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| When a horse was wounded, it took at least one other horse to move it to a railroad stop or a field veterinary hospital. Here you see a tandem hitch hauling a horse from the front; the teamster would command these horses with voice controls. Image by the remarkable chronicler of horses in World War I through his art, John Edwin Noble. |
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
War Horse History: Equine Ambulances Moved Wounded Horses During World War I
Tiludronate (Tildren) Effective for Hind Limb Lameness Caused by Bone Spavin
Spavin is one of the most common causes of lameness in jumping horses.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Silent Anvil: Jack Miller Has Died
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| Jack Miller gave me a wink. We were in Malibu, California, it was 1985, and Jack was in his prime. He's wearing the Texas flag as a bandanna around his neck. |
Legendary horseshoer Jack Miller died after sunrise this morning in the Montgomery County, Maryland hospital where he had been a patient for several weeks undergoing treatment for multiple life-threatening problems. Jack had been in ill health for many years, but just kept on going.
A loyal legion of world-class farriers and horse show friends from all over America had traveled to Maryland this week to be with Jack.
Jack Miller created, defined and perfected a lifestyle of "vagabond horseshoeing" on the hunter/jumper horse show circuit where he made a living proving to people that his trademark mystique for being able to put difficult horses "right" through subtle hoof balance techniques was real. Unfortunately for the farrier world, he was never quite able to explain what he knew instinctively about how to help horses get over fences. He just did it. And shrugged.
Jack was from Texas and lived wherever he was that night. He was especially proud of his long role as the official farrier for the Washington (D.C.) International Horse Show. His clients over the years included many Olympic and champion riders, trainers, and their horses.
No one was more rightfully in the Hall of Fame than Jack Miller, nor more in a class of his own.
Note: Jack's friends can right-click on the photo above and save it for personal use. It's large format, low resolution. In the days since Jack's death I have learned how many friends Jack had. It has been amazing to hear from so many of them! I have posted an album of more old photos of Jack on the Hoofcare and Lameness Facebook page.
© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing
Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. 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.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Is California Farrier Doug Roberts the Hardest Working Person in America?
Doug Roberts is a hard-working guy. He's been shoeing horses for 37 years, and he has no plans to quit. Ever.
But when the Livermore, California farrier heard about a contest to find the hardest working person in America, he figured there couldn't be many people who worked harder than he does. And the judges agreed, because today they announced that Doug is a finalist, one of ten people chosen as the hardest working people in America.
Mitchum, which manufactures what it calls the hardest working antiperspirant/deodorant, launched the promotional campaign in May 2010.
"Mitchum challenged regular people to create reality films telling their true stories of hard work, and the public responded in a strong way," said Alan T. Ennis, CEO of Revlon, Mitchum's parent company. "Mitchum is a brand that prides itself on working hard and these finalists have proven they do just that. Not only are they finalists, they are true Mitchum brand ambassadors. Through this contest, Mitchum and the public have the power to make a difference in someone's life."
Besides Doug Roberts, the finalists selected include a man who is cleaning up the nation's rivers; a U.S. Air Force Fighter pilot; an 88-year-old working mom; an elementary school custodial worker; the founder of First Response Team of America; a man helping young campers build character, respect and leadership; an actor, trash-hauler, artist, silkscreener and landscaper; a construction worker and dad who moonlights as a college student; and an Army drill sergeant.
Beginning today, the public can log on to www.mitchumhardestworking.com and vote for the “Hardest Working Person in America”--as long as you promise to vote for Doug! The grand prize winner of the contest will receive a $100,000 cash prize and be the subject of a short film by legendary documentarian Albert Maysles and co-filmmaker Bradley Kaplan with a first-place winner also receiving a $20,000 cash prize. In addition, Mitchum will also present an “Audience Award” winner with a $5,000 prize and a “golden” Mitchum trophy for the video which received the most votes in the first round of the contest. Voting will close on August 15, 2010 and all three winners will be announced between August 16-23, 2010.
For contest rules or to view the hardest working films, television spots and finalist videos visit mitchumhardestworking.com, www.facebook.com/mitchum, or follow the campaign on Twitter at @MitchumTM (twitter.com/mitchumtm. Just be sure to vote for Doug as often as they'll let you!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Overdose Is Back! Champion Euro Sprinter Wins After Laminitis Layup
Great news from Bratislava, Slovakia this weekend: Champion Hungarian sprinter Overdose, a.k.a. "The Budapest Bullet", remained undefeated when he won a race. This was his first start since being sidelined for 15 months by laminitis. Overdose's recovery from laminitis was featured in the Hoof Blog in May. Should Overdose stay sound and fit, he is slated to run in England this summer.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Is This What They Mean by "Loads Well"?
Is this what it means in the horses-for-sale listings when an ad says that a horse "loads well"? These two photos are from an amazing series taken in Poland this spring when the floods were so bad there. An amphibious military craft became a makeshift horse van. This draft horse is certainly being a good sport about climbing into the vessel. How many horses would even try? It obviously took a few attempts to get him on board. I guess the water was too deep to lower the ramp. This photo reminds me of all the natural horsemanship lessons of getting your horse to walk willingly onto a trailer. It's doubtful whether the fellow in the boat is a genius horse whisperer or this horse has been through a NH seminar but they eventually got him into the boat. The fellow in blue is doing a great job of staying out of the way. Photos from fOTOGLIF
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