Wednesday, January 25, 2006

A Link to Share: Barefoot Racing in the UK

Here's an interesting web site provided by Simon Earle's racing yard in the UK. He is promoting the fact that his horses are running barefoot, though the "before" photos on this site don't look too bad. What I find fascinating is the array of training/conditioning systems he has either invented or implemented to increase the soundness of the horses in his charge. He credits American K.C. LaPierre with helping him on the hoof end of things

Click here to go to Simon Earle's barefoot racing yard

2006 World Equestrian Games Will Include Conference on the Hoof


ESpoM Aachen 2006 : Progress in equine sports medicine
International veterinary congress and farrier meeting will be held at the FEI World Equestrian Games 2006

Hoofcare & Lameness is happy to announce that the famous "Maastricht" MICEM conference for 2006 will be held in conjunction with the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany in late August. Dates are Aug. 23 - 26, 2006.

The deadline for submission of free lectures and posters has passed. Speakers will include Simon Curtis, Rob Renirie, Haydn Price, Jack Snyder and Scott Morrison, but there are many, many more. Visit the web site!

It sounds like we will be staying in Maastricht, Holland and buses will go back and forth to Aachen. Hoofcare & Lameness will be helping to promote the meeting.

Info by mail:ESpoM Aachen 2006,PO Box 56, NL 5430 AB Cuijk, The Netherland
Tel +31 6 506 37 999 Fax+31 485 3111 57
See the full programm on www.espomaachen2006.info

Stay tuned for more details from Hoofcare & Lameness Journal!

FEI Judicial Suggests that Grazing Can be a Source of Prohibited Substances

This just in from the FEI...drug testing at a new level!

Mary 64, one of the horses with which Michael Freund won the 2004 FEI World Driving Championship in Kecskemet (HUN), had tested positive to the prohibited substance Valerenic Acid.

In June 2005, the Judicial Committee held a first hearing in this case and accepted the evidence that the horse Mary 64 had been allowed to graze in a field next to the event, which contained Centranthus ruber plants. The Committee recommended that the parties conduct controlled tests in order to determine whether Valerenic Acid may be found in a horse’s systems as a result of the consumption of certain plants from the Centranthus ruber family.

The Judicial Committee resumed the hearing on 23 January 2006 in Frankfurt. The Committee found this to be an extremely difficult case to assess in the light of the varying technical advice it had been provided with and regretted that the tests conducted during the summer of 2005 had not been subject to full cooperation and coordination between the Person Responsible and the FEI.

After having heard the opinion of the different experts, the Judicial Committee considered that there were indications that results could vary due to the stage in the plant life cycle at which it is consumed by the horse, and various other factors.

The Judicial Committee also considered the exhaustive research engaged in by Michael Freund and his advisors to answer the question as to how the substance was present in the horse’s systems.

In a split decision, the Judicial Committee decided by a majority of its members present to terminate the proceedings by applying the provision in Article 146.2 of the General Regulations at no costs to the parties.

The full text of the Judicial Committee’s decision in this matter will be published shortly on the FEI website.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Oklahoma Clinic for Farriers with Michael Wildenstein


Farriers in the Midwest are in for a treat. Details below desribe an upcoming seminar with Hoofcare & Lameness consulting editor Michael Wildenstein at Oklahaoma State Horseshoeing School. With any luck, I will see you there!

Date: March 25, 2006
Time: 9 a.m. til ???
Presented by Oklahoma Farrier Supply and Grand Circult Products
Clinician: Michael Wildenstein CJF, FWCF (Hons), Resident Farrier at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
Cost: Free!!!
Location: Oklahoma State Horseshoeing School, 4802 Dogwood Rd., Ardmore, OK 73401
Contact: Regan or Kathy Kester 1 800 634 2811; 580 223 0064 or email oshs@cableone.net
Extras: Free lunch! 5% discount on farrier supplies that day; eligible for AFA CE credits
Recommended hotel: Holiday Inn or Hampton Inn, Ardmore
Nearest airports: Oklahoma City or Dallas-Fort Worth

Photo shows Mike Wildenstein at a clinic on heavy horse shoeing at Tufts Vet School in 2004. He's sitting on the horse's right hock while he works on the left hoof! Photo by Taylor Keenan. (thanks!)