Christmas with Laminitis Video: St Nicholas Abbey Five-Month Update from Coolmore in Ireland

St Nicholas Abbey - Five months on from Coolmore Stud on Vimeo.


This video is shown on The Hoof Blog with permission of Coolmore Stud. Click the "play" icon to begin the video.

It's Christmas Eve and you can count your blessings. Count your blessings especially if you are a horse that doesn't have laminitis.





We have an update from Ireland, where a Breeders Cup Turf winner won't be

A Farrier's Christmas Tale, World Champion Style, in Video and Poem

There are many tales about Christmas in the forge, but Santa Claus knows exactly where to go when he needs help. He seeks out three World Champions: Grant Moon (Wales), David Varini (Scotland), and Paul Robinson (Ireland) who just happen to be working late on Christmas Eve. But have your read the poem?




This imaginative video, produced by Mustad, inspired me to re-write the signature poem,

What's Eating These Hooves? Readers' Photos Document Stable Pests Have Hoof Hunger

Apparently there's not enough of this activity going on in some barns around the country. Photo by Jurvetson (flickr)






Back in October, the Hoof Blog offered some photos of horses' hooves that could have been gnawed by rodents. The blog post was big news to some, old news to others.

As the weeks have passed, many people have mentioned the article and run-ins they have had with mice,

Book Announcement: Jean-Marie Denoix's Biomechanics and Physical Training of the Horse Published December 2013

Stop the world, Jean-Marie Denoix's new book is out. The first advance copies of Biomechanics and Physical Training of the Horse by Professor Jean-Marie Denoix are hitting US shores. The official publication date was December 30, 2013.

Biomechanics and Physical Training of the Horse is an expansion of Professor Denoix's landmark earlier and highly recommended earlier textbook, Physical

The Real Deal: Laminitic Pony in Australia First Horse in History to Wear 3D Printed Titanium Horseshoes

A pony with chronic laminitis in Australia is wearing the world's first horseshoes that are "printed", not forged or cast or turned. The shoes are made of titanium and were created in a laboratory setting by the government agency CSIRO.

The Hoof Blog promised a follow-up on that viral story back in October about 3D printing of titanium horseshoes in Australia. We promised that when we could

PPID: Equine endocrinology researchers revise guidelines for "Cushings" tests for horses

Equine Cushings Disease or pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) has been easy to identify, with overt signs like a long coat. Underlying PPID is now being identified in younger horses and in horses that show none of the typical signs. Researchers say that an episode of otherwise-unexplained laminitis may be their first and only clue. 

Edited from press release

Equine pituitary pars

Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine to Open Urban Equine Hospital near Belmont Racetrack

Alan Nixon, DVM, MS, BVSc, Diplomate ACVS



Edited from press release





Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine has signed a lease-buy agreement with Racebrook Capital Advisors, LLC for the former Ruffian Equine Medical Center. The arrangement will establish Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists, a referral and emergency care hospital.

The hospital, located near the Belmont