Sunday, April 01, 2012

Red Renchin Earns American Association of Professional Farriers Honorary Membership

The following text is an edited press release provided by the American Association of Professional Farriers.

Wisconsin farrier Robert "Red” Renchin, APF CF, of Mequon, Wisconsin, received special recognition recently when he was named as an honorary member of the American Association of Professional Farriers (AAPF).

Renchin was presented with a horseshoe coat rack, designed and forged by AAPF Director Jennifer Horn, APF, CJF, at a special event hosted by Joy Ream at Palm Beach Farrier Supply in Wellington, Florida on March 17, 2012.


Renchin is known throughout the North American equine industry for his extensive work with hunters and jumpers at all levels of competition. The recently retired farrier operated a multi-farrier business for many years, serving horse owners in southeast Wisconsin and northeast Illinois.

Over the years, Renchin has trained a number of farriers who have gone on to successful hoofcare careers of their own.

Distinguishing qualities outlined by AAPF about Renchin include:
  • Well-respected by, and able to work hand-in-hand with, area veterinarians and other farriers on critical horse care cases;
  • A willingness to share his knowledge and train future hoofcare professionals through his multi-farrier business;
  • A continuing desire to learn more about all aspects of hoofcare and evaluate new techniques in the farrier field;
  • Always willing to go out of his way to help fellow farriers;
  • A huge believer in the need for highly effective customer services.
Red Renchin, front and center, holding his coat rack at a special event in his honor March 17 at Palm Beach Farrier Supply in Florida. If someone can ID everyone in the photo, we'd love to add the names.

Horses shod by Renchin have won numerous major competitions, including jumpers that have participated in the Olympics.

Renchin was inducted into the International Horseshoeing Hall Of Fame in 1995. He also serves as the technical editor for American Farriers Journal, is a frequent a speaker at the International Hoof-Care Summit, and has served as an outstanding clinician at various hoofcare events around the country. He is a long-time member of the American Farrier’s Association and the Upper Midwest Horseshoers Association.

The American Association of Professional Farriers is a non-profit organization created to represent the interests of professional farriers and others involved in the farrier industry. The primary objectives of the new association are: continuing education, member support and serving as a hoof-care reference for horse owners. The AAPF is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

End of edited press release

© 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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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Hallmarq Standing Equine MRI for Hoof Puncture Wounds: Is MR Scanning Necessary? Will It Help?


Mystery lameness? Puncture wounds take some detective work sometimes. This lame draft horse was referred to Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine Equine Hospital. It was a long drive for his owners, only to find out that a nail was embedded in the foot, invisible to everyone who had looked at the horse. When the nail came loose in the winter shoe and finally dropped out (note empty nail hole), the horse probably stepped on it. (© Michael Wildenstein photo collection)
A puncture wound in the foot can be a life-threatening and career-ending injury for a horse. Once again, the seemingly rock-hard protection of the hoof capsule proves to be not as tough as it looks. Horses step on nails, cactus thorns, shards of wood and metal, fence stakes, shavings bag staples and any and every other thing in their paths.

The Literary Hoof: "Great Expectations" on PBS Is a Classic Tour de Forge


Who's teaching whom? You'll have to read Great Expectations to learn what the young apprentice and his master were studying here. (Image scanned by Philip V. Allingham of Victorian Web.)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens was written before subtitles became commonly used. If it had one, it would be "Or: Be careful what you wish for".

If you have never read Great Expectations (when I was in high school it was required reading for English classes) by Charles Dickens, consider picking it up now, especially if you have children of your own. Make it a family project to read it together, maybe even aloud. The forge images will come alive. So will the characters in the forge.

Here's a preview of the 2011 BBC miniseries starring Douglas Booth as Pip, which will be aired in the USA beginning Sunday, April 1, 2012 on PBS Masterpiece.

That's right: The classic Victorian novel of an orphan's fate begins and ends in a forge, and it could be said that it truly is a tale of seeing that forge in two very different lights. I think of it as a perfect allegory for T.S. Eliot's great quote:  "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

Actor Shaun Dooley plays blacksmith Joe Gargery, one of Charles Dickens' rare sympathetic heroes, in the BBC film of Great Expectations that will air on PBS in April, beginning this Sunday. "I have often thought of him...like the steam-hammer that can crush a man or pat an egg-shell, in his combination of strength with gentleness," is how Pip described him. (BBC photo)
Like War Horse, Great Expectations is a book that has been adapted into a film and a play. But it's also been a film many times over, starring some great and not-so-great actors. And it's about to become one again: Hollywood and the BBC both re-discovered the book last year and have brought forward films--one for television and one for the cinema--at almost the same time.

For the high-dollar new Hollywood version, Jeremy Irvine, the star of War Horse, has signed on to play Pip, the once-future farrier of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations in the cinema version. He had to learn to ride a horse for War Horse; for Great Expectations, he had to learn to shoe one.

The movie blogs are reporting that Irvine even went to farrier school in England to get his hammer technique down.
Jason Flemyng as blacksmith Joe Gargery
But what about Jason Flemyng, who plays the wise and kind Joe Gargery in the new film? He must definitely have gone to farrier school!

Joe's not the only smith in Great Expectations. There's also the evil journeyman, Orlick.

Orlick just doesn't fit in. And he sees young Pip as a threat to his job security.

Dickens writes: “He was a broad-shouldered loose-limbed swarthy fellow of great strength, never in a hurry..he always slouched, locomotively, with his eyes on the ground; and when accosted or otherwise required to raise them, he looked up in a half-resentful, half-puzzled way….”

The kindly blacksmith Joe Gargery finally lost his temper and scattered the evil journeyman Orlick among the horseshoes in this scene from Great Expectations. The jealous Orlick didn't want to see Pip be an apprentice. (Image scanned by Philip V. Allingham of Victorian Web.)
It's hard not to love a story that has characters with names like "Uncle Pumblechook". I'm sure there must be an event horse somewhere with that name--or there will be soon!

Here comes trouble, also known as Magwitch, an escaped convict who threatens to rip Pip's liver out if he doesn't bring him a rasp. Why does he need a resp? You'll have to watch the film or read the book! (PBS press photo)
Dickens introduces his readers to Magwitch in one of the most unforgettable descriptions of a character ever written:
"A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin."
And that's just the beginning of the book.

I'm not a director, but I think the 1946 black-and-white version of Great Expectations would be hard to beat. Thanks to archive.org, you can view the entire David Lean film of Great Expectations online or even download it.

David Lean received an Academy Award nomination for directing this film and went on to create great film classics such as Doctor Zhivago. Let's hope the BBC version is half as good as that one.

In this old illustration from the book, Joe Gargery hammered on to repair the handcuffs that would be used to capture escaped convict Magwitch, while the soldiers who commandeered his services helped themselves to his special bottle of Christmas port. Some thank you, but the calm blacksmith wisely kept his eyes on his anvil.
If for no other reason, watch Great Expectations to teach your children and remind yourself that you should be careful about wishing to be someone you're not. Pip's unexpected opportunity to become a young gentleman causes him to turn his back on the forge and the one person who has something to teach him, about both working and living with honor and faith.

A comment about Joe from a review in The Telegraph sums it up: "Joe Gargery has a recessive role to play as the novel unfolds. But there he is, smudged with soot from the forge, a distant bedrock of compassion. If you finish the book without caring for Joe quite deeply, pop in a thermometer: you may need defrosting."

And if you don't get the message of Great Expectations, you just might be doomed to a life like Orlick's.

Art: illustrator Chris Riddell's characterization of Joe Gargery from the Observor's gallery of characters in Dickens' novels.

PBS.org says that part 1 of Great Expectations airs on Sunday, April 1 and part 2 on Sunday, April 8. PBS will also stream part 1 of Great Expectations beginning April 2 on its Masterpiece web site.
 
© 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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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Monday, March 19, 2012

NTRA's New-Look Thoroughbred Horseshoes: Fantasy Footwear Video


This video makes you wonder who created that prototype for the NTRA! No additional information is available...so far although it looks sort of like a plastic-coated Easy. It looks like these commercials may be destined to air on national television. 


They come in Zenyatta's silks colors!


Call 978 281 3222 to place your order; ships immediately and you'll use it often!


© 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.  
Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal
Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page
 
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Scott Simpson: Official Obituary and Memorial Information

O F F I C I A L  O B I T U A R Y

James Scott Simpson (1933 - 2012)


On March 1, 2012, the Hoof Blog reported the death of farrier J. Scott Simpson and published a personal tribute to Scott and his role in American horseshoeing. We promised to report more details when they became officially available and today we are able to do that. We are posting here the official obituary for Scott Simpson, which appears today in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in Montana.

Of special importance is that Scott's family has set up a memorial page for him on the Wickenburg Funeral Home web site and they would like to invite everyone who knew Scott to visit the page and record their memories. You can also upload photos of Scott to the site.


Finally, a memorial service is planned for Scott, tentatively in late May, in Bozeman, Montana. More details about that will be announced later.

This information will remain on the Hoof Blog for anyone to access at any time.

The following text is as it was prepared by Scott's family.

James Scott Simpson of Bozeman passed away February 29, 2012, but not until he'd completed nine holes of golf in the desert near his winter home in Wickenburg, Arizona.

He was born March 27, 1933 in Prescott, Arizona, to Kenneth and Helen Simpson. The family soon moved to San Diego, California, where he attended Sweetwater High School in National City. At the age of 13 he learned to fly, sometimes washing airplanes in exchange for flying lessons. In later years he became a Certified Flight Instructor.

He served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army National Guard, receiving various awards for marksmanship. He also worked in the aerospace industry at General Dynamics Aeronautics. Around this time he met and married Evelyn Moore, with whom he started a family and reared five children.

He acquired his first horse at the age of 18, which established the direction the rest of his life was to take. He became skilled first as a cowboy and rodeo rider, then as a horseshoer, graduating with his best friend Mike Williams from the California Polytechnic horseshoeing school in 1959.

After 17 years as a professional farrier, he founded the Horseshoeing School at Montana State University in 1970. He later became the instructor of farrier science at Walla Walla Community College in Washington, and at his own Northwestern School of Horseshoeing.

During this time he remained active as a horseshoer and horseman, working in virtually every activity and discipline in the horse industry, including Thoroughbred racing, harness racing, hunter jumpers, dressage horses, working cow and ranch horses, pro rodeo, and as a horse show judge.

He served as president of the American Farrier's Association, and received the AFA's Outstanding Educator, Outstanding Clinician and Outstanding Journalism awards. In 1999 he was inducted into the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. His teaching and expertise took him to places such as Australia, Hawaii, Japan, Russia, Alaska and Canada, as well as much of the continental U.S.

He was the author of numerous books on horseshoeing, the culmination of which is his magnum opus, The Contemporary Horseshoer: Shoeing Horses in the Twenty-First Century. He also wrote numerous articles in journals and magazines ranging from Western Horseman to Plane & Pilot.

He also helped to establish certification for professional farriers, developed the "Eagle Eye" principal of shaping a horseshoe to an individual horse's foot, and invented numerous implements for farriers, horsemen, and aviators.

Scott was a man of wildly diverse interests, whose passions included tennis, golf, cross-country skiing, fly fishing, big game hunting, and music, he being a gifted singer. With the Last Chance Ranch Hands he recorded Cowboy Up, a collection of traditional cowboy songs that has enjoyed much popularity.

Scott was a passionate and devout Christian, being a member of Valley of Flowers Catholic Church in Belgrade. He refused to answer the phone while having his afternoon devotions, or while watching Jeopardy! His teaching, mentoring, generosity, humor, commitment to excellence and love, touched many hundreds of lives over the years.

He is preceded in death by his father, Kenneth Simpson; his mother, Helen; his brother, Michael, Evelyn, and great-grandson Elijah. He is survived by his five children, Mary (George) Smith, Blake (Carmen) Simpson, Ben (Corrine) Simpson, Frank (Tamilla) Simpson and daughter Howie Simpson. Scott had seven grandchildren, Megan Smith-Jones, Christina Smith, Jeffrey Simpson, Michelle Simpson, Rachel Simpson, Mercy Anna Simpson, John Scott Simpson, and great-grandsons, Brendan and Joseph Jones.

A memorial service is planned for the end of May.


Make it happen! Email adopportunity@hoofcare.com or call 978 281 3222


© 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.  
Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal
Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page
 
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Guinness TV Commercials for St Patrick's Day

If you can't be at a St Patrick's Day parade today, you can feel the spirit of the day with a few great Guinness commercials. It might be safer, too.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Whatever you do today, there's a chance you might run into some of the products or culture spawned by the Guinness Brewery of Dublin, Ireland.