Veterinary Equine Podiatry Group Announced at 2014 AAEP Convention, Will Pursue Board Specialization Status

At the 60th Annual Convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), held December 5 to 9, 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Veterinary Equine Podiatry Group, Inc. publicly announced its existence and intended mission.


Formed by four interested veterinarians who met at the 2013 AAEP Convention in Nashville, VEPG is now a group of 32 veterinarians who are interested in

BEVA Congress Farriery Day Asks, In Many Ways: What Would You Do?

“What would you do?”



That was the question at the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Congress Farriery Day earlier this fall in Birmingham, England.  One thing that came out of this day long poking and prodding of contemporary farriery was that you might think a bit before answering that question the next time someone poses it.










An international roster of speakers

Implanted Prosthetic Limbs for Amputee Horses: Be Part of Research!

Six years ago, Molly the Pony turned the world upside down on by wearing a strap-on prosthetic on her amputated limb. If she read the newspaper this week, the peg-leg pony who survived Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans might think she needs to come out of retirement on behalf of her new prosthesis designer, Niki Marie Hansen. Hansen believes it's time for a new generation of artificial limbs

New Statistics: Lameness Most Critical Health Problem for British Horses; Laminitis Increased in 2014

A new study published today in Great Britain sorts out what is likely to send horses to vets and farriers for treatment there, and you have to look pretty far down to find hoof-related problems (other than laminitis) on the list. 

Great Britain's National Equine Health Survey (NEHS), held annually every May, has confirmed for the second year that lameness is the most common syndrome

Triple Crown Hindsight: California Chrome's Hoof Bulb Injury in Pictures

The dream is over, and that's horse racing. The champion is just a horse, after all. But a special one.
We don't know what California Chrome's excuse was for losing Saturday's Belmont Stakes--and with it, the much-anticipated Triple Crown. There's a list, but the one that probably interests you is the injury that probably occurred in the split second when the starting gate opened.

Up to that

Who Left Those Hoofprints in the Sand?

The impermanence of art: the incoming tide will wash away the hoofprints on the beach near Mont St Michel, but the FEI has made a grand impression on the world that only 100 days remain before the opening of the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in France. (FEI photo)


It's 100 days until the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games begin in Normandy, France. Something was bound to happen, but

Farrier Photography: Matthew Wright Exhibit Shows Andy Eadie Shoeing on England's Lambourn Downs

Photographer Matthew P. Wright followed farrier Andy Edie around the Lambourn Downs area of England. The result is a photography exhibit that has been made into a book, which can be previewed here.





Let's face it, there just aren't very many art exhibits dedicated to photography of farriers or horse hooves. In fact, I can't remember the last time I was invited to one.

Not long ago, if I

Royal Recognition: British Farrier Thomas Burch Honored with MBE by Queen

Glimpses into the life of a farrier who might be found on the streets of London or in the rainforests of Central America or helping a horse in Capetown in South Africa: Royal honors have been announced for British farrier Tom Burch for his service to the welfare of horses in the United Kingdom and overseas.


A farrier in England woke up on New Year’s Day to find out that his named was "on the

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

Rats in the Stable? Check the Horses' Hooves and Your Grandfather's Stable Manual

This is the time of year when some nonpaying and unwanted boarders start moving into stables. The evidence isn't always as obvious as on this mule's foot. (Kurt Fisk photo)


There's a Spanish legend that tells us Noah had no intention of letting rats or mice onto the Ark. It was all a Devil's trick. He found a way to sneak them on board so they'd eat all the foodstores and gnaw the boat's

Goof-proof Hoofcare: “StayOns” Instant Hoof Poultice Wraps Simplify the Way You Wrap a Foot

This article is sponsored by Hamilton Biovet.

Here’s a product that is worth its weight in baby diapers.

If there was ever a contest that farriers, vet techs and veterinarians should run, it would be to see who has the fastest two hands in the world for making a duct tape bootie to attach over a hoof wrapped in a disposable baby diaper.





How many times have you wrapped a hoof in duct tape

Lost Shoes Solution: Shoe Secure Keeps Your Horse's Shoes On, World Champion Style

Whether it’s linked to conformation or a gait abnormality or a swampy pasture, the shoe loss problem may have met its match in an odd-looking product from Scotland called ShoeSecure. Designed by an equestrian entrepreneur with the help of a world champion farrier, and used by a world champion reiner, the new product launched in the USA this summer with a star-studded resume.

Equine Lameness: British Cavalry Horses Suffer Common Minor Hoof and Leg Problems Similar to Recreational Horses

British cavalry horses are large Irish-crossbred types and generally are selected because they have big enough feet, acceptable conformation and good bone. Their lameness problems tend to be less dramatic than you might think, and more in line with recreational horses than sport horses.




A study of lameness among the ceremonial cavalry horses of the British Army may ultimately benefit a much

Video: Oklahoma Tornado Tragedy's Legacy is Both Tragedy and Inspiration for Veterinarians and Horsemen

Please allow time for videos to load.




You know things are bad when CNN dedicates a segment to injured horses in a natural disaster, but that's what happened on Friday when the global news network aired a story by newsman Gary Tuckman, who was on hand with Oklahoma's Joe Boecker, DVM to show in graphic detail what a tornado can do to a horse.

Hoof Blog readers around the world who think that

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

Medicinal Leeches: The Much-Maligned Traditional Healing Aid is Making a Comeback for Equine Lameness Therapy

In this photo from German rehabilitation therapist Martina Mäter of Kathmann Vital GbR in Vechta, you see three colorful medicinal leeches hard at work. Lower-limb lameness is a common callup for leeches in the horse world; they may soon be in wider use in the United States. (Photo © Martina Mater, used with permission)



You're in a veterinary lecture on laminitis at a major conference on

Equine Obesity Research: Breeds Respond Differently to Changes in Diet and Exercise

Does it take a university research study to prove that horses need exercise and diets?

If spring weight gain isn't on horse owners' minds right now, it will be soon. Many horses now come through the winter in robust condition, thanks to modern feeds, warm barns, snuggly blankets and owners who don't ride often in winter...if ever.


Once horses are turned out on spring grass, those owners

On the Case: Thorn-y Hoof Problems at Towcester Equine Clinic

Andrew Hayes BVetMed MRCVS of Towcester Vets Equine Centre in England made this video and writes some details:


The horse featured was a three year old that had been suffering form a fluctuating forelimb lameness for several days. The blood supply to the affected foot was increased (increased heat and bounding digital pulse). 




Squeezing the sole of the foot with hoof pinchers elicited a

French Sterile Maggot Debridement Study Finds 93% Efficacy for Equine Wounds

The French study is illustrated with this photo of maggots at work on a wound.

A press release from the Equine Veterinary Journal arrived at The Hoof Blog this week. It heralds a French study that documented the successful use of sterile maggot debridement therapy in treating wounds in horses. 

It's great to see this study of more than 40 cases treated with maggots. 

Almost ten years ago,

Off Topic Video: Slo-mo beach gallop--with a twist

It's no secret that the Hoof Blog is known almost as widely for launching unusual horse-related videos and commercials as for hoof-related stories. You saw the Budweiser Clydesdale ad here first and now you're seeing the new--and slightly weird--Citroen commercial.

The what?


Citroen is a French luxury car that isn't sold in the USA anymore, but that doesn't stop the firm from making