Coolmore's Daddy Long Legs to Run Without Shoes in Dubai Stakes Race; Interference Given as Reason for Rule Exception

Halfway around the world, a South African racehorse trainer is taking a chance with a well-known stakes-winning Thoroughbred. And he had to get official clearance to do it.






The Emirates Racing Association in Dubai has granted permission to Coolmore trainer Mike de Kock to pull the shoes on Daddy Long Legs...and keep them pulled. Daddy Long Legs will run in the ten-furlong Potlines Trophy

Lameness Evaluation: American Sensor System Tests Successfully in British Research

Flexion testing, using the sensor-based system, at the University of Glasgow's School of Veterinary Medicine




For many years, opinions on the value of flexion tests in assessing equine lameness have been divided. Now, however, new research looks set to turn what has always been regarded as a subjective process into a wholly objective one. 



A comprehensive study, published in a November

Hoof Blog Fun: Animated Anatomy Models of the Imagination

It's Sunday, so let's have some Hoof Blog fun.

As you can imagine, the walls here at Hoofcare Publishing are plastered with new and old anatomy posters and gait diagrams.



This one needs a stud girth and over-reach boots.

One day I started wondering about the horses who model for anatomy diagrams. Were they chosen for their ideal conformation--or did they even exist at all? Are there such

Science of the Olympics: Sport Analysis Videos to Inspire Your Thoughts on Horses

Note: NBC Olympics videos have an annoying auto-play function so the videos have been moved off the blog. Please go to "Science of the Summer Olympics: Engineering In Sports", a 10-part video series produced in partnership with NBC Learn to view the videos described in this blog post.





Have you been staring at a television screen, immersed in the Olympics? Are you chewing your nails for

Tennessee Walking Horse Pastern Action Devices and Hoof Pads Ban Endorsed by AVMA, AAEP; Vets' Joint Memo States Devices Are Part of Soring Practices

Walking horse hoof packages include some or all of these components: (from ground up) 1. a shoe on the ground; 2. a stack of pads anchored by a double-nail pad system; 3. a hose clamp that secures the pad package around the hoof wall; 4. pastern action devices, usually chains or beads. The pastern and sole are the focus of soring methods to inflict pain so that the horse doesn't want to keep

Deformity in Motion: Neglected Hooves Respond in Ireland

Johnny and James are two otherwise anonymous donkeys in Ireland who have been lucky enough to be rescued and find some kind people at The Donkey Sanctuary there.

Horses and ponies and donkeys with overgrown hooves are not uncommon to find. We routinely see photos of them when they are rescued by agencies or brought to farriers and vets for care.

But Johnny and James are different because

Dogs in Motion: An X-Ray Video With a Cold Nose

Here's some eye candy for a summer's day: video x-rays of a dog...share this with your friends who love Dachshunds! Thanks to New Scientist for this video.



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Video: Equine Biomechanics Integrated with an Icelandic Horse's Disco-Rhythm Hoofbeats by Swiss Researchers

Are you awake now?

This video is your wake-up call. It's a fast-cut peek inside the high-tech equine performance testing laboratory at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, where kinematic- and kinetic-research are undergoing an exciting fusion under the direction of biomechanics research professor Michael Weishaupt PhD DMV. Where the disco beat came from is anyone's guess!

Are the