British Owner Sues Veterinarians Over Laminitis and Wins $600K Damages

July 26, 2005—According to a report just received via the BBC, a British horse owner has been awarded more than $600,000 in damages because of a veterinarian’s failure to warn her that steroid injections could cause laminitis.

The case involves the high-profile dressage mare Annastasia, who was the national dressage champion of France in 2000 but was British-owned. The owner insisted that her own British vet be involved in care decisions, while the horse was under the care of the French team veterinarian.

Ultimately, both British and French veterinarians were named in the suit.

In 1999 and again in August 2001, the horse received corticosteroid injections and, on the second instance, developed laminitis and was destroyed due to the severity of the laminitis. The assumption is that the steroids directly led to the sudden and severe laminitis attack.

The judge agreed that the owner might have refused the treatment if she had been told of the risks. He placed 85 percent of the liability on the French veterinarian, with 15% on the British veterinarian.

(Please note that the value of the judgement was 350,000 GBP, which has an equivalent value of about $600,000USD.)

Australian Seminar on Shoeing the Thoroughbred Racehorse

Farrier John Godwin was key note speaker on shoeing the thoroughbred racehorse at a farriers’ workshop held at the University of Melbourne's Equine Centre at Weribee, Victoria in June. There were 47 attendees at the workshop sponsored by Racing Victoria, Virbac and Decron. The farrier’s seminars are a joint initiative with the Farrier’s & Blacksmith’s Association of Victoria, the Victorian Master Farrier’s Association and the Equine Centre.

John is a Hoofcare & Lameness subscriber who lives near Perth in Western Australia, where he specializes in racehorses.

The University of Melbourne's Equine Centre is a division of the Veterinary Clinic and Hospital which is a department of the Faculty of Veterinary Science. It is one of only four University teaching hospitals in Australia that also operates as a specialist equine referral clinic. The Equine Centre provides veterinary care for over 3000 horses 24 hours a day 365 days a year; and provides training for over 80 veterinary students each year.

Vet-Farrier Relations Improve in Florida...

Congratulations to dressage-specialist farrier James Gilchrist and Palm Beach Equine Clinic veterinarian Kimberly Dawn Snyder; they were married on May 29 at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida.

Back from Vienna: Underfoot with the Spanish RIding School Lippizaners

Hoofcare & Lameness Journal editor Fran Jurga has returned to the office after a quick trip to Vienna, Austria to assist the Spanish Riding School there with media and hoofcare preparations for their upcoming USA tour in November.

The famous white Lipizzaner stallions may be in need of farrier assistance when they tour, since they are not bringing Herr Gerstner, their independent-contractor farrier, with them. They require highly techical Euro-style shoeing, which looks deceptively simple. All are shod with Dutch shoes with toe clips, front and hind; a few are barefoot behind.

This is the SRS's first USA tour in 15 years. Read more about the Lipizzaners and their feet in issue #79 of Hoofcare & Lameness Journal.

AFA Announces Open Forum Meeting on Farrier Licensing

Perhaps due to popular demand, a special Open Forum Membership Meeting of the American Farriers Association has been scheduled for Friday, September 9, 2005 at 1 p.m. in Omaha, Nebraska.

The meeting was announced in a special press release received on June 21st at the Hoofcare & Lameness Journal office. The full press release will be posted on the Hoofcare & Lameness Journal web site, www.hoofcare.com

Details from the press release include:

All AFA members are welcome to attend....the next day, the AFA Board of Directors will be meeting for their 2005 Mid-Year meeting....recommendations from the Open Forum meeting on Friday can be brought to the Board meeting for their consideration.....AFA Vice President Bob Earle, CJF, has agreed to serve as the moderator for the meeting....using a “loose set” of Robert’s Rules of Order.

Hotel reservations may be made by calling the Omaha Hilton at 1-800-HILTONS or (402) 998-3400; the AFA discounted rate is $75 per night.

For more info, contact Bryan Quinsey at the AFA office: (859) 233-7411.

Please do not call the Hoofcare & Lameness office about this event. We will share any info we receive by either this blog or the hoofcare.com web site.

Please read posts on this blog and at hoofcare.com for information on this spring's events related to the AFA's task force on farrier regulation/licensing in the United States.

Live from Lubbock! It's the Brice Chapman Coloring Book...

Hoofcare & Lameness is happy to share news that farrier and rodeo trick roping performer Brice Chapman of Lubbock, Texas has published a coloring book for children. The 28-page fun-filled book is almost as entertaining as watching Brice perform. It teaches children about caring for their horses and especially about hoofcare and horseshoes.

Brice is the look-alike, talk-alike, make-them-smile-alike son of famous farrier and heartbar shoe pioneer Burney Chapman, who died in 1999.

Brice Chapman never runs out of ideas to make people laugh and feel good.

When Brice isn't performing, he visits elementary schools and works with children, many of whom have already endorsed the coloring book with a high-pitched "Yippee!". Brice travels with two sidekicks, a Border collie named Sooner with a very high IQ, and a trickster Paint horse named Crossfire. I expect they will have their own TV show soon.

You will be able to order the new coloring book through Hoofcare & Lameness Journal. The cost will be under $10...it's for the kids, after all!

I hope you will join me in helping children everywhere have some educational fun with horses, dogs, and friendly people. This coloring book is a big step in the right direction!