Kentucky Derby 2012: Famous (and Fast) Thoroughbred Feet from Churchill Downs

The biggest day of the year is here. What's going on behind the scenes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky? The Hoof Blog has assembled a gallery of images for you that you probably won't see anywhere else. Thanks to Dan Burke of Farrier Product Distribution for his shots of horses being shod this morning. Place your bets, sip your julip and take an intimate look at a few hooves!

Kentucky Oaks: Famous Fillies' Foot Fashions at Louisville's Churchill Downs

 For old times' sake: The Louisville Courier-Journal asked horseshoer Steve Norman 

what he thought about toe grabs a few years ago. This is what they heard.


It's Derby Week!  But before Churchill Downs rolls out the red-rose carpet for the Kentucky Derby, the track hosts the very special Oaks Day, an impressive card of stakes races topped by the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.

The

Hoofcare World Landmark: Edgar's E. P. Stern & Co. in Yalding, England

On the map of an old village called Yalding in Kent, England, it just says "The Forge".

Farriers all over the world recognize this building. It is a landmark in its village and it is a landmark in the world of farriers. For more than 60 years, farriers have passed through this place, whether for a day or two or a year or two or more, in the case of the dozens of apprentices who were

Kentucky Derby: Horseshoes (and a Horseshoer's Daughter) Ready to Run for the Roses

Here's the Kentucky Derby news you won't ready anywhere else. And the photos no one else would think to take. But by the time you've read this, you'll have to admit that it makes a good case for ESPN adding a hoof analyst for the Triple Crown. It's not just the shoes and hooves, either, as you'll read. It's the people.

Hoofcare and Lameness will be watching the Kentucky Derby from the comfort of