The luck of a proactive passerby helped save the lives of eight horses in a burning barn early Sept. 10 at Equestrian Park in College Station, Texas. Sixteen died in the fire due to burns and/or smoke inhalation, said property owner Brazos Joe Varisco, and three more were euthanized shortly thereafter due to their injuries. Ten of the barn’s inhabitants were racing Quarter Horses (all of whic

In the last month, 16 of the 19 horses at Brookhill Stables in Goble, Ore., and two horses from a nearby private farm, have showed respiratory and/or neurologic signs consistent with equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1), although not all have been tested for the disease. To date, three older victims have been euthanized–one from Brookhill Stables and the two horses from the private farm, which

A bomb strapped to a horse exploded in a plaza in a small town in northeast Colombia on Wednesday, killing at least eight people, including a toddler, and injuring 20 others, stated the Army in a report in the Kansas City Star.

The military blamed the attack on leftist rebels

Why do we ask farriers to take knives and nippers (and sometimes a whole lot more) to our horses’ feet every six weeks? For many of us, it has always been just one of those things you knew you had to do if you had horses.

All of the cutting-edge hoof information presented at this symposium is very helpful to the fledgling field of equine podiatry. Equally valuable is the open, helpful atmosphere in which everyone is learning and helping each other understand new concepts.

When a performance horse slowly goes off form, any number of things can be the cause. Could he have ulcers? Is he being overtrained? Is something subtle and mysterious going on with his metabolism? The problem could be much simpler than that–his feet might just hurt.

When evaluating horseshoeing, many people don’t look at the hoof correctly, according to Hans Castelijns, DVM and farrier based in Italy. “There are the sagittal, frontal, and horizontal planes (illustration included in this story),” he said in his presentation “Shoeing in the Frontal and Horizontal Planes” at the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium in Louisville, Ky. “You can have

“If a horse needs an amputation or he’s not going to live, that’s not much of a choice,” began Ric Redden, DVM, founder of the International Equine Podiatry Center and host of the 2003 Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium, in a presentation on Jan. 18. “Horses with catastrophic injury or disease of the lower limb are most often euthanized as there is irreversible vascular, soft tissue, and bone

Initially the 7-year-old mare was in excellent physical condition with no history of lameness, but became sore the evening of a reset with commonly used, very wide-web shoes. The farrier returned that evening to reset the shoes and lower the nail holes, and commented to the trainer that the previous holes might have been too high in the feet.

“It’s only a sinker when the hoof is on it–the hoof on a sinker can shut you down and kill the horse,” said Redden in his presentation “Treating High-Scale Laminitis With Wall Ablation and Transcortical Cast.” Redden is known for his aggressive, groundbreaking treatment of severe foot problems, and this presentation certainly was in character.

“For seven years in a row, I’ve been voted the world’s worst shoer,” joked world-renowned clinician Pat Parelli at the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium Jan. 16-18 in Louisville, Ky., to begin a discussion on “Anvil Side Manner.”

“Why do you guys want to shoe horses, anyway?” Various attendees answered that they began horseshoeing because they couldn’t afford a shoer for their ow

“Usually you shoe horses that are against you, right?” asked world-renowned clinician Pat Parelli at the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis symposium Jan. 16-18 in Louisville, Ky. “You’re on opposite teams. And when push comes to shove, the horse wins when it comes to shove.

“I’m kind of ashamed of the horse industry compared to other professional industries,” he went on. “It’s still ful

The first presentation on the agenda of the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium, held January 16-18 in Louisville, Ky., was a discussion of the club foot–a problem seen in all places and breeds. While probably all of those present had seen and worked on affected horses before, they were all interested in improving their understanding and treatment success with this problem. Ric Redden,

“One of the most frequent sites of lameness is the hock joint,” said Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS, Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University (MSU), in her presentation “A New Look at the Hock Joint” at the 2003 Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium in Louisville, Ky. “Various shoeing modifications are used with the objective of modifying hock motion