Aachen's Walk of Fame: What Does the Plaza Paved with Horseshoes Tell Us About Famous International Sport Horses?

CHIO Aachen Show Director Frank Kemperman stood in the show's new starwalk in 2011. It has continued to grow, with three new shoes added recently.


In 2011, The Hoof Blog was delighted to introduce a terrific new "Walk of Fame" at the showgrounds of CHIO Aachen in Germany. The horse show that stands tall above all others wanted to honor some of the famous horses who have competed there. Their

What Do Laminitis and Wimbledon Have in Common?

Lush grass at Wimbledon is being blamed for the literal downfall of several players this year. This much higher casualty rate is blamed on the late spring, which is keeping the grass so lush at the end of June. According to a British newspaper article, Wimbledon's high-sugar grasses are also more slippery than non-lush grass.





Grass was in the news today. It was in the sports news, of all

British Farrier Training: College-Based Training Replaces Agency-Run Apprentice System

For as long as there have been farriers, there have surely been apprentices, because that is how the skills and knowledge were passed down through the ages. There was secrecy, and some would say there was magic. While in the United States, apprenticeships are free-form and unsupervised, in Great Britain they are part of a government program that charged an alphabet soup of agencies, colleges

Call for Abstracts: 7th International Colloquium on Working Equids

World Horse Welfare is now calling for abstracts from the world’s academic, research and scientific community as well as from working equid welfare practitioners for presentation at the 7th International Colloquium on Working Equids to be held at the Royal Holloway, University of London from July 1-3 2014.


The Colloquium is an essential event for the international audience of working equine

Future Faces Video: Sarah Coltrin, Farrier-Eventer, Shoes to Ride as She Joins the New Cadre of Equestrian Smiths

What do you say to someone who is new in the profession? Sometimes it's best to be quiet and hear what they have to say.

You might learn something.




After all, they are the future. We may be the present, but we won't always be.

And once upon a time, we were the future.



So sit still for five minutes and listen to Sarah Coltrin. 


That's exactly what filmmaker-photographer (and

Flag Day: How a Blacksmith's Apron Became the Persian Flag

It's Flag Day in the USA. That seems like a cue to tell my favorite story about a flag from far away and long ago.



Close your eyes and pretend this is a fairy tale, because it certainly sounds like one. I have patched this story together from history books, flag books and online references that are translations of translations.




In the light of this week's riots in Istanbul, and last

Leeches for Laminitis: Can an Old Idea Work on Today’s Horses?

A leech positioned at the coronet for treatment of laminitis in the German research of Dr. Konstanze Rasch.



In Part 1 of this article, we introduced the idea of the suitability of medicinal leech therapy for equine lameness, and especially distal limb injuries. Please read that article, which contains a great deal of background information and a video, before you read this one.







Blood

Announcing the HoofMakeover Video Series: Farrier Hans Wiza's Case Studies on Restoring Hoof Health

"HoofMakeover" is a series of downloadable case studies of three trims and/or shoeings that each detail the rehabilitation of a hoof over a period of 100 days. Developed by Ontario, Canada farrier Hans Wiza, the videos attempt to simplify hoof re-balancing and de-fuse the challenges of working on horses with weak hooves and conformational challenges by using time, observation and horsemanship

Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital to Acquire Saratoga Equine Veterinary Service

via press release

The shareholders of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky and Dr. Bill and Diana Barnes of Saratoga Springs New York are pleased to announce that Rood and Riddle will purchase Saratoga Equine Veterinary Service in Saratoga Springs, New York.


“This is an exciting and unique opportunity for our practice and we look forward to providing outstanding care to