Be Awed. Be Inspired. Check out the Paralympics and Find Out Why Paul McCartney Cheers On Amazing Athletes (and Their Horses) with a Song

The Olympics aren't over yet. Right now, in Hong Kong, some of the world's most courageous and gifted equestrians are competing in the Paralympic Equestrian Games, while other sports compete in the now-familiar venues in Beijing.

Limited to dressage, the competition is divided according to levels of disability, but includes both a set test and a freestyle. Horses and riders have flown to Hong Kong from all over the world to compete.

This amazing sector of equestrian sport caught the eye of Sir Paul McCarthney when he met British Paralympian Sophie Christenson, who rides in spite of her lifelong battle with muscular dystrophy. He was so impressed with her amazing ability that he loaned a song to the British Paralympian effort. It's the first time a Beatles or McCartney song has been used commercially.

Some may have seen the short version of this video, but watch this one. And then learn more about Paralympics, and riding for the disabled in general. You may be amazed at your reaction; imagine what you could do to help these athletes.

Click here to go the official Paralympics Equestrian Games web site.

Click here to meet the USA team, which is currently in tenth place in Hong Kong.

This could be the best thing you do for yourself all week.

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Lost: Dr. James Rooney, Equine Pathologist and Biomechanics Author

Dr. James Rooney died yesterday at his home in Chestertown, Maryland. The noted author and outspoken commentator on the biomechanical problems of horses was 81 years old.

More to come...

Let the Good Times Roll...

Spa Treatment, originally uploaded by Rock and Racehorses.

Sarah K. Andrews is one of my favorite horse photographers. Her horse Alibar was showing off his feet for her one day, so she snapped the shutter to get a good look at the bottom of the foot with an old stifle injury. This is the only way I can think of to get all four feet of one horse in the same photo at the same time and it would be a lot easier for me to photograph feet this way than getting down on the ground.

The other thing I have wondered about is how to get a horse on a transparent floor and shoot up at the feet....

Two new offerings coming out this fall will change the way we perceive the horse. In a few weeks we will begin offering "Equus" for sale, which is perhaps the most stunning collection of horse photos ever, because the aim of the book is to redirect your eye from the way you naturally look at horse images. (you'll "get it" as soon as you see this amazing book); the other is a DVD by German vet Gerd Heuschmann, author of "Tug of War", the #1 best-selling book on classical vs sport dressage biomechanics.

Gerd Heuschmann, by the way, will be in Middletown, New York in October for a three-day seminar. His work on biomechanics is amazing. Details to follow!

Gustav vs Louisiana: Picking Up the Pieces

Radar screen of a hurricane-tracking plane, courtesy of NOAA archives.

The news crews are pulling out of Louisiana, now that Gustav is gone. They are labeling it a blow-over, but was it really?

Back in 2005 when Katrina hit, farrier Dick Fanguy was supposed to be at home in bed recovering from back surgery, but instead reported to work at the Louisiana State University horse triage station at the showgrounds...and stayed there for weeks, shoeing horses and treating wounds and helping the vets.

He checked in here on Sunday, saying he had been in touch with the vets, and was ready to hunker down until it passed. He'd report to work if they needed him. He ended up hunkering way down. His friend Danvers reported this afternoon that Dick exited his house near Baton Rouge with the help of a chainsaw, as all the trees surrounding his house had come crashing down. (Dick's advice: Bring the chainsaw into the house before the storm hits. You might need it to get out.)

It's not over for Dick.

Further south, Molly the (Amputee) Pony's barn is partially flooded, with plenty of roof damage. Her owner is still living in a FEMA trailer from Katrina, and you can imagine her concern as a tree almost toppled on the construction site of her unfinished replacement house.

It's not over for Kaye and Molly.

No doubt more stories will be heard as the power returns and people can communicate better. Just remember that a storm is a storm, even when CNN is disappointed that it wasn't a bigger story or when FEMA wants to take credit for an evacuation well-orchestrated. Maybe Hanna or Ike will be better for broadcast ratings, but any storm, anywhere, is a danger to people and animals.

The lights may be back on in New Orleans' French Quarter by tomorrow night. But the people out in the countryside may have to sit and wait a while (in the dark) before they can tell us what happened or send photos. It may not be over yet, for them.