Fran Jurga`s Hoofcare + Lameness

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Olympic Hypersensitivity: Cut on Coronet Forces Canadian Jumper's Horse Out of Games

An FEI inspection of a jumper's pasterns. The clipped pasterns on showjumpers means that any cuts and scrapes, especially on light-colored hooves and coronets, are visible. When these horses compete, they wear jumping boots and may have studs screwed into their shoes. Their pasterns are exposed below the boots. Horses wearing studs commonly step on themselves when they scramble before or after a jump and it's not unusual to have a cut or scrape on the pastern. Many wear a stud girth to protect their bellies from the studs, but nothing protects the pastern area. (FEI web site photo)

A controversy has erupted in London over a subject that has often been covered on this blog and over at The Jurga Report: disqualification of an international rider for a positive test for hypersensitivity in a horse's lower leg under FEI regulations.

In this article, The Hoof Blog will give the official statement from the FEI, then pass along some quotes from Canadian connections and look at what hypersensitivity is. This is a collection of facts and quotes...the second-guessing will be left to others.

Sunday morning the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), world governing body for equestrian sport, issued the following statement:

"The Canadian horse Victor, ridden by Tiffany Foster, has been disqualified under the FEI’s hypersensitivity protocol due to an area of clear and obvious hypersensitivity on the front of the left forelimb.

"The Veterinary Commission stated that the horse had an area of inflammation and sensitivity on the left forelimb just above the hoof. There was no accusation of malpractice, but the horse was deemed unfit to compete by the Ground Jury and was disqualified from the Second Qualifier of the Jumping competition at the Olympic Games this morning.

"A protest lodged by the Canadian chef d’equipe was heard by the FEI Appeal Committee before the end of the competition in order to facilitate the athlete taking part in the competition if the protest was successful.

"However, the protest was denied based on Annex XI of the FEI Veterinary Regulations, which state: 'there is no appeal against the decision of the Ground Jury to disqualify a horse for abnormal sensitivity from an Event'.

"The FEI General Regulations also clearly state that there is no appeal against an elimination of a horse for veterinary reasons.

"The horse Victor, ridden by Tiffany Foster, will take no further part in the equestrian events at London 2012." (end of FEI statement)

The statement was issued after a press conference was convened at 5 p.m. (London GMT).

What happened? According to a Team Canada press release: "Less than one hour before the start of team competition, scheduled to commence at 11 a.m., FEI veterinarians entered the stall of Victor, the horse ridden by (Tiffany) Foster.

"Following a routine examination of the horse in its stall, Terrance Millar, chef d'équipe of the Canadian Olympic Team for Show Jumping, was informed that Foster was disqualified under the International Equestrian Federation's (FEI) hypersensitivity protocol."

According to the Horse-Canada.com web site, Millar stated that the FEI officials used thermography to evaluate the horse.

Canadian rider Tiffany Foster, from Schomberg, Ontario, is a protege of 2008 Individual Jumping Gold Medalist Eric Lamaze who is riding in her first Olympics. She was walking the course in the arena when veterinary officials examined her horse.

Foster's horse, Victor, is a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Artisan Farms and Torrey Pines Stable of Ontario.

Earlier this summer, a jumper ridden by Ireland's Denis Lynch was also disqualified for hypersensitivity.

Using a Thermographic Camera to Treat a Horse

A typical thermographic examination of a horse's leg usually involves the display of the resulting image on a monitor or laptop screen. (Image courtesy of vetmoves.com)

Definitions: Sensitivity, Hyposensitivity and Hypersensitivity

In the realm of horse sports governed by the FEI, limb sensitivity refers to the sensation perceived by horses in their legs.

If the sensation is increased beyond normal limits it is called hypersensitivity. Conversely, if the sensation is below normal limits it is called hyposensitivity.

Hypersensitivity can be produced by a range of normal occurrences, such as insect stings, accidental self-inflicted injuries, skin infections etc. Hyposensitivity could result from traumatic or surgical cutting of the nerves to that area of the limb (i.e. neurectomy.)

Hypersensitisation is the term used to define the artificial production of hypersensitivity. It is contrary to horse welfare and fair play as it could encourage horses to jump more carefully and higher.

Sample thermography image

Princess Haya, President of the FEI: "We've had an incredible Games so far. I hope to see Tiffany again in the future, it's very sad for Tiffany that she's unable to compete."

Thermographic evaluations of sport horse limbs has been controversial in the past; FEI protocol calls for both clinical examination and diagnostic imaging of an area of concern.

Veterinarian and former farrier Mike Pownall DVM of McKee-Pownell Equine Services in Ontario commented: "Thermography has too many false positives to be used as the deciding factor on whether a rider is disqualified. More research has to be done to determine a gold standard way to protect the horse. Until then, it is unfair to the horse, the rider and the nation."

Thermography is also used by the US Department of Agriculture in the examination of Tennessee walking horses for the practice of soring at horse shows.

"The rule was put in to protect the horses, but this is just a blind application of a rule without any commonsense at all," commented Canadian chef d'equipe Torchy Millar on Tiffany Foster's elimination.

The flag of the Canadian Equestrian Team

The London Games have been a nightmare for Canada so far. One rider, eventer Hawley Bennett-Awad was hospitalized after she was injured on cross-country. Dressage rider David Marcus was eliminated when his horse suffered a meltdown during the team dressage Grand Prix...after doing most of the test in a torrential downpour. He shied repeatedly and tried to bolt, as if he was being pinged by an electrical shock from the ground, but no other horses had similar problems.

The horse van bringing the Canadian jumpers into London's Greenwich Park facility broke down on the way. Eric Lamaze, defending Olympic gold medalist in the sport, is competing after the tragic death of his Beijing partner, Hickstead. Lamaze is riding a young, inexperienced mare at London.

And now, Canadian jumping has lost its young team member, forcing all team medal hopes on the three remaining riders: Lamaze, Henselwood and Millar.

If I've read the scoring correctly, Canada is in sixth place going into tomorrow's final round for the team medals, but since there are four nations tied for second, it is well within the realm of possibility that Canada can still score a medal.

That would be poetic justice, in the end, since Tiffany Foster would be entitled to stand on the podium with her teammates, and wear whatever medal they can win without her. Tomorrow's final round will be one to watch.

Git 'er done, Team Canada...here's your pep talk!

To learn more:

FEI page on hypersensitivity testing for show jumpers

Canada.com coverage of the disqualification

Canada fury as Foster's horse is disqualified

Photo of Tiffany Silver at press conference by Cealy Tetley, www.tetleyphoto.com

Click to easily order online from hoofcare.com PayPal system

© 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.

Scott Lampert Product Test: Regen-X Hoof Wall Treatment Results Measured

SPONSORED POST

Hoof Wall Regeneration Study by Farrier Scott Lampert

Introduction: If you spend any time on the show circuit in the United States, you know the equine-specialist Perfect Products company and the reputation of its line of show-oriented horsecare products.

This spring, Perfect Products joined the hoofcare industry when it introduced Regen-X, a hoof wall improvement product. More than a cosmetic hoof dressing, and different from a growth enhancement product, Regen-X is uniquely promoted to improve the health and quality of the hoof wall--from the inside out.

The product's marketing literature states that Regen-X re-invigorates the keratinization process within the hoof wall and re-balances the hoof wall’s susceptibility to excess or inadequate moisture content.

Minnesota farrier Scott Lampert

The company turned to Lake Elmo, Minnesota farrier Scott Lampert to evaluate their new product. Scott was familiar with the company’s products from his presence at horse shows and agreed to try it on several horses, one of whom was carefully documented.

Hoofcare Publishing welcomes Regen-X to its growing family of supporting companies and sponsors and commends them for documenting the use of their new product by a professional farrier.

Here's Scott’s description of his test of the product:

On May 22, 2012, we began testing Perfect Products’ Regen-x EQ hoof product on four horses as described on the bottle.

Test protocol

The test protocol consisted of picking two of the worst-condition feet on each horse and treating just one of those for one shoeing cycle. The intent was to evaluate claims that this product would improve the quality of nailable horn and hoof condition.The test was set up so that it would allow us to compare any measurable change to the same feet, as well as any differences to the pair of feet.

At the beginning of the testing period and throughout it, all horses were sound and their caregivers maintained the exact lifestyle, nutritional program, and care as they had been receiving before the product test began. No variables changed except for the addition of this product.

We found that all four horses responded consistently to this test.

The photos illustrate findings that we found consistent to all four horses. One horse, Scooter, was selected to have his hooves photographed for the purposes of this statement.

About the test horse

Scooter is a large show pony with normal weight and workload. At the time of our test, Scooter had a consistent wall thickness of 5.48 mm measured at three points on the circumference of his toe. His walls were graded as a 2 out of 5, in which 5 would be considered in optimal health. As you can see, his hoof walls are thin, weak, and shelly.

1. (Before) Show pony Scooter’s left hind foot after routine trimming on May 22, 2012.

2. (Before) Software-processed image of Scooter’s left hind foot on May 22,2012 measured out the hoof wall thickness at three points to a distance of 5.48 mm thickness.

3. (After) Show pony Scooter’s left hind foot following 33 days of Regen-X hoof treatment; the product was diligently applied according to the manufacturer’s directions. (Note: black areas are nail hole oxidation stains.) Scotter’s hoof walls are now graded as a 3 out of 5. The walls were much healthier.

4. (After) Software-processed image of Scooter’s left hind foot on June 25,2012 measured out the hoof wall thickness at three points to a distance of 9.55 (lateral), 8.14 (toe) and 8.35 (medial) millimeters thickness.

5. (After) Comparison of treated (left hind, on left) and untreated (right hind, on right, before trimming) hooves on the same horse. Without a doubt, the quality of the left foot is superior to the one on the right.

Regen-X is applied as a simple coating to the hoof. It is supplied in a resealable container with an applicator and is available at tack shops across the USA. Hoofcare and veterinary supply stores are also invited to contact Perfect Products for dealer information.

Contact information for Regen-X: Website: http://perfectproductseq.com; Online ordering: http://www.shop.perfectproductseq.com; Telephone: 877-324-8002 ; Email: Info@perfectproductseq.com

All photos in this article courtesy of Scott Lampert and/or Perfect Products except photo of Scott Lampert, © Hoofcare Publishing.

This article was sponsored and paid for by the manufacturer of the product. Hoofcare Publishing thanks Scott Lampert for his assistance and Perfect Products for their support.

Companies interested in product coverage on The Hoof Blog are invited to contact Hoofcare Publishing for ideas and guidelines.

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have received compensation for writing this post. Beyond that, I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing, and had no direct role in the product test beyond recommending that it be done. Hoofcare Publishing does not endorse this or any product. 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, August 03, 2012

Olympic Horseshoes: Eventing at London 2012 Saved the Best for Last

Source: sfgate.com via Hoofcare Publishing on Pinterest

This is one of my favorite photos from the Olympics so far.

This was the final obstacle on the eventing cross-country course: the horse had to jump through an Olympic-sized horseshoe, with some brush across the base. Mark Todd's horse went through the brush--he was tired--and it slowed down the time.

The shoe is great except no one can explain the heel nails; a small detail, but perhaps studs in the heels would have been appropriate given the discipline.

The horseshoe was flanked on either side by bookend sculpthres of giant jumping horses made of shoes.

Presumably, the obstacle will enjoy a second life being recycled at another cross-country course somewhere in Britain. So maybe we'll see it again. Like so many of the cross country obstacles, it is unique!

Speaking of shoes, many were lost on the course that day, including by Great Britain's Zara Phillips, whose horse High Kingdom lost both front shoes somewhere along the way but still managed to get home.

We're still waiting for a comment from Zara's mother, Princess Anne, who is former master of the Worshipful Company of Farriers and a great friend to the farrier profession in Great Britain.

It was great to hear NBC Olympics commentator Melanie Smith Taylor in the USA give a shout-out to the important role that farriers play in the safety of horses and riders in the sport of eventing.

Go to http://www.ahf-laminitis.org; learn how you can be part of global research to end laminitis.

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

Friends at the Office: Michael Wildenstein

Today was the perfect summer day. I might have spent it inside the office with my head stuck in the computer except for a visit from our old friend, Michael Wildenstein.

As he was leaving, the sun had gone down and the huge full moon was rising on the horizon over Mike's shoulder. I'm sure that is a portent of great things to come.

Welcome back, Mike.

Call 978 281 3222 or email books@hoofcare.com to order in the USA

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

Thursday, August 02, 2012

London's Olympic Farriers: Brendan Murray, Team GB

British eventing team farrier Brendan Murray in his "team kit"

British eventing team farrier Brendan Murray was already on the job, even though the Olympics were still a few days away. But that's all part of his job.

It was the dawn of Brendan's sixth Olympic Games with the British team, and he knows enough of the ropes that he’s now an official part of the advance crew that sets up the stables and organizes the “kit”, as the vast trunks and trailers of equipment are called. Even though the Games are on British soil, the British team is required, as are all countries, to ship in their gear through a system that x-rays it all...and accounts for every shoe and nail.

Even though the temporary stable area in London’s ancient Greenwich Park boasts a farrier’s forge, which will be manned by British farriers, team farriers Murray and Haydn Price of Wales have a complete farrier setup of their own, buried in one of the containers stacked behind the stables. Since forges aren’t allowed in the stables, they will rely on the Olympic forge for that.

Brendan said he planned to use the same hand tools he uses every day, although he wasn't expecting that he would be shoeing any of the horses.

Brendan with German team farrier Dieter
Krohnert at the European championships.

What is involved in being the team farrier for Great Britain--besides hanging around during the competitions, in case a horse loses a shoe or needs a farrier’s help? While some nations have their team farriers take over the shoeing of the team horses before the Games, quite the opposite is true for Great Britain.

“Part of my job,” Brendan shared, “is visiting the hroses during their training. I chat with their grooms, look at the horses’ feet, ahead of time."

But he doesn’t shoe them.

Instead, Brendan Murray considers himself to be in a stewardship role as an extension of the farriers who normally shoe the Team GB horses.

“The team horses are prepared by their home farriers,” he said. “And when they are at the event, I am their caretaker. Just as I have been for the past 22 years. My role is to represent the home farriers, and take care of the horses they’ve worked so very hard to prepare for these Games.

“I am extremely fortunate and very proud to represent my country in this role, by taking care of the horses,” he continued.

Brendan was scheduled to turn over the farrier operation for Great Britain when Haydn Price arrived this week.

Brendan played a big role on and
off the camera on the film
War Horse; you can see him in
the forge scene.

When he’s not shoeing, Brendan often works as a stunt rider or a double or shoes horses on movie sets for a client who provides horses for film production companies. His most recent film is Snow White and the Huntsman, where you can see Brendan riding a horse on a beach; he recently completed the production of Sleeping Beauty, and shod a horse for the star, Angelina Jolie.

Brendan shod the horses on the set for the film War Horse last year, and had a cameo role as one of the farriers, a role he discussed in an interview for The Hoof Blog.

Among his other career starring roles was as an escort, representing his former military unit, the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, for the gun-wagon caisson carrying the casket of Princess Diana as it rolled through the streets of London to her funeral.

Here's hoping that Brendan Murray writes his memoirs some day. They'd be a fascinating read!

Stay tuned for a follow-up interview with Brendan after the Games!

To learn more:

British Farrier Brendan Murray Receives Medal for Service

War Horse Farrier: Lights, Camera, Hoofcare! Who Shod Joey?

WEG Begins: British Team Farrier Interview

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

London 2012 Farriers: Meet James Blurton, Lead Farrier

Jim Blurton of Wales is one of those farriers who has more than one claim to fame. But his most recent is the one that might stick the longest.

Jim is a former world champion at the Calgary Stampede. He’s a veteran of countless Welsh national horseshoeing teams. He’s a successful farrier with a burgeoning group practice employing ten or so farriers, and a manufacturing entrepreneur whose name is on the farrier supply map for manufacturing farrier hand tools and pre-made bar shoes.

But as of yesterday--and forever more--he’ll be remembered as the “Lead Farrier”. His position is attached to the veterinary services department of the London Olympic Games’ organizing committee, a.k.a. LOCOG.

Jim said that his day begins at 5:30 a.m. and that, on the day we first spoke, it ended at 10:30 p.m. There were horses to be attended to: if not shod, they still may need to be adjusted, clenches looked at and maintenance provided. He was waiting for his team of volunteers to arrive the next day (Saturday) when the official duties would begin.

Jim Blurton, NTO Lead Farrier for the London 2012 Olympic Games

Jim’s plan is to spread the farrier team throughout the park and station farriers wherever horses are competing or training. The crew of British farriers has been through a training program, and understands what is expected of them.

There are five positions in the training center area; one farrier is needed at each of five warmup arena. A farrier also needs to be in the forge at the stables and one at the competition venue itself. For the cross-country on Monday, farriers will be at the start and the finish of the course.

Another farrier is on duty at the receiving station, about five miles away. Peden Bloodstock is there, facilitating the processing of any arriving horses. They are all checked for their proper permits and transferred from their vans to official LOCOG transports that carry the horses into the park. Everything that has been sent with a horse is x-rayed at this receiving station, and the farrier is on hand to make sure the horses didn’t have any shoe problems during transport to London.

And the forge itself? It's important to know that it's up in the air. It's built on stilts, just like all the stables and buildings at the equestrian center--even the stadium and the arena itself are built on platforms on stilts. Horses go up and down ramps to get where they're going, and back again.

This morning I spoke with Jay Tovey, an Olympic farrier from Bedfordshire, England who was one of several assisting Jim Blurton on this second day of eventing dressage. Jay has been in the Park with Jim since last Monday and spent today minding hooves at a warmup arena. The sun was shining when we spoke, but they had been through thunder and lightning and a downpour during the dressage.

“Brilliant!” was Jay Tovey’s comment on the farrier scheme. He said that people at the staging center and the park were aware of the farriers and what they were assigned to do.

One of Jim Blurton's business accomplishments has been the mass production of heart bar shoes;
this photo is a still from his video on fitting heart bars.

In the meantime, Jay and Jim are having a few encounters with farriers from other countries. As Jay looked across the arena where he was stationed, he said he could see Nigel Perrott from Somerset, England, who is the farrier for the Irish eventing team, and Dieter Krohnert, the long-time farrier for the German National Federation teams.

I asked Jim Blurton what qualified him to be selected for the job and he had to stop and think a minute. Then he reasoned it out: they needed someone who could be away from his or her business for a month--which jim can be only because of the staff he has at home to take up the slack.

They needed someone who could manage people, he added slowly, which the size of his shoeing and manufacturing business obviously proves.

“And they needed someone who’d know what they’re doing,” he ended.

Coming up: More about the forge, farriers from other countries, and a salute to some of the farriers whose hard work helped their horses get to London.

Thanks to Team Thailand's farrier, David Watson, for taking the photo of Jim in the Olympic forge.

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page