Fran Jurga`s Hoofcare + Lameness

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Leg Boots for Sport Horses: Protection? Support? Do They Work?

How much do you know about protective and supportive leg boots for sport and performance horses? I don't mean just the difference between polo wraps and jumping boots, but how much do you really think they help prevent injuries to structures like the always-vulnerable suspensory ligament. Do you know the difference between protection and support?

British equine science consultant David Marlin PhD is about to teach you a lot more in this lecture kindly videotaped and provided for us by the US Eventing Association.

David's campaign to test horse gear the same way we test human gear makes a lot of sense and this video is a first step to understanding more about what some of the superficial leg injuries in eventing are like, where in the lower limb the horses tend to hit, how hard they tend to hit and whether a boot or wrap can make a difference.

Sit down, relax, and take this in, or make some time later to come back and watch this. Please Tweet or email this page to others so that this information can spread. It may sound basic, but we find over and over again that it is the most basic things that people often do not understand because they seem so...well... basic, that they don't bother to ask questions. This is written by someone who has put boots on upside down plenty of times and been publicly embarrassed for it!

I will certainly suggest to David that if there are to be rules about boots that marking "top" and "inside" should be mandatory.

Thanks again to US Eventing and to Dr. Marlin for providing this excellent lecture.

© 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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Poetry in Motion: The Japan Racing Association Captures the Simple Beauty of a Galloping Racehorse...in a Commercial

I think if I could just keep this YouTube video on a continuous loop and keep watching it, I'd have no problems keeping stress at bay. There is something very relaxing about watching these Thoroughbreds stretch across the black-and-white frame of this film, as the lovely music plays.

It's not real, of course. This is a sort of "greatest hits" reel of slow-motion galloping horses from a series of Japan Racing Association (JRA) commercials; someone has kindly edited the slo-mo galloping sequences together for us.

I'm quite often asked for slo-mo galloping clips that do not have distracting backgrounds so for all of you who have asked, here you go. I see footage like this and can only hope that Disney did as well when shooting Secretariat (which will be out a month from now, as a matter of fact).

The original JRA commercial was quite nice and it dovetails with the melancholy I feel each September when Saratoga is over and the Breeders Cup isn't really here yet. Thank goodness for the World Equestrian Games this year.

And, for those of you like me who want to know such things, here's how they filmed the horses galloping (and the rest of the original commercial):

I've always been a fan of the rousing instrumental musical equestrian commercial genre made famous and perfected by Rolex, but I think the JRA has done something very special here. It's a commercial that conveys a reverence for horse racing and horses.

Imagine that.

Indulge yourself by watching the gallopers as many times as you please. I know some of you will be able to use these horses in your teaching. Be sure to thank the JRA the next time you see a representative at a conference. They do wonderful things.

PS As a post script, I am really happy to see that this article has been near the top of the most popular posts on this blog for the past month or so. I'm not the only one who likes it! Or, someone is watching it over and over and over again! Thanks again to the JRA.

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Monday, September 06, 2010

Ready, Vet, Go! Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital Shares World Equestrian Games Plan to Serve Horses, Educate Visitors

Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington will make technologically advanced diagnostic and treatment equipment and personnel available to any horses that may become sick or injured during their stay in Kentucky. This horse is being worked up on the Rood and Riddle high-speed treadmill so that his metabolism and airways can be evaluated.

Many of the people who read this blog would be just as happy being backstage at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington this fall as they would be with front row seats. Of course we all hope that no horses are injured or become sick during the Games but if that happens...the vet bases backstage are very well-covered. In fact, if you do the math, there may well end up being more veterinarians than horses at the World Equestrian Games!

Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital is only six miles from WEG.

To explain, here are some insights to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital's role as the Official Equine Hospital and Veterinary Partner for the Games. Rood and Riddle is, of course, one of the leading equine veterinary medical centers in the United States and the world, and its location in Lexington is serendipitous to insuring the finest possible care for any veterinary needs that arise for horses at the Games. Rood and Riddle's college-campus style setting accommodates horses of all breeds for referral surgery, medical treatments, diagnostic imaging and a very special service, equine podiatry.

Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital employs 50 veterinarians and 200 support staff. Four of the veterinarians are specialists in hoof problems and three farriers are employed in the podiatry clinic and technicians have specialized skills in hoof-related procedures. Interns and trainees can change the number of people working in the podiatry department on a given day.

During the World Equestrian Games, Rood and Riddle will work closely with Dr. Kent Allen, the official veterinary coordinator of the Games. Dr. Chris Newton, a veterinarian and partner at Rood and Riddle who is also an avid equestrian and eventing competitor, heads the Rood and Riddle team of veterinarians and veterinary technicians assembled to provide medical support to the Games.

When the horses arrive in Kentucky from all over the world, their handlers will pay close attention to how well they survived the stress of travel and are settling in to their new surroundings. However, these horsemen and their equine charges will have access to one of the most extensive arrays of advanced veterinary services available at a competition.

The Horse Park will offer an on-site veterinary clinic that will provide 24-hour care ranging from basic medical treatment to high-level diagnostics. Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, less than six miles away, will be staffed and ready to address any emergency or injury in need of specialized medical care.

The diagnosis of musculoskeletal injuries is a specialty at Rood and Riddle. Experts in equine imaging have precise criteria for selecting between MRI, CT, nuclear scintigraphy, ultrasound and digital radiography for the best evaluation of an injury, depending on whether a soft tissue or bone may be injured. This photo shot through the observation window into the MRI suite shows an anesthetized horse with a limb inside the MRI magnet. The monitor in the foreground shows preview images.

During the Games, a minimum of six Rood and Riddle veterinarians with numerous veterinary technician assistants will be on-site daily. During the more taxing competitions, such as Eventing Cross-Country, Endurance, and the Driving Marathon, the veterinary staff will increase with additional support from the Rood and Riddle medicine and surgery specialists at the on-site veterinary clinic.

In addition to the Rood and Riddle veterinarians, every National Federation will send a minimum of one team veterinarian. The Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI), the governing body of equestrian sport, will also have veterinarians in attendance. The FEI veterinarians’ primary function is to ensure that all rules are being followed, allowable medications are administered correctly and the horse’s welfare is placed above the competition.

The Rood and Riddle Pavilion at the Alltech Experience
One of the most exciting aspects of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games for Rood and Riddle is the opportunity to educate the world about the hospital and the advances in equine veterinary medicine. WEG attendees will find the Rood and Riddle Pavilion, located within the Alltech Experience compound, to be a must-see destination on their

tour of the extensive exhibit areas at the Kentucky Horse Park.

The pavilion (design plan at right) will provide an educational experience for young and old with multiple interactive stations and video displays covering the latest veterinary technology including diagnostic imaging, equine medicine and surgery, and stem cell therapy.

Visitors can use touch screen controls to choose which type of horse they would like to see on a treadmill followed by the endoscopic view of the throat, use an ultrasound probe on a phantom uterus to locate a pregnancy, and see an actual surgery table anesthesia machine set up complete with a 900-lb. model of an equine patient in position and ready for surgery.

The pavilion also includes a theater section where daily lectures will be presented by Rood and Riddle veterinarians and other equine professionals including Hall of Fame jockeys and World Games competitors.

Rood and Riddle Hospital Tours During WEG
Rood and Riddle is also hosting tours at the hospital, Monday through Friday, at 10am and 12pm during the Games. Tours are by reservation only and may be booked at www.HorseCapitalTours.com. Tickets are $12.95 per person (ticket required for children aged 5 and up; strollers not permitted) with $5 from every ticket purchase going to the Kentucky Equine Humane Center and the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation.

After years of planning and anticipation for the big event, our friends at Rood and Riddle are ready and say that they are honored to participate in this extraordinary event. They're eager to see World Champions crowned in eight disciplines. Let the Games begin!

If you enjoyed this story, or if you are planning to attend the World Equestrian Games, you may also want to read Fran Jurga's new blog, Discover WEG with Fran Jurga on the discoverhorses.com web site. It will only be around for a few months--the Games will soon be here!

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Friday, September 03, 2010

Silent Anvil: Joe Kriz Sr. Epitomized the 20th Century American Horseshoer

Joe Kriz may have the most famous smile in American horseshoeing. He was the star of Capewell nail ads and the grin showed up everywhere. So did Joe. The media loved him. Even beyond the Kriz family's association with the Budweiser Clydesdales and other big name shoeing accounts, Joe was paydirt for the media. Cameras loved him.

He was America's horseshoer.

Joe Kriz Sr. of Bethany, Connecticut died in his sleep yesterday morning. I just got back to town and found out and the news hasn't really sunk in yet.

There are two things I know, though:

1. I went looking for these photos of Joe in my files and I believe I have more photos of Joe Kriz Sr. than of any other single person. And in every single photo, he's smiling. Grinning. Ear to ear. And he has a cowboy hat on, too.

2. When I started on this crazy idea of specializing in writing about hoofcare, I knew I had to do one thing: make a pilgrimage. I knew exactly where to go. I drove to Bethany, Connecticut and spent a Sunday with Joe Kriz and his brother, Johnny, in their forge with my tape recorder going. If I was starting tomorrow and knew what I know now, I would do the exact same thing all over again. It was an auspicious beginning.

Services for Joe, known as "UJ" to many, include calling hours Friday night (a little hurricane would never slow down Joe Kriz) from 4:00 to 8:00 PM at the Ralph E. Hull Funeral Home in Seymour, Connecticut (north of New Haven). A funeral will be held on Saturday, September 4, at 10 a.m. at Christ Episcopal Church, 526 Amity Road, Bethany, Connecticut.

You can see an amazing collection of photos from Joe's equally amazing life here.

If anyone is keeping score, I believe Joe was 93 years old, or thereabouts. He was born in 1917 to a long line of Czech farriers going back eight or more generations.

If you have no idea who Joe Kriz is or why this grinning face would belong to the man whom many consider the most famous horseshoer in the 20th century in the United States, you could read this fantastic article about him that was in the Draft Horse Journal last year. Even if you do know who Joe is, you'll enjoy reading it. This is by far the best article I have ever read about him. When you read it, you will see that Joe Kriz pretty much had the 20th century of horseshoeing and horses, for that matter, in the USA covered. He had the horse world on a string, and he worked it.

Joe shod horses well into his mid-80s, when his health forced him to stop. He kept shoeing not because he had to, but because that is what he did in life, and what he wanted to do.

In other words, Joe Kriz had a lot to grin about. Sad as I am, I can't help but grin through my tears just thinking of him.

Joe Kriz Jr and Joe Kriz Sr.: two generations of American horseshoers from a family dynasty stretching back to Europe.

Thursday, September 02, 2010

"Blame" It on These Four Fast Feet

My friend Wendy Uzelac must have been thinking of The Hoof Blog when she was walking around Keeneland Racetrack in Lexington, Kentucky yesterday. Her expert camera clicked just as the groom threw a bucket of suds at the lower legs of the horse that many believe is the top older male horse in the USA. Blame has been on a roll this year and beat Quality Road last month in the Whitney at Saratoga. The New Yorkers must be relieved that Blame is back in Kentucky. Quality Road and Mine That Bird have a pretty local field in this weekend's Woodward. Thanks to Wendy, who specializes in photographing Thoroughbred racing and golf, for aiming at Blame's leg's instead of his handsome head and congratulations! She's getting married to fellow photographer Matt Wooley this weekend and will move from northern Michigan to Lexington, where Matt is based. The Thoroughbred industry in Lexington is in for a treat. Image © Wendy Wooley/EquiSport Photos.

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Saturday, August 28, 2010

The Anti-Gravity Anvil

Floating Anvil, originally uploaded by Zach Inglis.

Seen above London, England one afternoon last month. Where do you think it came down? And when it did, was it with a gentle thud or with a terrible bang? No one dared walk underneath it, that's for sure.