Fran Jurga`s Hoofcare + Lameness

Saturday, April 03, 2010

Dr Hilary Clayton's 2010 Equinology Biomechanics and Gait Analysis Class: April 5 Deadline!

3 April 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

The McPhail Center at Michigan State is one of the world's few research centers dedicated to researching the science of equine performance--from the ground up. Any number of research projects on aspects of equine movement, conformation or sport performance may be simultaneously underway under the direction of Dr. Hilary Clayton.

It's 30 days and counting until it is time to join us at Michigan State University for the special four-day course in equine biomechanics and lameness at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine’s Mary Anne McPhail Equine Performance Center, presented by Dr. Hilary Clayton. The course is offered through the Equinology study program.

But the deadline to let Equinology know you want to attend is NOW.

“This is a rare opportunity to see the McPhail Center from the inside,” Dr. Clayton told me last week. “One of the things people might not expect is that we’ll be working on neck and back dissections, and looking at some pathologies.

For 3-D motion analysis, horses' joints must be palpated and markers applied to the centers of joint rotation. A marker out of place can ruin a lengthy evaluation session.

“For the most part," she continued, "the students will have the chance to perfect their palpation skills, and to learn how to place markers in the centers of joint rotation. Using our equipment, a student will be able to see the effects of placing the marker in the wrong place, versus the right place, and the effect it can have on evaluating a horse.”

In addition to covering biomechanics, conformation, and gait analysis in a classroom format, students will be privy to summaries of current research from around the world, as well as from the McPhail lab.

Built-in force plates in the McPhail Center's arena can be used to determine loading and landing patterns and the location of the center of pressure on horses standing in place (or piaffing in place) or worked on a circle.

Of special interest is the Center’s new coordinated system of six force plates. They are positioned for working horses within an arena, under the footing, in a circle or for standing the horse, so that one foot is on each force plate. “We use this system in research; a recent study tested posture and balance in foals,” Dr Clayton remarked.

Another research project in progress at the McPhail Center is evaluating the use of side reins on horses: how do they affect the horse’s center of mass, particularly in different sizes and types of horses?

Students will also learn about a special saddle developed and tested through the McPhail Center for use in therapeutic riding.

Many hoof blog readers will be interested in Dr Clayton’s research on what is called simply “barefoot trimming” at Michigan State. Dr. Clayton’s recent study tracked the changes in feet maintained using a simply set of parameters; her documentation found that as the heels were consistently lowered, they did migrate caudally and that the palmar (or plantar) angle of the coffin bone increased proportionately.

One of Equinology's superb "illustrated horses", courtesy of Debranne Pattillo

Dr. Clayton's research center equipment 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. This course will help sharpen your eye for irregularities, asymmetries and gait abnormalities through a variety of formats utilized in today’s industry. Your own visual appreciation of horse movement and your acumen for sensing abnormalities will be supported--and tested--by equipment used in the lab.

For more information on research projects at the McPhail Center, please click here.

Class Outline: Gait analysis and evaluation guideline, utilizing the data from the research equipment in the real world, conformation evaluation, locating palpation points for segment and angle measurements, analysis of conformation, anatomy and terminology, history of biomechanics, biomechanical techniques, equipometry discussion.

About Dr Clayton: Hilary Clayton BVMS, PhD, MRCVS has been 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. Some recent work has included videographic 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 is also the author of The Dynamic Horse and Conditioning Sport Horses and co-author of Activate Your Horse’s Core, Equine Locomotion and Clinical Anatomy of the Horse. Dr. Clayton needs no introduction when “biomechanics” is mentioned; she is one of the leading international specialists in the subject, particularly in the anatomy and function of the equine hoof and limb.

Fees: The cost of the course is $995 (about $250 per day) and that fee includes course handouts and supplies. A $200 deposit is required to enroll.

An additional weekend course in equine lameness with Dr Barb Crabbe is being offered for the days immediately preceding the four-day course.

For full course details, please visit the Equinology website and click onto EQ300 or cut and paste this address: http://www.equinology.com/info/course.asp?courseid=12 (Dr. Clayton) and the EQ600 details can be found at: http://www.equinology.com/info/course.asp?courseid=78 (Dr. Crabbe).

Join your Hoofcare & Lameness/Hoof Blog editor in this very special class. It could be the most important thing you do to jump-start your career in the direction of the future of equine lameness and hoof science. Get a head start: find out where this world of ours is going. See you there!

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask.

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.

Friends at Work Helping Friends in Gaza City

3 April 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

A Palestinian farrier was photographed recently while he was working on a horse's foot at the Abu Mahmud cart repair shop in Gaza City. Horse and donkey carts, called "araba" in Arabic, are a very popular means of transportation in the impoverished coastal strip known as the Palestinian Territory. Let's hope everyone there has a peaceful weekend. And a peaceful future, in general. Photo credit: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images, blogged courtesy of fOTOGLIF

Friday, April 02, 2010

AAEP Foundation's Equine Laminitis Research Workshop Sets Goal to Conquer Laminitis by Year 2020

3 April 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

On November 8-10, 2009, the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Foundation hosted the Second AAEP Foundation Equine Laminitis Research Workshop in West Palm Beach, Florida. Nearly fifty researchers and laminitis experts from around the world met to prioritize future laminitis research needs. The group also explored specific questions about the direction and cost of future laminitis projects.

In the two-day workshop, presentations and discussions of varied topics ranged from inflammation, vascular, endothelial dysfunction, and insulin resistance to biomechanics and chronic pain management. The group learned there is much information being generated on the topic of laminitis and they will seek answers to the many questions that loom surrounding this disease. A “World Café” session posed a special opportunity for attendees to delve into ten important questions that will guide a plan for future research efforts and the corresponding funding needs and establish timetable to accomplish the vision “to conquer laminitis by 2020.”

“During the Second Equine Laminitis Research Workshop we learned that we must continually develop and refine our vision for the future,” said Dr. Rustin Moore, chair of the 2009 workshop. “By continually engaging veterinarians, researchers, farriers, caretakers and the greater equine community in a collaborative effort to advance, expand and disseminate knowledge through research and collective experiences to effectively prevent and treat equine laminitis, it is hopeful that together we will move closer to our 20/20 vision of conquering this devastating disease by (the year) 2020.”

The Second AAEP Foundation Equine Laminitis Research Workshop was designed to build upon the foundation established by the 2004 AAEP Foundation Laminitis Research Meeting, as well as other meetings that have been hosted by the Havemeyer Foundation and the International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot, over the past decade. The purpose of these meetings is to move the industry closer to unraveling the elusive mysteries of laminitis and help to develop effective strategies that will eventually lead to eradicating the disease.

Participants in the November meeting were challenged to develop plans for collaboration between investigators and to identify specific priorities in laminitis research for the next ten years.

This research workshop would not have been possible without the support of the following agency and corporate sponsors: AAEP Foundation, American Quarter Horse Foundation, Barbaro Memorial Fund (NTRA Charities), Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health and Morris Animal Foundation. The AAEP also recognizes supporters of this meeting including Marianne and John K. Castle, Margaret Hamilton Duprey, Gretchen and Roy Jackson, Elizabeth Moran, Denise and Michael Rotko, and Carol and Mark Zebrowski. This cooperative effort aims to identify priorities for the equine industry and benefit the owner, veterinarian, supporting industries and, most importantly, the horse.

Please visit the AAEP Foundation Web site at www.aaepfoundation.org to see the complete 2009 AAEP Foundation Equine Laminitis Research Workshop report, summaries and related articles, including:

• Lessons Learned from the 2nd Equine Laminitis Research Workshop

• Summary Feedback from World Café, Questions and Key Recommendations on Next Steps

• The Pain State Arising from the Laminitic Horse: Insights into Future Analgesic Therapies – by Tony Yakash, PhD

• Overview of What we Know about the Pathophysiology of Laminitis – by Susan Eades, PhD, DACVIM-LA.

Foundered pony photo credit: World Horse Welfare

To learn more: Ohio State Vets Have a 20/20 Vision:Cure Laminitis by the Year 2020

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. 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.

Next Stop on the Pub (Art) Crawl: Au Petit Fer a Cheval in Paris

2 April 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

"The Little Horseshoe" Sidewalk Cafe in Paris, France, originally uploaded by Flemming Søgaard.

Here's the third stop on our tour of the great pubs and pub signs of the world that honor the horse's hoof and its culture and craft.

This time, we're leaving behind the heavy horses and forges depicted so beautifully inside and outside the British pubs. We've hopped across the English Channel to the sidewalks of Paris, widely believed to be the world's most beautiful city and home to the world's most sophisticated people.

The "art" in this sense for this story is that the Parisians seem to have perfected the "art" of living well, and nowhere is this more evident than when you sit and watch Paris go by from a for-real Parisian sidewalk cafe.

This one has signs lettered in florid art nouveau calligraphy.You won't need a menu; just look up and be reminded that you can have a cafe au lait, a beer, or an aperitif.

Yet the cafe's name is in bold letters. No nonsense, so you won't forget where you are.

And the name? I believe that Au petit fer a cheval translates, literally, to "of the small iron of a horse" or "The Little Horseshoe". Would you expect to see a cafe called that in big-city Paris? No, but that is all part of the charm of the city that never sleeps!

From here you could hop on your bike and pedal over the National Veterinary College at Alfort, where Professor Jean-Marie Denoix shares his vast knowledge with students, and home to the museum of veterinary anatomy.

When the Republican Guard horses parade through Paris, the farrier goes along. Photographer friend Jim Freeman became intrigued by his frenetic activity as the horses approached. He said he acted like the stage manager for a rock concert. Notice the leather bag of shoes and tools over his shoulder...and he came to the parade dressed to work. I wish I knew his name. (Thanks, Jim, for the loan of this picture.)

You might also check out the historic forge at the stables of the Garde Republicaine (Republican Guard), a sort of national mounted police corps that parades through the streets of Paris with its own mounted marching band. Think of them as a cross between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Spanish Riding School...with all the savoir faire and mystery of the French Foreign Legion.

And then there was the day one of the horses dumped his rider and took off through the city streets...click here to watch a video of a loose horse galloping through the sights of Paris. Perhaps our farrier friend was at the wheel of the pursuit vehicle.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Video: World Horse Welfare Farrier and Saddlery Projects in Mexico

25 March 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

World Horse Welfare is an international charity with a global mission of educating people about horses. The charity also runs many small, hands-on programs around the world, where local people in developing countries are educated about how to take better care of the horses and donkeys.

Veracruz, on the east coast of Mexico, is just such a place. A second training course has begun in the Veracruz district of Mexico, following the success of last year's project. A new course began there at the end of February with the support of the local Cattlemen's Association. Their support meant that the project could be run from their facilities in the village of Misantla.

Approximately 20,000 horses are based around Veracruz, owing to the prominence of agriculture in the area. The state has the highest population of horses in all of Mexico. Because whole families rely on their horses to survive, horse welfare is essential.

Ten saddler and 12 farrier students are taking this year's course. Two of the student farriers are actually veterinary students, who would like further training.

Click here to learn more about World Horse Welfare's work in Mexico and other Central American countries. Your donation would be very welcome.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Racehorse Deaths in USA Continue to Exceed UK and Australia; Did Banning Toe Grabs Have Any Effect?

24 March 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

A racehorse gallops on the artificial surface at California's Del Mar racetrack. Photo by Nathan Rupert (thanks!).

Yesterday the Jockey Club released numbers for the North American fatality rate for Thoroughbreds. The number is based on a preliminary analysis of data collected over a one-year period in the Equine Injury Database, the North American database for racing injuries.

The statistics were collected beginning November 1, 2008. From 378,864 total starts in Thoroughbred flat races at 73 racetracks participating in the Equine Injury Database, 2.04 fatal injuries were recorded per 1,000 starts.

Eighty-one racetracks and the National Steeplechase Association participate in the Equine Injury Database, representing 86 percent of the flat racing days in North America. By agreement with the participating racetracks, from time to time The Jockey Club may publish certain summary statistics from the Equine Injury Database, but will not provide statistics that identify specific participants, including racetracks, horses or persons.

According to the New York Times, the fatality rate is nearly twice as high in the United States as in the United Kingdom or Australia. Both of those countries race predominantly on turf.

The Grayson-Jockey Club Foundation, through its Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee, works on hoofcare projects to improve all aspects of safety for horses on the racetrack. The attempts at changing rules for toe grabs and other traction devices during the 2008-2009 racing season were part of an overall program to decrease injuries and breakdowns that might lead to fatalities that would appear in this database.

The period of time covered by the statistics released yesterday includes some months when most states were observing a ban on toe grabs, but not all months of the study. Anecdotally, racetrack shoers at some, but not all, racetracks report a marked decrease in the use of traction-equipped horseshoes in the past five years.

One of the projects of the database is to collect more data on the types of shoes that horses wear when racing. Data from a necropsy project at the University of California at Davis was published in 1996 and was able to document what types of shoes were worn by horses who died while racing and training there.

Ongoing hoof research in the Wheat Orthopedics Laboratory at UC Davis by researcher Susan M. Stover, DVM, PhD, ACVS and colleagues adds documentation to the body of evidence that hoof conformation and shoeing affect risk for injury because modifications can amplify loads to bones, tendons, and ligaments. Race surface characteristics, in turn, affect the magnitude and nature of load transferred to the hoof.

While separate tracks and states cannot be segmented from the national study, California does keep its own records. Accord to Dr. Rick Arthur, Equine Medical Director of the California Horse Racing Board, that state has seen a 40 percent reduction in racing fatalities on its new artificial surfaces when compared to statistics for the dirt surfaces in that state going back to 2004. (Plans are, however, for Santa Anita to return to a dirt surface next year.)

At Santa Anita in California and at some other tracks, the meet's horseshoe inspector has started keeping records of the various types of shoes worn by horses as they reach the receiving barn in advance of a race. This practice will hopefully become a national standard, so that shoeing information correlated to racing injuries on a much larger basis.