White Turf: How Do Polo Ponies and Racehorses Stay on Their Feet in the St. Moritz Snow?

Calks? Check. Snow rim pads? Check. Ice-breaker hoof pick? Check. Horses competing in the polo and racing each February in St. Moritz, Switzerland are prepared from the ground--or should we say snow?--up.




It happens every February. Winter looks gray and boring and spring can't come quickly enough and then the images start showing up from the glamourous ski resort of St Moritz,

Winter Worry: Icelandic Horses Fell Through the Ice

Today's video is from the "greatest hits" vault here at Hoofcare & Lameness. Two years ago, a near-tragic event in Iceland was captured on film: eleven champion Icelandic horses and riders plunged into a lake when the ice cracked and broke beneath them. The water was just deep enough that the horses could not get themselves out.

What happened next makes this video all the more worth watching.

Historic Hoofcare: The Ice Harvest

What you are seeing in this video is a pond in the Pocono Mountains region of Pennsylvania. This particular project is to cut ice for one residence. The video follows the workers from the measurement of the thickness to the cutting of the ice to the removal of the blocks, loading the wagons, a visit from the man who had hired them, and then the transport and unloading of the ice.

It's hard