This week's visitor is from Argentina!

We've had the pleasure of a visit from Dr Federico Oyuela this month. Federico is a foot-specialist veterinarian in Buenos Aires, Argentina and runs the farrier school (Escuela Argentina de Herradores) there.

One of his areas of interest is working with the only hyperbaeric oxygen chamber in Argentina. We have been discussing the use of this type of therapy for horses with laminitis, and I hope he will soon have some research to share. I know that the Alamo Pintado equine hospital in California also uses their hyperbaeric unit for laminitis therapy.

Federico visited veterinary colleges in the eastern USA, as well as the Kesmarc equine therapy center in Lexington, KY and our friend Dr Scott Morrison at the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington.

Federico is both a veterinarian and a farrier; he attended the farrier school at Tucumcari, New Mexico where he learned from Jim Keith, and then went on to do specialty training in Arizona with Dr Jan Young.

Congratulations to Farrier Lee Liles

The once-grand water wheel that powered the Burden Water Works in Troy, New York and made the horseshoes often credited with powering the Union to victory during the Civil War.

In August, I saw something I thought I would never see. A group of us--about 70, including guests--were visiting the Burden Iron Works in Troy, New York--the first subscriber group tour for Hoofcare & Lameness in more than 10 years! (The last one was a group trip to England, and I think it took ten years to recover.)

OLYMPIC FOOTING: Controversy underhoof at the Athens Olympics Games

It's either too hard or too soft. Too dry or too wet. Anyone who has ever worked in show management knows the importance of good footing, particularly for outdoor show jumping.

P3: Doug Butler's New "Principles of Horseshoeing" textbook edition

This weekend, Hoofcare had a booth at the Southern New England Farriers Association's fall clinic in Connecticut, where I ran into Dr Doug Butler. He has completed a revision and re-design of his textbook, the third incarnation of PRINCIPLES OF HORSESHOEING, nickname "P3". His son, Jacob, is listed as co-author, which is nice.

The book is handsome and heavy and full of photos. It is a major revision of "P2", which has become the standard textbook used in horseshoeing schools around the world and as a reference by farriers.

We hope to work with the Butlers and market this book through Hoofcare & Lameness. Check with Hoofcare in October or November to see if this happened.

Hoofcare and Lameness Issue 78 table of contents

Hoofcare & Lameness, Journal of Equine Foot Science, Issue #78, was mailed in August 2004.

Here's the table of contents for the new issue:

17 THE FOOT LAB: Inside Dr. Robert Bowker's Equine Foot Laboratory at Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine: The Lab that Looks Inside Horses’ Hooves 
By Lisa Simons Lancaster
The Farrier in the Laboratory • Density of Hoof Wall Tubules • The Role of the Sole • 500 Laminae and Counting • Sole Plane Excavation in the Field

FEATURES

28 Maggot Debridement Therapy 
by Fran Jurga with Scott Morrison

32 The Footing Factor 

with Bob Pethick

33 Three-Quarter Heart Bar Shoe
by John Ford

36 Effect of Moisture on Hoof Wall Structure 
by Mark Andrews

38 Hoof Wall Resection and Reconstruction
by Andrew Poynton

40 Hock Displacement: Lateral Extension Shoes 
with Haydn Price

44 Successful Dressage Sport Horse Farriery with Haydn Price through Media-Based Mechanics
by Seamour Rathore

48 Studying the Hind Limb and Hock
by Hilary Clayton

50 Flying Saucers and Rock ‘n Roll: Full Rolling Motion Shoes 
by Hans Castilijns

58 My First Competition : Everyone had to start somewhere
by Edward Martin

DEPARTMENTS

5 Hoofcare World News

54 Selected Sound Bites

61 Continuing Education Events

64 Contributors

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is born!

From Fran Jurga, editor/publisher of Hoofcare & Lameness Journal 

15 September 2004

This day won't be remembered for the launch of this blog. Instead, it will be remembered for Hurricane Ivan (the Terrible?) and his imminent attack on the shores of Mississippi and Alabama. I've heard from a few Hoofcare & Lameness readers tonight who live in the storm's path, and I'll thinking of them in the next few days.

I will use this blog to help readers of Hoofcare & Lameness Journal get the inside track on news and information as it whizzes through our offices. I know that subscribers are keen to know many details of things going on in the horse health and horseshoeing world that may not make it to the "news" section of our journal, or even to a news item posted on our web site, hoofcare.com.

What will appear may be just fragments of news, ideas for stories in progress, or pleas for help.

Of course, I've never done this before, but I think the best thing to do is just jump in and see how it works, how readers like it, and what good use we can make of this fun medium.

Please don't take it TOO seriously. As with all things here at Hoofcare & Lameness, we ask that you consider the possibility of errors and not mistake the information posted here as professional or medical advice. The information posted here is not meant for re-publication and may not be copied or posted elsewhere without the express written permission of Hoofcare Publishing.



Art at top: Swiss artist Arnold Bocklin's "Centaur in the Village Blacksmith's Shop" was painted in 1888. © Museum Of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary, used with permission.