A study of foot balance and lameness in riding school horses has won the Royal Agricultural Society of England‟s "Eqvalan Duo Equine Thesis of the Year Award‟, which celebrated its tenth anniversary this year. The award is sponsored by Merial, manufacturers of the Eqvalan equine wormer.
On Friday, before a panel of academic and horse industry authorities, Laura Corbin from Warwickshire College in England reported on her research on riding school horses and described how she developed an objective system to evaluate foot balance. She found that horses with chronic foot conditions often had poor scores for foot balance and proposed that maintaining good foot balance could reduce lameness and provide long term economic benefits.
Laura is currently undertaking a studentship with the Roslin Institute and is at the University of Edinburgh in preparation for her PhD.
Her winning thesis “Foot Balance and Lameness in Riding School Horses”, was selected from research theses submitted by universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Laura competed against four other finalists in a presentation of her study which the judges described as “fascinating and extremely useful information for the industry”.
Second prize winner was Charlotte White of Nottingham Trent University for her dissertation: "An investigation into the occlusal secondary dentine thickness in horses of different ages".
From the abstract for Corbin's thesis is this general summary:
"Inappropriate foot balance has been implicated as a causative factor in many instances of equine lameness. In this study, the static foot balance of 81 horses at two riding schools was evaluated in order to assess foot balance in relation to lameness.
"An objective system was used to assign a foot imbalance score to each horse based on the occurrence of the following foot abnormalities: sheared heels, underrun heels, contracted heels, broken hoof pastern axis, mismatched hoof angles and small feet, as assessed using specific measurements of the foot.
"The mean foot imbalance scores were 2.9 (± 1.0) for horses at Riding School A and 2.9 (± 1.2) for horses at Riding School B. (Minimum score = 0; maximum score = 6).
"Horses with chronic foot conditions were found to have significantly worse foot balance with respect to the foot abnormalities identified in this study (as indicated by a higher foot imbalance score) than those without.
"At one of the riding schools, horses that had been lame within the last year had significantly worse foot balance than other horses in the population.
"The results suggested that poor foot balance in riding school horses may contribute to the occurrence of lameness and the development of chronic foot conditions. Maintaining appropriate foot balance in riding school horses may therefore reduce the incidence of lameness and chronic foot conditions and could provide long-term economic benefits.
"Further investigations incorporating a greater number riding schools are necessary to confirm the results of this study; prospective studies would be of particular value."
Note: the abstract is a little vague about defining what a chronic foot condition is or how severe or longlasting the lameness conditions were. Hopefully the full paper will disclose a lot more about the methods and presumptions of this study. Congratulations to Laura for bringing the preventive value of good hoof balance to the attention of the public. Warwickshire College is home to one of Britain's leading farrier college programs.
© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. Permissions for use elsewhere are most often easily arranged.
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 the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page).
To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.
Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Inaugural "Laminitis West" Seminar in California Well-Attended and Deemed a Resounding Success
(edited from a press release)
“The meeting by all measures was a resounding success,” stated James A. Orsini, DVM DACVS, one of three presenters at the inaugural Laminitis West Seminar, held November 1, 2008, at the Monterey Convention Center in Monterey, California. “We had expected approximately 100 attendees and exceeded that number, which tells me that the topic is viewed as being very important to veterinarians, farriers, and students, our future veterinarians, especially in a down economy.”
Dr. Orsini, a veterinarian and surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania, is also the Director of the International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot, which spawned the Laminitis West Seminar.
Dr. Orsini worked on the Laminitis West Seminar in conjunction with Dr. Tim Eastman and Dr. Nora Grenager of Steinbeck Country Equine Clinic in Salinas, California. Dr. Eastman served as the Laminitis West Seminar Director. Joining Dr. Orsini as presenters were Dr. Thomas J. Divers of Cornell University and farrier Patrick Reilly of the University of Pennsylvania.
“All the attendees I spoke with, veterinarians and farriers alike, were really excited by what they learned and were ready to go home and incorporate it into their practices,” noted Dr. Grenager. “It also certainly does not hurt that Monterey is a beautiful location to hold a meeting, and the Conference Center does a top-notch job. The excellent turnout and enthusiastic attendees were just proof of how much we need a laminitis conference on the West Coast.”
This premiere Laminitis West Seminar hosted 141 attendees including 55 veterinarians, 37 farriers, 21 students, 19 sponsors/exhibitors, and nine staff members. Dr. Orsini pointed out, “One of the very interesting facts and goals of this meeting was to encourage veterinarians and farriers to come to the meeting as a team. When I polled the audience, my estimate was that there were 10 to 12 combinations of veterinarians and farriers that registered together. Not only did they receive a savings in registration, but also – and most importantly – for the long term, this partnership encourages the ‘Team Laminitis’ approach to managing horses with laminitis.”
The 21 students at the Laminitis West Seminar were from the University of California/Davis. Of these students, two were scholarship recipients that competed for the Laminitis West scholarships. The scholarships were supported by a sponsorship from Merial and administered by Dr. Grenager. The scholarships were awarded to these students with the purpose and obligation of the students to return to their University/School and report on the latest information learned at the meeting.
Major sponsors were instrumental in the Seminar’s scope and success. “The support from our sponsors was outstanding and allowed the organizers to put together the highest quality meeting,” said Dr. Orsini. Sponsors included Merial, Sound Technologies, Purina Mills, Nutramax, Soft-Ride, Castle Bay Farm, UPS, Wachovia Dealer Services, Purina Mills, Intervet, Luitpold, Bayer, Platinum Performance, CVS/VET, Victor Medical Company, Pfizer Animal Health and Wedgwood Pharmacy.
Dr. Orsini led off the Seminar with an hour-long overview entitled “Laminitis: The Big Picture!” and later returned to the podium to present “Lessons Learned – The International Equine Laminitis Conferences: I-IV.”
Dr. Divers delivered three presentations: “Preventing Laminitis in Horses with Systemic Inflammatory Disease,” “Treating Horses with Laminitis Associated with Systemic Inflammatory Disease,” and “Corticosteroids Therapy and Risk of Laminitis – Identifying the High and Lower Risk Patients.”
Mr. Reilly also provided three presentations: “Laminitis: The Farriers Dilemma,” “Mechanical Considerations for the Treatment of Laminitis – Part I,” and “Mechanical Considerations for the Treatment of Laminitis – Part II.”
“This one-day seminar was an excellent starting point to get us geared up for a larger-scale conference in Monterey in September 2010,” said Dr. Grenager. “Many people were already asking for the date of the next one – which we will announce soon!”
© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing.
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 the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page).
To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.
Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.
“The meeting by all measures was a resounding success,” stated James A. Orsini, DVM DACVS, one of three presenters at the inaugural Laminitis West Seminar, held November 1, 2008, at the Monterey Convention Center in Monterey, California. “We had expected approximately 100 attendees and exceeded that number, which tells me that the topic is viewed as being very important to veterinarians, farriers, and students, our future veterinarians, especially in a down economy.”
Dr. Orsini, a veterinarian and surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania, is also the Director of the International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot, which spawned the Laminitis West Seminar.
Dr. Orsini worked on the Laminitis West Seminar in conjunction with Dr. Tim Eastman and Dr. Nora Grenager of Steinbeck Country Equine Clinic in Salinas, California. Dr. Eastman served as the Laminitis West Seminar Director. Joining Dr. Orsini as presenters were Dr. Thomas J. Divers of Cornell University and farrier Patrick Reilly of the University of Pennsylvania.
“All the attendees I spoke with, veterinarians and farriers alike, were really excited by what they learned and were ready to go home and incorporate it into their practices,” noted Dr. Grenager. “It also certainly does not hurt that Monterey is a beautiful location to hold a meeting, and the Conference Center does a top-notch job. The excellent turnout and enthusiastic attendees were just proof of how much we need a laminitis conference on the West Coast.”
This premiere Laminitis West Seminar hosted 141 attendees including 55 veterinarians, 37 farriers, 21 students, 19 sponsors/exhibitors, and nine staff members. Dr. Orsini pointed out, “One of the very interesting facts and goals of this meeting was to encourage veterinarians and farriers to come to the meeting as a team. When I polled the audience, my estimate was that there were 10 to 12 combinations of veterinarians and farriers that registered together. Not only did they receive a savings in registration, but also – and most importantly – for the long term, this partnership encourages the ‘Team Laminitis’ approach to managing horses with laminitis.”
The 21 students at the Laminitis West Seminar were from the University of California/Davis. Of these students, two were scholarship recipients that competed for the Laminitis West scholarships. The scholarships were supported by a sponsorship from Merial and administered by Dr. Grenager. The scholarships were awarded to these students with the purpose and obligation of the students to return to their University/School and report on the latest information learned at the meeting.
Major sponsors were instrumental in the Seminar’s scope and success. “The support from our sponsors was outstanding and allowed the organizers to put together the highest quality meeting,” said Dr. Orsini. Sponsors included Merial, Sound Technologies, Purina Mills, Nutramax, Soft-Ride, Castle Bay Farm, UPS, Wachovia Dealer Services, Purina Mills, Intervet, Luitpold, Bayer, Platinum Performance, CVS/VET, Victor Medical Company, Pfizer Animal Health and Wedgwood Pharmacy.
Dr. Orsini led off the Seminar with an hour-long overview entitled “Laminitis: The Big Picture!” and later returned to the podium to present “Lessons Learned – The International Equine Laminitis Conferences: I-IV.”
Dr. Divers delivered three presentations: “Preventing Laminitis in Horses with Systemic Inflammatory Disease,” “Treating Horses with Laminitis Associated with Systemic Inflammatory Disease,” and “Corticosteroids Therapy and Risk of Laminitis – Identifying the High and Lower Risk Patients.”
Mr. Reilly also provided three presentations: “Laminitis: The Farriers Dilemma,” “Mechanical Considerations for the Treatment of Laminitis – Part I,” and “Mechanical Considerations for the Treatment of Laminitis – Part II.”
“This one-day seminar was an excellent starting point to get us geared up for a larger-scale conference in Monterey in September 2010,” said Dr. Grenager. “Many people were already asking for the date of the next one – which we will announce soon!”
© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing.
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 the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page).
To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.
Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.
Deltad? Mustelta? Two Farrier Industry Giants Combine Forces, Faces, Functions
Sorry, friends, I have been on the road and only today found a way to check email and this was in Thursday's email. It is a press release from Mustad Hoofcare and will be of interest to everyone in the farrier world, quite literally. I am posting this press release in its entirety, as received from the Mustad public relations firm. Companies and individuals with business relationships with the firms who have questions should contact Mustad and/or Delta directly.
FOREST LAKE, Minn. – (Nov. 6, 2008) – The Mustad Hoofcare and Delta Horseshoe families are joining forces to create an integrated team dedicated to the hoofcare industry and to the welfare of the horse.
Owned by its founding family since 1832, Mustad brings more than 175 years of manufacturing expertise to the newly combined entity, which also will benefit from Delta’s 25-year track record of distribution and brand building proficiency under the direction of the van der Linden family.
“We’ve long admired Delta and their reputation for being extremely close to the customer in everything they do, so it’s a great combination for us,” said Carlos A. Xifra, president of Mustad Hoofcare Center.
“We are extremely excited to join forces with the world’s leading manufacturer of farrier-related products,” said Remco van der Linden, president of Delta Horseshoe Company. “There is no doubt that our customers will benefit greatly from the added value created by the combined strengths of the two organizations.”
Both leaders said they expect to offer increased value to customers and to the hoofcare market, including a broader mix of products from a single source and simpler, faster delivery coast to coast.
There are no immediate changes to personnel or procedures at either company following today’s announcement. It will be “business as usual,” company officials said.
On Jan. 1, 2009, Mustad Hoofcare Center and Delta Horseshoe Company will be officially combined into a single operating entity. At that time, more details will be shared about the new organization, including how customers will benefit from expected operating efficiencies and synergies.
Both leaders will take on new roles: van der Linden will become the president of the combined organization, and Xifra will become the new horseshoe manufacturing director for the Mustad Hoofcare Group worldwide. The combined organization will continue to operate both locations, in Rocklin, Calif., and Forest Lake, Minn.
About Mustad Hoofcare Center
Based in Forest Lake, Minn., Mustad Hoofcare Center provides products to satisfy the needs of farriers, horse owners and veterinarians. Mustad Hoofcare Center is comprised of some of the industry’s leading brands, including St. Croix Forge, Capewell, Cooper, Tuff Stuff®, Thrushbuster® and Right Balance™.
About Delta Horseshoe Company
Based in Rocklin, Calif., Delta Horseshoe Company has been providing quality farrier-related products since 1984. Delta is committed to every aspect of the farrier industry and stays in constant communication with a worldwide network of manufacturers and farriers in order to provide the best and most current products available. It sells its products under a variety of widely recognized brands, including horseshoes, horsenails and tools under the Delta brand.
© 2008 Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing.
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 the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page).
To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.
Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.
FOREST LAKE, Minn. – (Nov. 6, 2008) – The Mustad Hoofcare and Delta Horseshoe families are joining forces to create an integrated team dedicated to the hoofcare industry and to the welfare of the horse.
Owned by its founding family since 1832, Mustad brings more than 175 years of manufacturing expertise to the newly combined entity, which also will benefit from Delta’s 25-year track record of distribution and brand building proficiency under the direction of the van der Linden family.
“We’ve long admired Delta and their reputation for being extremely close to the customer in everything they do, so it’s a great combination for us,” said Carlos A. Xifra, president of Mustad Hoofcare Center.
“We are extremely excited to join forces with the world’s leading manufacturer of farrier-related products,” said Remco van der Linden, president of Delta Horseshoe Company. “There is no doubt that our customers will benefit greatly from the added value created by the combined strengths of the two organizations.”
Both leaders said they expect to offer increased value to customers and to the hoofcare market, including a broader mix of products from a single source and simpler, faster delivery coast to coast.
There are no immediate changes to personnel or procedures at either company following today’s announcement. It will be “business as usual,” company officials said.
On Jan. 1, 2009, Mustad Hoofcare Center and Delta Horseshoe Company will be officially combined into a single operating entity. At that time, more details will be shared about the new organization, including how customers will benefit from expected operating efficiencies and synergies.
Both leaders will take on new roles: van der Linden will become the president of the combined organization, and Xifra will become the new horseshoe manufacturing director for the Mustad Hoofcare Group worldwide. The combined organization will continue to operate both locations, in Rocklin, Calif., and Forest Lake, Minn.
About Mustad Hoofcare Center
Based in Forest Lake, Minn., Mustad Hoofcare Center provides products to satisfy the needs of farriers, horse owners and veterinarians. Mustad Hoofcare Center is comprised of some of the industry’s leading brands, including St. Croix Forge, Capewell, Cooper, Tuff Stuff®, Thrushbuster® and Right Balance™.
About Delta Horseshoe Company
Based in Rocklin, Calif., Delta Horseshoe Company has been providing quality farrier-related products since 1984. Delta is committed to every aspect of the farrier industry and stays in constant communication with a worldwide network of manufacturers and farriers in order to provide the best and most current products available. It sells its products under a variety of widely recognized brands, including horseshoes, horsenails and tools under the Delta brand.
© 2008 Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing.
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 the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page).
To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.
Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.
Monday, November 03, 2008
The Big Event: 25th Cornell Farrier Conference This Week Features Mark Caldwell
by Fran Jurga
Exclusive to Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog; published November 2, 2008.
British farrier instructor Mark Caldwell FWCF (Myerscough College and the University of Lancashire) began his lecture once with this slide. He said this was the group of shoes he had made up for the week ahead. Looking at them lying on his shop floor, he realized that there were no normal shoes among them. Was he doing something wrong that the horses he shod required ongoing orthopedic support? (Mark Caldwell photo)
On Saturday and Sunday, November 8-9, Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine will celebrate its 25th annual farrier conference. The college welcomes farriers from all the US and Canada, and provides a first-class setting for a range of speakers and demonstrators.
The two "lead" speakers this year are two farrier instructors from Great Britain, Mark Caldwell and Neil Madden. Both have earned the FWCF level of recognition from the Worshipful Company of Farriers and are currently at work as the instructors of the world's first official Bachelor's degree program in farriery.
Additional speakers are Steve Kraus and Bruce Matthews, along with Cornell's Dr. John Lowe.
On Saturday, Caldwell and Madden will compare video-based gait analysis and sensor-embedded pressure mats to demonstrate hoof balance quantification. Sunday will be a full day of lectures in the high-tech lecture theater.
Cornell is located in Ithaca, New York; it is approximately in the center of the state. There is a very good reason why this conference has succeeded and lasted for 25 years: it is simply excellent. Hoofcare and Lameness is proud to be associated with this event.
Click here for more information or call 607-253-3200 to speak with Amanda Mott about registration. A full conference brochure can be downloaded from the Cornell web site.
Caldwell's lectures can ask as many questions as they answer. Here you see two views of the right front foot a horse brought to him "to be fixed".
I've heard Mark Caldwell speak several times and it's hard to say what the audience at Cornell should expect. I remember one video example shown by Caldwell was a time delay over four strides. As the load came over the medial heel, the medial heel became a fulcrum point around which the hoof rotated outward, slightly.
Video analysis showed that over the four strides of the two-beat gait, synchronization of the loading feet was delayed by .020 seconds. As we all know, synchronicization is crucial to a horse. Without it, he is likely to forge or interfere, or even stumble. At the very least, the horse falls out of the collected frame.
At this point in farrier science, we probably don't know how much variation in timing a horse can compensate. In Caldwell's sample case, by the fourth stride, the horse had to compensate for his imbalance by “hanging” on the left rein while it re-collected itself. With a lot of horses, that's one "long side" of the ring. Horses can get away with a lot and keep trying; it takes an experienced rider (or, sometimes, a bigger arena) to sense what is really going on; a good rider can help a horse.
Caldwell's example makes a good case for not evaluating a horse based on a single isolated stride on high-speed video...or even several strides. Even with the best scientific aids, farriery still requires the art of looking at a horse in motion and recognizing rhythm and cadence, before one can even begin to dissect the horse's problem. You just might look in the wrong place.
Caldwell talks a lot about the marriage of art and science that is necessary for good farriery. His and Madden's lectures at Cornell this weekend should be a great update for new ways to approach studying the hoof.
See you there!
© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. Permissions for use elsewhere are mostoften easily arranged.
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 the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page).
To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.
Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.
Exclusive to Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog; published November 2, 2008.
British farrier instructor Mark Caldwell FWCF (Myerscough College and the University of Lancashire) began his lecture once with this slide. He said this was the group of shoes he had made up for the week ahead. Looking at them lying on his shop floor, he realized that there were no normal shoes among them. Was he doing something wrong that the horses he shod required ongoing orthopedic support? (Mark Caldwell photo)On Saturday and Sunday, November 8-9, Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine will celebrate its 25th annual farrier conference. The college welcomes farriers from all the US and Canada, and provides a first-class setting for a range of speakers and demonstrators.
The two "lead" speakers this year are two farrier instructors from Great Britain, Mark Caldwell and Neil Madden. Both have earned the FWCF level of recognition from the Worshipful Company of Farriers and are currently at work as the instructors of the world's first official Bachelor's degree program in farriery.
Additional speakers are Steve Kraus and Bruce Matthews, along with Cornell's Dr. John Lowe.
On Saturday, Caldwell and Madden will compare video-based gait analysis and sensor-embedded pressure mats to demonstrate hoof balance quantification. Sunday will be a full day of lectures in the high-tech lecture theater.
Cornell is located in Ithaca, New York; it is approximately in the center of the state. There is a very good reason why this conference has succeeded and lasted for 25 years: it is simply excellent. Hoofcare and Lameness is proud to be associated with this event.
Click here for more information or call 607-253-3200 to speak with Amanda Mott about registration. A full conference brochure can be downloaded from the Cornell web site.
Caldwell's lectures can ask as many questions as they answer. Here you see two views of the right front foot a horse brought to him "to be fixed".
I've heard Mark Caldwell speak several times and it's hard to say what the audience at Cornell should expect. I remember one video example shown by Caldwell was a time delay over four strides. As the load came over the medial heel, the medial heel became a fulcrum point around which the hoof rotated outward, slightly.
Video analysis showed that over the four strides of the two-beat gait, synchronization of the loading feet was delayed by .020 seconds. As we all know, synchronicization is crucial to a horse. Without it, he is likely to forge or interfere, or even stumble. At the very least, the horse falls out of the collected frame.
At this point in farrier science, we probably don't know how much variation in timing a horse can compensate. In Caldwell's sample case, by the fourth stride, the horse had to compensate for his imbalance by “hanging” on the left rein while it re-collected itself. With a lot of horses, that's one "long side" of the ring. Horses can get away with a lot and keep trying; it takes an experienced rider (or, sometimes, a bigger arena) to sense what is really going on; a good rider can help a horse.
Caldwell's example makes a good case for not evaluating a horse based on a single isolated stride on high-speed video...or even several strides. Even with the best scientific aids, farriery still requires the art of looking at a horse in motion and recognizing rhythm and cadence, before one can even begin to dissect the horse's problem. You just might look in the wrong place.
Caldwell talks a lot about the marriage of art and science that is necessary for good farriery. His and Madden's lectures at Cornell this weekend should be a great update for new ways to approach studying the hoof.
See you there!
© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. Permissions for use elsewhere are mostoften easily arranged.
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 the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page).
To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.
Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Favorite Photo: A Fine Smithy
I have an idea to publish my collection of photos of blacksmith shops, smithies, smiddies and forges but I keep finding photos of ones that I haven't seen yet, so I guess I have to keep traveling for another decade or so. I'd like to have a war room type of map with the location of all the old shoeing shops marked on it. What a lofty goal that is: an architectural treasure hunt!Of equal interest to the ones that survived are the ones that didn't. What has replaced the old blacksmith shops? A busy shop once stood in the middle of Times Square in Manhattan!
But as fast as shoeing shops crumble and decay from abandonment or are rehabbed into restaurants and condominiums, clever people are building new ones. Or dressing up the old ones.
So we come to this image from the bulging "favorite photos" file. This fine shop is in Gonalston, Nottinghamshire, in Great Britain. As fine as the smithy may be, the phone booth just puts the frosting on the cake.
There's a verse over the door that reads:
"Gentlemen, as you pass by,
pray on this shoe cast your eye.
If it's too strait we'll make it wider.
Twill ease the horse and please the rider.
If lame by shoeing (as they sometimes are),
you can have them eased with the greatest of care."
The photo above is generously loaned by Iain Paterson who adds that he dedicated it to his wife, Jodi, "who is descended from a line of blacksmiths." She must feel right at home.
This snowy smithy in Poland has always been on my list of favorites.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Insulin-Resistant Horses Sought for British Researcher's Study
Dr. Robert Eustace of the Laminitis Clinic in Wiltshire, England has developed a new feed supplement that he believes will be helpful to horses suffering from insulin-resistance and its complications of laminitis.
Dr Eustace writes:
"We are beginning a trial to evaluate the use of a feed supplement to control Metabolic Syndrome / Equine Cushing's Disease. Our preliminary results from animals at the Laminitis Clinic are very encouraging. The trial is conducted through your own veterinary surgeon and poses no risk to your animal.
"We pay for the laboratory fees to analyse two sets of blood samples taken, by your vet, at the beginning and end of the trial. We pay for the cost of the supplement during the 28 day trial period. You have to pay your vet's fees to visit and collect the samples. We give you, and your vet, a free gift for participating in the trial.
"We will be measuring endogenous ACTH, cortisol, insulin, glucose, NEFA and triglycerides from the samples you submit. These should give us an excellent profile of your animals energy metabolism.
"Dependant upon the results of the first blood sample we will let you know whether your animal is eligible for inclusion in the trial. If your animal's results indicate that it is developing Cushing's disease we will contact you and your vet to disucuss your options.
"So your first step is to discuss the trial with your veterinary surgeon. If you both agree to participation then please ask your vet to contact us on 01249-890784. We will then send your vet the necessary paperwork."
This study is only open to horses in Great Britain.
© 2008 Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing.
© 2008 Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing.
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