Racetrack Surface Research Professor Mick Peterson Will Head to the University of Kentucky in 2017

Professor Mick Peterson took a turn as a speaker at the Hoofcare@Saratoga series at the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, New York. (Thank you!) After years in the engineering department at the University of Maine, he's taking a new, wider-focus ag/equine science faculty director post at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. (Hoofcare and Lameness file photo)

He's the man who reads hoofprints...and he might be only person who can tell you as much about the way the footing or racing surface was imprinted as a farrier can tell you about the horse and the shoe that made the print.

American Farrier's Association Funds Equine Stem Cell Research

Today the American Farrier’s Association (AFA) announced a donation of $10,000 through its Equine Research Fund to the Morris Animal Foundation in support of research being conducted by Morris Animal Foundation Fellow Dr. Alix Berglund at North Carolina State University.

Arabian Show Horse Shoeing Rule Changes Proposed: Toe length increases, pad limit and measurement may be imposed

This Half-Arabian show horse is shod in a way that would not be legal under proposed rule changes. The length of toe, shoe measurement, multiple pads, and other parameters are in line, and shoe bands are currently legal and would remain so under the new rules. However, one pad is not 100% leather. The pad next to the foot is a combination leather/plastic pad. Under new rules, a horse may wear up to two pads, one of which must be leather only. Notice that the band is attached to the wedge pad, not the shoe. (Zack Morris photo)

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) has submitted a proposed shoeing rule change to the United States Equestrian Federation. AHA is the governing body of the Arabian horse breed in the United States and Canada; it is an affiliate of the United States Equestrian Federation and represents more than one million registered Arabian, Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horses.

AR106 Shoeing Regulations, Artificial Markings and Appliances, as posted on the USEF website, details the current rules on how saddleseat-type show Arabians and Half-Arabians may (and may not) be shod.

American Horse Council Statement on Nonspecific Language in USDA Horse Protection Act Amendment

For the past few months, the US Department of Agriculture has been hosting "listening sessions" around the country and gathering input about a proposed amendment to the American Horse Protection Act, which bans the "soring" abuse techniques used on some Tennessee Walking horses to gain an advantage in the show ring in some classes, particularly where the horse is asked to do the famous "big lick" walking gait. 

Among the features of this amendment is complete outlawing of pads, action devices such as pastern chains, and weighted shoes.

Professor Renate Weller, noted for horse hoof research and imaging, in line for presidency of British Equine Veterinary Association

Professor Renate Weller of the Royal Veterinary College, London, will be president of the British Equine Veterinary Association in 2018, following results of an election held this year. (BEVA photo)

The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) issued a press release this week with some news about a British veterinarian well-known to everyone exposed to equine hoof research. The Hoof Blog is happy to share this news.

Sport Horse Farriery: Burghley's 2016 Best Shod Horse Award

Horses had to jump through the Olympic horseshoe on their way home in the four-star Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in England this weekend. The huge double-horseshoe is an icon of the 2012 London Olympics moved to Burghley for horses to jump for old times' sake. And the view through it isn't bad, either. (Thanks to Pamela Kelly for this photo)

The "Best Shod Horse" Award at the 2016 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials was judged on Wednesday of the highly-esteemed four-start event. Would that mean that the rest of the event would be anti-climactic for hoof-related news?

Hardly. The "best shod" prize from the Worshipful Company of Farriers was just the beginning.