USDA's new Horse Protection Act rules withdrawn from federal enactment.

A Tennessee Walking horse wearing stacked pads and bands. This horse was shod for demonstration purposes at a vet-farrier education event. The pads and shoe bands would have been banned under the unpublished rule announced last week. (Fran Jurga photo)

The Hoof Blog is issuing an unexpected post script to a widely circulated story published here on January 13, announcing that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) was publishing its Executive Action rule changes to the Horse Protection Act with the Federal Register.

The article described the action as an 11th-hour "Hail Mary Pass" to stop Tennessee Walking horse soring abuse before the Obama administration's USDA appointees left office, to be replaced by Trump appointees.

And it almost worked.

Swedish research tests hoof sensor capable of predicting wall structural changes

An electronic sensor taped to a horse's hoof walls at Chalmers University in an earlier stage of research.

Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden is entering a public testing phase for a new sensor that gauges the structural integrity of the equine hoof wall, with a goal of pinpointing cracks and wall damage before they are visible to the human eye.

Lost to laminitis: UC Davis says good-bye to its famed and beloved breeding jack

Action Jackson, the 29-year-old breeding jack at the University of California at Davis, suffered from laminitis. He was humanely euthanized last week. (UC Davis photo)

The Hoof Blog will often note the passing of a famous stallion, when laminitis claims a life. Those are sad stories to write.

Last week the world lost another famous breeding animal to laminitis, but he wasn't a horse. He didn't live behind white board fences in Kentucky. His offspring won't run in the Kentucky Derby. They (probably) won't compete in the Olympics, either (but you never know).

Hail Mary: USDA proceeds with last-ditch effort to end soring by imposing bans on Walking horse pads, action devices

It's fourth down at the end of the fourth quarter. The clock is counting down. Do you punt or pass? The game's at stake. It's time to pull off a play they'll never forget. It's time to throw that Hail Mary pass. 

In the waning hours of President Obama’s administration’s days in Washington, his out-bound US Department of Agriculture says they are ready to drop a bombshell in the middle of the horse world.

The bombshell may well devastate a sector of the show horse industry, but there will be cheers, as well. It just depends which side you're on, and if you're willing to take the time to read the fine print.

2016's Ten Most-Read Stories on The Hoof Blog

In a year defined by "fake news" as read on Facebook--and as heard in the barn aisle--it's reassuring to know that there is so much "real" news right here in the hoof world.

Australian Equine Laminitis Research Veterinarian Andrew van Eps Joins Penn Vet New Bolton Center

Australian laminitis researcher
Andrew van Eps, BVSc, PhD, MACVSc, 

DACVIM is moving to America. Dr. van
Eps is noted for his contributions related
to cryotherapy, or icing, of horses' lower
limbs to prevent laminitis, and recent
research on support limb laminitis. (Hoof
Blog/Laminitis Conference file photo)

Renowned for his research on equine laminitis, Dr. Andrew van Eps joined the faculty of Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center in December as Associate Professor of Equine Musculoskeletal Research.

Van Eps has spent the majority of his career at The University of Queensland in Australia, most recently as Director of the Equine Hospital and Associate Professor of Equine Medicine. The University is also his alma mater; he graduated with his veterinary degree (BVSc) in 1999 and his PhD in 2008.

The move marks a return to New Bolton Center, where he completed his residency in large animal internal medicine in 2008 and spent another year as a lecturer and clinician.

“We are fortunate to have attracted Dr. van Eps to Penn Vet,” said Dr. Gary Althouse, Chairman of the Department of Clinical Studies at New Bolton Center. “He comes to us both as a seasoned clinician and an equine researcher of international caliber.”