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.

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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.

Adventures in Hoof Science: British Farriers Collect Data on Heart Bar and Lateral Extension Shoes at Royal Veterinary College's Structure and Motion Laboratory

Story and photos provided by Carl Bettison, AWCF (Hons)

British farriers spent a day at the Royal Veterinary College's Structure and Motion Laboratory last week; they watched while Jim Blurton shod two horses with bar shoes. Equigait wireless gait analysis technology was paired with high speed video and a force plate to monitor changes with the addition of the shoes. (Gill Harris photo)

A small group of farriers with a keen shared interest in equine biomechanics and a thirst to understand the science behind horseshoeing had a unique opportunity to witness an afternoon’s research conducted in the Royal Veterinary College’s Structure and Motion Laboratory in England last week. The RVC’s Renate Weller DrMedVet, PhD, MRCVS, FHEA led the event, along with her team, which represents a range of scientific disciplines.

Lieutenant Boniface's Lost Notes on Shoes (or No Shoes) in U.S. Cavalry History, Part 1

Lieutenant Jonathan Boniface, US Cavalry, used this shoeboard as an illustration in his book, The Cavalry Horse and Its Pack, in 1903. The shoes shown represent the typical shoe used by several different nations' cavalry farriers, as well as some corrective shoe designs. Reading the fine print in Boniface's book gives a new perspective on how, when, and if shoes were used on military horses of different nations, and echoes many of the discussions going on today for work and pleasure horses.

In this series, Hoofcare + Lameness goes back 100 years to the golden age of cavalry. Through the transcribed words of US Cavalry Lieutenant Jonathan Boniface, we’ll see not only how cavalry horses were shod in different nations, but if they were shod.

Enthusiastic Attendees or Presentation Pirates? Attendee iPad/iPhone Media Capture is the Elephant in the Lecture Hall

Should you take photos of a speaker's slides at a conference? And if you do, should you share them on Facebook? Conference organizers and speakers are drawing lines on what's allowed and what's not. But they don't always agree. (Bareform photo)

There's an elephant in the lecture hall and it's time we talked about it: If you pay to attend a conference, does your registration fee entitle you to record it? If so, should you share it with others? Is it okay to use your iPhone to take photos of a speaker's slides? How much leeway should be allowed for personal or educational use of conference content?

Video: Almost Killed with Kindness, an Overweight Pony's Rehabilitation Begins with His Overgrown Hooves

When World Horse Welfare farrier Donald Nicol first saw a Shetland pony named Haggis, he went right to work on his overgrown hooves. The pony's owners were prosecuted under British law for cruelty in allowing the pony to become so obese. In the video, Donald goes all around the pony and comments on his hooves before he starts trimming. (© World Horse Welfare photo)

We hear so much these days about emaciated, abandoned, undernourished and/or "unwanted" horses left to fend for themselves. But today we have a video of a pony from the opposite end of the (weight) scale and the welfare scale.