Vampires for Elephants: Robert Pattinson's Laminitis Experience in Film?

His most famous role was as a teenage vampire and now Hollywood's made Robert Pattinson into a Cornell vet student with a foundered horse to fix. Publicity photo from the Water for Elephants film.

 The horse world is due to get a shot in the arm--if not a bite in the neck--as production continues in and around Chattanooga, Tennessee on the film adaptation of one of my favorite novels, Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen. The star of the movie is Twilight vampire heart throb Robert Pattinson, and this photo is from the movie's blog. Notice he is leading what appears to be either a Friesian or a Percheron from a circus train car.

Hollywood's Reese Witherspoon plays the role of the circus equestrian star and has an Oscar-worthy wardrobe. The horse and elephant scenes were shot in California; the train scenes are in production now in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This photo from California is from a series published in the Daily Mail from Great Britain.

Any film that is heavy on horses is good for all of us; it's good for horse sales, horse lessons, and our horse industry futures, especially when it stars the hottest celebrity in Hollywood. But this one makes me especially curious. It's a great story: Jacob, a vet student at Cornell during the Depression, succumbs to stress and suddenly walks out just before finals and wanders off into the night. On impulse, he hops a passing freight train. What he doesn't know is that it's no ordinary freight train, but a down-and-out circus train. He throws in his lot with the midgets and the clowns and the roustabouts but most of all with the draft horses ("baggage stock" in circus language), the Arabians and one special elephant when he is hired as the caretaker for the menagerie because of skills he claimed he learned in vet school.

One of the first challenges the management throws at him to earn his keep is a horse with laminitis. Can he fix him? In the book, the description of the horse's hoof looks and how the horse stands and what Jacob does to try to help it is very well done. Will laminitis make the silver screen or will it fall to the cutting room floor? Or did it make the script at all? Can they train a horse to act like it is foundered? Even a minute of laminitis awareness in a film like this would be great for public awareness of the disease. And yes, there are farriers in the book, too.

For those of you who haven't read the book: do it. Better yet, get to your library or local independently-owned bookstore and borrow or buy the cd-rom version and listen to the book, as it is very well read. You'll find yourself sitting in your driveway listening to just a little more...

Someone on YouTube.com made a slide show of old circus images to go with the soundtrack of the prologue from the cd-rom. I hope it hooks you, although this is just the first few pages of the book--the rest of it explains how Jacob got to that point of circus mayhem. And what happened next. What you're hearing is Jacob at age 90--or is it 93? he's not sure--in a nursing home, finally telling what happened that day. He'd kept someone's terrible secret for 70 years.

Water for Elephants, the film, is scheduled to be released on April 15, 2011.

© 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.

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War Horse History: Equine Ambulances Moved Wounded Horses During World War I

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.

Tiludronate (Tildren) Effective for Hind Limb Lameness Caused by Bone Spavin

Spavin is one of the most common causes of lameness in jumping horses.

Newly published trials from a study in England show that horses suffering lameness caused by bone spavin can show marked improvement following treatment with a Tiludronate (Tildren) infusion, when administered in combination with controlled exercise.

Silent Anvil: Jack Miller Has Died

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. 

The hunter/jumper world will never be quite the same. Where will a trainer take a horse as a last resort, that horse who's just not going quite right under his feet?

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's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com 
© 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.

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!

© 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.

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.

© 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.