Fran Jurga's "HoofBlog": Up-to-the Minute News from Hoofcare & Lameness Journal

Breeders Cup Lowlight Video: Quality Road-eo Gate Panic Delays the Classic

2009-11-08T19:58:00.008-05:00

8 November 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoofblog at Hoofcare.comAll hail the supermare Zenyatta for her amazing, gutsy win of the Breeders Cup Classic yesterday. While her race will be replayed again and again for years to come, if you missed the race on television you didn't see the starting gate mishap that lead to Quality Road being scratched. Here's a YouTube.com clip of that portion of the race from

Patchwork Network: Rip Van Winkle's Engineered Hooves Will Carry Him a Long Way from Tipperary to Breeders Cup on Saturday

2009-11-06T10:16:00.002-05:00

Irish champion Rip Van Winkle may be a bionic horse. He will run in Saturday's Breeder Cup Classic in spite of a history of hoof problems that would have sidelined many. His trip to California from Aidan O'Brien's training center in Ireland is the culmination of a stellar performance record in recent months...and the result of a concentrated focus at managing hoof problems so that the horse can

Conference Will Present "2009 Spot Courage Award" to Molly the Pony's Caregiver Team for Exemplary Awareness and Prevention of Support-Limb Laminitis

2009-11-05T02:09:00.002-05:00

5 November 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.comMolly the Pony will be an honored guest at the Laminitis Conference in Florida this weekend. Her caregiving and medical team will receive the Spot Courage Award for their diligent care of Molly with a goal of preventing laminitis in her "good" front leg. (Pam Kaster photo)There's a saying that goes something like this: "There are two kinds

Do You Speak Farrier? The 2010 New Dictionary of Farrier Terms Will Help!

2009-11-03T12:14:00.010-05:00

3 November 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog from Hoofcare.comTo order your copy, call 978 281 3222 or email books@hoofcare.comCost is $19 plus $4 postage in USA; $8 elsewhere.This little slide show from author David Millwater gives a preview of the new edition of the outstanding reference, New Dictionary of Farrier Terms. We have always tried to make this book available over the years, but the book

Dressage Hoofcare: Rob Renirie at Global Dressage Forum

2009-11-03T03:49:00.003-05:00

3 November 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogDutch team farrier Rob Renirie at the Athens Olympics (photo courtesy Anky.nl)A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum.The Forum, in this case, would be the Ninth Global Dressage Forum, held last week at the Academy Bartels training center in Hooge Mierde, the Netherlands. And the funny thing was that a farrier was a speaker at this event for the

Here Lies the Farrier...And There Goes Tam O'Shanter

2009-10-31T23:35:00.000-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 31 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogLichen covers this fascinating old gravestone in the Alloway kirkyard near Ayr, Scotland. Surely a farrier lies here. Was he the farrier who inspired the lines in the poem: "That every naig was ca'd a shoe on, The smith and thee gat roaring fou on"? (Tam and the smith had a drink for every shoe that was nailed on.) Or did he die earlier so

The Original Jack with His Lantern Was a Blacksmith

2009-10-31T02:47:00.004-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 31 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogSo here's the way the story goes...I''ll tell the short version because it's an Irish story and you know how long they can get.There once was an Irish blacksmith named Jack. He was a miserable man, and he spent his nights in the pub trying to make everyone around him miserable, too. One night he made a deal for a last drink with the

She Strolls Through the Horse Fair on Halloween...

2009-10-31T01:04:00.006-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 31 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogI've been saving this picture for today. It's from a portfolio of images, mainly farriers, taken at the Smithfield Horse Market in Dublin, Ireland, one of the last urban horse sales in western Europe. The travelers bring horses and ponies and donkeys into the city the first Sunday of each month to sell or trade them. They've been doing it

From Sim to Mo-Cap to Slo-Mo: Have Another Look at the Horse in Motion

2009-10-28T02:16:00.000-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 28 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogToday I hurt my eye and it made the world a different place. Depth perception was different, some things don't quite line up, and this computer screen is a little blurry so this post will be a media-rich one. I'll let the videos tell the story.And the story is exactly what I have been experiencing: how do we look at things? You read

A Tribute to Bracy Clark: It's the 200th Anniversary of Natural Hoofcare

2009-10-26T03:03:00.002-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 26 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogWhat year is it?Patrick Ryan was, according to this slip of paper, a doctor (?) of horseshoeing in Baltimore, Maryland in the late 1800s.You might have to double-click on the image to read the fine print, but across the top of the bill head, Mr Ryan promises "Horses Shod According to the Natural Formation of the Hoof. Satisfaction

Next Stop on the Pub (Art) Crawl: England's Old Smithy Pub

2009-10-24T20:46:00.002-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 24 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Old Smithy, originally uploaded by ronclark5329. Here's the second stop on our tour of the great pub signs of the world that honor the horse's hoof and its culture

Blue Tongue Dressage: Hyperflexion Still a Welfare Issue

2009-10-24T02:40:00.001-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 23 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogThis video clip was shot at an FEI World Cup Dressage qualifier in Europe last week. Luise and Julie from Epona TV were surprised that a rider at this level schooled this stallion for as long as two hours in a hyperflexion frame.They grabbed the camera when they noticed that the horse's swollen tongue had turned blue. The horse's lips

World Champion Anvil Shooter at Work

2009-10-21T18:05:00.004-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 21 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogOur mid-week humor is provided by a demonstration of anvil shooting, which is usually pretty entertaining in itself but the fact that the main character in this YouTube video claims to be the world champion suggest that there is some sort of a competition in anvil shooting.How on earth would you judge the winning shoot? Are points given

Breeders Cup: The Agony of De Feet

2009-10-21T00:20:00.003-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 21 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } What kind of horse shoe is this?, originally uploaded by Rock and Racehorses.Imagine the confused looks when someone spots this horse's hoof print. The Daily Racing

Video: Breeders Cup Piques Interest in Surfaces; Instrumented Horseshoe for California Racetrack Surface Study at Keeneland

2009-10-19T07:35:00.005-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 19 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog UC Davis's instrumented shoe might be one of the most expensive horseshoes ever made. The soundtrack is "Going the Distance" by CAKE.Are you counting the days to the 2009 Breeders Cup, the international championship of Thoroughbred horse racing? If so, get ready to start counting the ways that Santa Anita's Pro-Ride racing surface will be

First Stop on the Hoof Blog's Pub (Art) Crawl: The Farriers Arms

2009-10-17T07:01:00.000-04:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Farrier's Arms, Worcester, originally uploaded by ronclark5329. Mr Ron Clark is a photographer in Great Britain with a delightful passion for photographing pub signs. Among his archives are quite a few with horse themes and

Laminitis Conference Discount Deadline Is Today!

2009-10-15T03:01:00.004-04:00

Hoof Blog News Flash! Your Hoof Blog Discount for Laminitis Conference Registration REMINDER! Hoofcare & Lameness subscribers save $50 on registration for the 5th International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot November 6-8, 2009 West Palm Beach, Florida Important information: Your registration includes all meals plus

Equine Obesity: A Criminal Offense for Two Pony Owners in England

2009-10-14T13:01:00.007-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 14 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogPony stallion Dale, before (top) and after (lower) his rehabilitation by World Horse Welfare.A married couple in Lancashire, England have been banned from keeping horses for five years in one of the first court cases in Britain since a new animal welfare law has been enacted. The two were found guilty of causing suffering by not addressing

Video: Sea the Stars Tribute (Play It Loud)

2009-10-14T02:02:00.008-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 14 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogClick the box second from the right at the bottom of the screen to make this full screen; hit the audio button to increase the volume. Just hit "escape" to exit the full screen mode. Make it big, play it loud. Go ahead and cheer.A sigh came out of me from some deep place today when I learned that the world's #1 racehorse, Ireland's Sea the

Plastinate Anatomical Tools Make Everything Perfectly Clear

2009-10-12T02:08:00.009-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 12 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogIt's Columbus Day, so you're invited to "discover" a new equine anatomy reference tool that will be a boon to your ability to creatively and constructively communicate with colleagues, clients and students no matter where you are.Plastination is a tissue preservation process that gained worldwide fame this decade with the Body Worlds museum

Friends at Work: Farrier Steve Stanley at the Red Mile

2009-10-11T14:08:00.002-04:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Farrier Steve Stanley -- 2009 Lexington, originally uploaded by USTrotting. Thanks to the US Trotting Association for this nice photo of Steve Stanley working at the Red Mile harness track in Lexington, Kentucky two weeks

Video: Relieve Discomfort During Hoof Trimming for an Arthritic or Foundered Horse

2009-10-11T13:09:00.004-04:00

by Fran Jurga | 11 October 2009 | Fran Jurga's Hoof BlogLong-time University of California at Davis farrier Kirk Adkins shares some tips that may be useful when trimming or treating the hooves of older, arthritic horses or horses that have difficulty standing on three legs because of painful laminitis or neurological conditions.This video may be helpful for some horses out there, and I thank

Friends at Work: "Go Over to the Pub and Get Paddy the Farrier..."

2009-10-11T12:07:00.003-04:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Farrier at work, County Kerry, Ireland, originally uploaded by yetiger. Here's a little humor for a Sunday.Show me a photo of normal people doing something and I'll try to imagine the relationships between them, and what

Video: CNN Finds Out What a Farrier Is

2009-10-07T04:51:00.003-04:00

Embedded video from CNN VideoCongratulations to Georgia farriers Doug Workman and Dave Purves for a great job introducing a CNN news crew to the finer points of horseshoeing. Explaining the rocker toe was probably too complex for the minute-and-a-half time slot...but maybe they'll be back!Thanks to Allison Zeger at Farrier Products Distribution for her help with the ornery html code for this

Friends at Rest: Don Davis

2009-10-06T23:59:00.004-04:00

If Macy and Woolworth and Bean and Sears are some of the great family names of American retailing industry, you could certainly make a case for "Davis" being one of the great names of the American farrier industry. The Davis family's Ken Davis and Sons in Richwood, Ohio is one of the largest and deepest farrier supply stores in the world. They carry everything...or will get it for you.So it is