Hooves of the Kentucky Derby 2013: Race Shoes, Hoofcare and the Farrier's Daughter

It's 90 minutes before the Kentucky Derby, do you know where you'll be today at 6:24 p.m.?

Kentucky Derby News: Scollay Replaces Injured Bramlage for NBC's "AAEP On Call" Role

Dr Bramlage (right) fills in NBC's Kenny Rice as part of the AAEP On Call Program in the past.

The AAEP On Call Program has assisted television broadcasts since 1991; traditionally, Dr Bramlage is on hand during Triple Crown races; he provided dramatic insight into the injury of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro during the Preakness Stakes in 2006. "On Call" received a Special Eclipse Award in 2008.

Dr. Mary Scollay is no stranger to television; she'll step in front of the camera today at the Kentucky Derby. The American Association of Equine Practitioners reports that longtime AAEP On Call Veterinarian Mary Scollay will serve as the spokesperson for equine health during today's NBC Sports racing coverage at Churchill Downs.

Dr. Scollay, who serves as Equine Medical Director for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, replaces Dr. Larry Bramlage who sustained a head injury during a fall at the Louisville track on Thursday. Dr. Bramlage remains at University Hospital in Louisville for observation.

© 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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Behind the Scenes at the FEI World Cup Finals with Swedish Farrier Bjorn Berg

You're a long way from home when you go to the Gothenburg Horse Show in Sweden. The huge Swedish spring horse show hosted both the dressage and jumping finals of the 2013 FEI World Cup indoor winter competitions. The best in both sports converged on the annual show and turned it into a world stage.

Sweden's Bjorn Berg has been the show farrier at Gothenburg for 12 years but you can bet that it had never been like this before.  Still, Bjorn managed to find time to snap some photos and email them to the USA.

Meader Supply's New Hampshire Farrier Appreciation Day with FPD's Michael Wildenstein

Shoes, shoes, shoes! One of North America's largest horseshoeing supply stores opened its doors last weekend to welcome farriers from far and wide to the annual "Farrier Appreciation Day". Meader Supply soon found out that the appreciation was mutual; the flavor of the day was more akin to a high school reunion than a business event.

News and HSUS videos: Walking horses seized from show trainer's barn in Tennessee, veterinarian Adair explains soring

Walking horse trainer Larry Wheelon heads to court today in Blount County, Tennessee. The well-known trainer and judge will face charges following his arrest on Friday. As shown in this video from the Humane Society of the United States, horses placed with Wheelon for trained were seized by the USDA, with assistance from the county sheriff and humane society officials, in connection with the charges.

Wheelon may be criminally charged for violations of the federal Horse Protection Act; soring is also a violation of state law in Tennessee. Further charges may be levied against Wheelon's employees or associates.

(Please wait for the tv news videos to load.)

The Horse Protection Act has been on the books since 1978 but attempts to enforce it have not been fully effective at wiping out the practice. As these videos point out, soring may be of the "chemical" type, which works on sensitizing the horse's pasterns and/or coronet, or "mechanical", which involves intentionally trimming the foot to thin the sole and lower the wall and then inserting objects or hard-curing epoxy between the padded shoe and the thin sole.

Congratulations to Matt Martin, the Farrier Who Kept Black Caviar Running

Australian farrier Matt Martin and the most famous mare in the world: Black Caviar. Photo courtesy of Abu Masum of J.C. Milton & Company, the supplier of the mare's raceplates.

It's Kentucky Derby time in the USA, but Down Under in Australia, they won't even blink at the thought of twin spires, blankets of roses and mint juleps. The country can afford to have a been-there-done-that attitude toward horse racing. Their outstanding race mare Black Caviar has dominated news in the racing world for the past four years with her career-long unbeaten streak of 25 races. She even traveled all the way to Ascot in England to beat the British.