Belknap's Laminitis Paper Wins Scientific Publishing Award

(University news release)

Dr. James Belknap, associate professor of equine surgery in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded the annual Equine Veterinary Journal Open Award for 2007 for his work as senior author of a paper published in the Equine Veterinary Journal. The Open Award is funded by the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Trust and presented to the senior author in recognition of a paper considered by the judges to be of outstanding excellence.

The paper, "Lamellar pro-inflammatory cytokine expression patterns in laminitis at the developmental stage and at the onset of lameness innate vs. adaptive immune response," focused on inflammation of the laminae, which they recognized as present in early forms of laminitis.

"No matter what type of laminitis, inflammation is playing a large role in the developmental process," Dr. Belknap said. "Researchers used to believe that inflammation was not a major component of the disease, and that the disease was mainly caused by a decrease in blood flow."

Dr. Belknap said discovering that inflammation plays a key role in the developmental stages of the disease has caused a paradigm shift in the way the disease is researched worldwide. This opens up new opportunities for discovery of novel treatments for this disease, which commonly results in crippling lameness of affected horses.

"We still have a long way to go to answer the big questions," he explained. "We still must determine which specific pathologic will eventually allow us to formulate an effective therapeutic regimen for this devastating disease."

Dr. Belknap received his veterinary degree from Colorado State University and has worked at Ohio State for four years as a surgeon; he has a special interest in equine podiatry. He grew up in Kentucky on a farm where he developed an early interest in horses.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. All images and text protected to full extent of law. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online or received via a daily email through an automated delivery service. To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness, please visit our main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

This post originally appeared at http://www.hoofcare.blogspot.com on September 23, 2008.

Aboriginal Brumby Walkabout: Pollitt and Hampson Back from the Outback

Professor Pollitt has been chasing wild horses in the Australian Outback. His studies are comparing the hooves of wild horse herds in different regions, with different environmental influences and breed/origin characteristics.

"We spent two weeks hiding at water holes, on mountain ridges, and walking through the desert photographing and filming horses and other wildlife including camels, dingos and emus..."

So begins the latest chapter in the literally "wild" annals of The Australian Brumby Research Team at the University of Queensland. The intrepid team is lead by Dr. Chris Pollitt and PhD candidate in hoof studies, Brian Hampson, and is attached to the famed Australian Equine Lamnitis Research Unit.

The researchers continue to trek out to the most remote areas in the huge country of Australia. Their goal is to find herds of horses that are surviving without human intervention. Over the past few months, this meant a wilderness expedition into Aborigine territory in the sparsely populated zone known as Central Australia. It's outback of Everywhere.

Many people, especially Americans, are not aware that Australia has, by far, the largest feral horse population in the world, and the most vast area of country for horses to run. Even more interesting is that the wild horses co-habitate with feral camels.

A "feral" horse, by the way, is a horse running wild that is descended from domesticated horse that were turned loose or that escaped from ranches or military units. The only true "wild" horses left on the planet are the Przewalski horses, most of whom live in zoos. In colorful Aussie lingo, a "Brumby" is a feral horse running wild Down Under. You may remember the dazzling brumbies of the film Man from Snowy River. If you don't, you can watch a clip of it that was posted on this blog last April by clicking here. If you have never seen that film, rent it!

The Australian Equine Genetics Research Unit at The University of Queensland is collaborating with the wild horse unit to test the DNA of different groups of wild horses in the studies. The aim is to find out what breed or breeds have been the most influential over isolated groups; this should make studying the feet more valid. For instance, a mountain group might be heavily Arabian, a desert group might have more Thoroughbred influence, or there may be a surprise breed, such as drafts or ponies, that crops up in the DNA.

Brian Hampson writes of the latest research trip: "The traditional land owners, the Urkaka people, allowed us to perform our study on their land. This is predominantly sandhill desert country with rocky valley systems 50km long and 5km wide on the edge. Our three Aboriginal guides took us through the valley system, where few white people (have) had access, to show us a permanent spring which was the only water for 30km.

"The horse and camel pads into the spring were like highways from the helicopter. We saw hundreds of horses and camels and got up very close to them at water holes. We darted and applied GPS collars to six horses and retrieved four collars after one week. One horse was more than 50km away from water on the last two days and couldn't be found. The other stallion couldn't be redarted at this time. I will be back out there later in September to do some more work on the desert horses and collect the other two collars.

"The sandy desert horses have long feet but not broken away. They scrape their toe through in swing phase in the deep sand and some square off the toe. The rocky desert horses have a short wall with a smooth bevel all the way round.

"The places these horses go, what they eat and how often they drink will amaze most people. Mares with foals are poor but stallions and loan colts are good to fat condition. The country is baron desert around water holes and horses have to walk out 10-15 km before finding any feed."

Hoofcare and Lameness has been involved in cheering on the efforts of the Brumby team because the wild horse has not been well-documented in the annals of natural history. I hope you will visit the unit's web site and consider donating to this important project. Click here to go to the sponsorship page and learn more about getting involved with this project. You can help, even if you live half a world away!

Congratulations to Greg Giles and his company, Cavallo "Simple Boots", for joining the sponsor list for the Brumby research, along with the Footloose Syndicate, a trio of private citizens who will be assisting on future research expeditions.

An unidentified Brumby foot from one of the desert herds. Hampson noted differences in hoof morphology between rocky desert and sandy desert hooves. This is possibly a rocky desert hoof, judging by his description.

© Fran Jurga, Hoofcare Publishing and the Australian Brumby Research Unit. No use without permission.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at www.hoofcare.blogspot.com or received via a daily email through an automated delivery service. This post was originally published on 22 September 2008.

To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness, please visit our main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Lame Brains Unite: Hilary Clayton Gait Study Course Opened to Public

This horse is outfitted for a session of gait analysis in the McPhail Center's world-class video gait analysis laboratory. Equipment at the Center includes a Motion Analysis system, AMTI force plate, Noraxon EMG system, Pliance saddle pressure pad and other custom equipment for making measurements of horses and riders.

Every September, we get the feeling we should be learning something new. Starting back to school. Taking a new interest in our profession. Moving forward with the times.

But we've never had an opportunity like this before.

A private course in equine lameness has been scheduled for next month at Michigan State University's McPhail Center for Equine Performance. The decision was made yesterday to open the course to the public, so this is the first and perhaps only announcement that interested professionals and horse owners may register for a hands-on course in equine gaits and lameness identification with world expert Dr. Hilary Clayton.

The course is offered by the innovative international program Equinology, which offers courses on biomechanics with Dr Clayton and other experts all over the world. The program is designed as a professional development track for those seeking a career in equine body work, rehabilitation, etc. but sometimes courses are open to non-program participants.

Here's a brief description:

Course Title: Biomechanics, Applied Anatomy and Gait Abnormalities (Course # EQ 300)
Course Dates: 10/20/2008 to 10/23/2008

This 4-day course offers both classroom and hands-on approaches. This is an actual course, not a workshop. The goal is for you to learn to recognize irregularities and gait abnormalities. Live and filmed horses, some with diagnosed problems, will be presented for inspection.

Understanding gait diagramming and where the limbs are placed throughout individual gaits enables you to visualize which joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles are utilized for the movements. This course does not attempt to replace veterinary expertise; however it will teach you better assessment skills. Surface anatomy and palpation of joints, tendons and ligaments are also included.

Course topics include:
Gait analysis and evaluation guidelines
Conformation evaluation
Locating palpation points
Causes and symptoms of the lame horse
Subjective analysis of conformation: Limb deviations, rotations and determination of symmetry
Basic anatomy and terminology
Preventing lameness
Defining and diagramming the basic gaits
History of biomechanics
Biomechanical techniques
High Speed Cinematography
Equipometry discussion
Measuring horses
Stay Apparatus: structure, function and palpation of the forelimb
Reciprocal and Stay Apparatus: structure, function and palpation of the hindlimb
Structure and function of the head and neck
Sports analysis/video presentations & problem solving for various disciplines

Prerequisites: A good knowledge of veterinary vocabulary, equine anatomy and horse handling skills; you will be expected to have read Dr Clayton's book, The Dynamic Horse.

Tuition: $995 for four days.

Note: Equinology and Dr Clayton will also offer this course at Writtle College in Essex, England in January 2009.

About the center: The Mary Anne McPhail Equine Performance Center is a state-of-the art equine sports and lameness facility housed in its own mini-campus with dedicated indoor arena, stabling and laboratories at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine in East Lansing, Michigan. Since the center opened in the year 2000, some of the world's leading research in equine sports medicine and biomechanics, culminating in world-renowned research to benefit performance and soundness of equine athletes, has been conducted at the center. Veterinarians and researchers from all over the world travel to the McPhail Center for consultation and collaboration.

About Dr Clayton: Dr. Clayton has been the first incumbent of the Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine since July, 1997. As a veterinarian and researcher, Dr. Clayton's studies on the biomechanics of equine gait have focused on sport horses, including dressage and jumping horses. Her work has included videographic analytic studies of Olympic dressage and jumping events and kinematic and kinetic research with some of the world's top dressage riders and horses in the Netherlands. She has a special interest in the foot and has contributed greatly to the body of knowledge on the role of the foot in locomotion and its functional anatomy. A lifelong rider, Dr. Clayton is a USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold Medalist, and is a certified equestrian coach in the UK and Canada. She is the author of several books including Conditioning Sport Horses, The Dynamic Horse, Clinical Anatomy of the Horse, and Activate Your Horse's Core. She is co-author of the textbook, Equine Locomotion, and is a longstanding consulting editor with Hoofcare and Lameness Journal, which also sells her publications.

To learn more, visit equinology.com or to register, use the online system. If you have questions, contact Debranne Pattillo, President of Equinology, in Gualala, California: tel 707 884-9963 or email office@equinology.com. Please mention that you read about the course on this blog and that you are inquiring about course EQ300.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. All images and text property of the McPhail Center and/or Hoofcare Publishing and protected to full extent of law.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online or received via a daily email through an automated delivery service.
To subscribe to or learn more about Hoofcare and Lameness, please visit our main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Favorite Photos: Coffin Joint Pressure Test

Yesterday, I announced on this blog that we had a few copies of the Proceedings and Summary Book + CD-ROM of the 4th International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot.

Today, the shelf is almost empty. Thanks to everyone who has helped support the conference with their purchase.

The book is filled with the "greatest hits" images from the speakers' slides, if they were able to provide high enough resolution files.

This one was a big hit with me. It was taken at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital's Podiatry Center, by Dr. Scott Morrison. Regional perfusion of the distal interphalangeal (coffin) joint is pretty routine there but he just happened to have his camera aimed at the foot and it was set on a fast shutter speed. It caught the spurt of fluid exiting the joint in mid-air.

If you double click on the image, you can see it at full size (on most computers, using most browsers).

But don't even think of right-clicking on it. This image is the property of Dr. Scott Morrison and is protected under international copyright by both the Laminitis Conference and Hoofcare Publishing.

But it is a great shot, don't you agree?

Click here for information about ordering the summary book and/or proceedings CD-ROM or just scroll down to Wednesday's post. Don't wait too long!

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please visit our main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Friends at Work: Elizabeth Decker in the Bluegrass

Click on the screen to watch a slide show of farrier Elizabeth Decker at work; photos by and thanks to Gene Manley of Manley Farm. Slide show is mirrored from Gene's photo set at Flickr.com. Read more below.

Kentucky horse farm owner Gene Manley likes to take photos. He's a man who studies things--flowers, fencelines, his horses, his family--through the lens of his camera. The results are lovely, but when he turned his camera on his farrier last month, he didn't expect that he'd be sharing the photos with the world...but he wasn't counting on Hoofcare & Lameness stumbling on them, either.

Manley Farm outside Lexington is fortunate to have an energetic and hard-working farrier at their service: Elizabeth Decker.

Elizabeth Decker is a great role model for farriers everywhere. A few years ago, she set out to build a farrier business for herself in one of the country's toughest markets. There's lots of competition in Lexington, Kentucky; sure, there are a lot of horses, but there are also surely a lot of mega-farrier businesses and small herds of apprentices following around the Great Ones, not to mention world-class referral experts like Dr. Ric Redden and the stable of vet/farrier pros at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital's Podiatry Clinic.

Around Lexington, you never know who will pick up a foot you worked on and have a look. On the other hand, it's a good place to find top-shelf advice, and surgery or hoof repair expertise is just a quick horse van ride away.

Elizabeth earned her chaps with an apprenticeship under the detail-driven eye of sport horse specialist Victor Camp and worked toward her goal of an independent practice. Along the way, she picked up some special cases at the Kentucky Horse Park and began mentoring equine science students at Midway College as the farrier appreciation instructor.

Now she's well on her way and it's been a pleasure to watch her progress. She's subscribed to Hoofcare & Lameness since farrier school, and has even had her father call to order books for her for Christmas. And she doesn't just buy books, she reads them.

Note: these photos are not in order, but you are basically seeing Elizabeth prepare two front shoes, hot fit them, and begin to nail them onto one of Gene Manley's horses. As with all farriers, her job is made more pleasant or more challenging (it all depends...) by the presence of an audience.

Elizabeth can handle it; it's all in a day's work in the Bluegrass!

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. All images and text protected to full extent of law. F

Bill Moyer Named AAEP Vice President

William ("Bill") Moyer, DVM will be the 2009 vice president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. Dr. Moyer, of College Station, Texas, will join the Executive Committee next year and then serve as AAEP president in 2011.

Moyer is currently professor of sports medicine and head of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences of the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He began his career at Texas A&M in 1993 following more than two decades on faculty at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. While at Penn, Moyer held numerous positions, including director of the Equine Outpatient Clinic and professor of sports medicine.

Recognized for his expertise in equine lameness, Moyer has authored or co-authored several books, including the bestselling A Guide to Equine Joint Injection and Regional Anesthesia and the now out-0f-print A Guide to Equine Hoof Wall Repair, co-authored with farrier Rob Sigafoos. His research also has appeared in numerous refereed journals and he has been an invited speaker at continuing education meetings worldwide.

Dr. Moyer is a 1970 graduate of the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Research and commentary by Dr Moyer has been a mainstay of Hoofcare and Lameness Journal since its first issue in 1985, when he agreed to serve on the editorial board. Dr. Moyer's Guide to Equine Joint Injection and Regional Anesthesia is the bestselling book technical book ever sold by Hoofcare Publishing; the revised and expanded 2007 edition is now in its second printing.

Dr. Moyer always credits the late New Bolton Center Jack Anderson as an influential mentor in the development of his study of foot-related lameness in horses. Anderson's anvil is enshrined as a monument on the lawn at New Bolton.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This post originally appeared on 17 September 2007 at www.hoofcare.blogspot.com.