Management of horses with poor sole depth is a common challenge for farriers, regardless of the breed or discipline. In this presentation, Collinsville, Texas, farrier and veterinarian Sammy Pittman will pull from his practice to review practical strategies for helping these horses, as well as cautionary advice.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Gain some ideas to utilize when you need a fresh perspective on horses with poor sole depth.

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Cornell University Head of Farrier Services Steve Kraus will provide this overview of the common conformational problems encountered in young horses.The key to developing correctly formed legs that will stay sound is early recognition and appropriate treatment.Some of these horses will need more exercise, some need less. Come to this lecture and find out which. This lecture will present several cases from the Cornell veterinary clinic as examples.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Learn that timetables critical in development when working with young horses.

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When Mitch Taylor of the Kentucky Horseshoeing School took his sabbatical in a Qatar veterinary hospital for 18 months, he was presented with numerous challenging cases. In this presentation, Taylor will review these cases, which often took some creative approaches. But to gain the desired result in each, he stresses principles vs. a one-size-fits-all approach.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Gain alternative ideas on certain cases you may encounter.

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In this presentation, Bedford, England, farrier Jay Tovey will draw from his footcare work and research to compare the more traditional half-frog plate, which engages one side of the frog with the full-frog plate, half heart-bar shoe. Tovey will question common concepts by asking if a full frog plate is used, then should the shoe of choice actually be the full heartbar shoe?

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Take home new thoughts that will aid your reasoning when considering frog support.

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Newmarket, England, farrier and researcher Simon Curtis reminds that club foot is the result of an unresolved flexural deformity affecting the distal interphalangeal joint. The combined myotendinous unit causes a positive rotation in the distal phalanx and leads to a deformity to the hoof capsule. Club foot in maturity is untreatable, although it may be mitigated by skillful farriery. In this presentation, he stresses that early recognition and treatment of the flexural deformity successfully eradicates club foot.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Gain knowledge on the four treatments used to ensure a favorable outcome.

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The common use of radiographs has helped improve equine care. But when presented with a radiograph, what considerations should you give as a farrier to its interpretation? In this presentation, Scott Pleasant of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine will pull from cases he’s worked on to give insights on using radiographs in shoe placement. His presentation also will show whether what we expect will happen to the foot does with preand post-shoeing radiographs.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Pick up information to help you read radiographs when a veterinarian provides them to you in terms of how you should shoe the horse.

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In this lecture, we pair a veterinarian and farrier who work together to address a common foot problem. In the first talk, Dr. Scott Pleasant of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine will first survey anatomy of the navicular apparatus and then discuss the factors that lead to injury. He’ll explain how diagnostics help paint a picture of what the issue is and what to communicate to the farrier who will manage the footcare.

"Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine farrier Travis Burns will explain the importance of communication with the vet to create a solution to address this issue. He’ll cover several considerations of shoeing options available to the farrier, as well as what you should think about when determining application of the shoe or alternative device.

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Every year, thousands of foals are born with or acquire angular limb deformities. Depending on the case, these can range from mild to severe. Vacaville, Calif., shoer Kirk Adkins will pull from his decades of experience in working with foals for this presentation. He’ll instruct on what farriers can — and can’t — influence when working with angular limb deformities. Likewise, if veterinary surgery is involved, what should the farrier be prepared to do post-surgery?

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The front half of the foot gets much of the attention in various shoeing protocols, but what about the landmarks and structures toward the back half? In this presentation, Lafayette, Ind., farrier Danvers Child will illustrate how this area where the bony attachment ends is where things begin to collapse and provide various issues for farriers to manage. Furthermore, to properly address these issues, are we adequately discussing what is actually happening?

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Walk away with a fresh perspective on issues facing this anatomy and ideas on managing them.

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The vet-farrier team may have to come together to overcome the challenge of a catastrophic injury to a performance horse. But what actually caused this challenge to occur? In this presentation, Renate Weller, a researcher and veterinarian at the Royal Veterinary College in England, will discuss the functional anatomy of the horse in relation to these injuries. By understanding the anatomy of the horse and the physics placed on their day-today work, Weller believes we should have a greater appreciation of how these horses remain sound at all.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Gain insight into how complex variables in the footcare strategies can help prevent severe limb and foot injuries to performance horses.

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Normal biomechanics of the equine hind limb is quite different from the fore limb. Researchers have compared the horse’s front limb to a weight supporting “elephant-like” limb, and the hind limb to a propulsive “cat-like” limb. In this presentation, Cortona, Italy, veterinarian and farrier Hans Castelijns will survey the anatomy and biomechanics of the hind limb. This will lead him to review how the soundness of the hinds can be compromised.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Gain valuable information on the hinds that will be necessary to learning the strategies presented in Castelijn’s Friday afternoon talk on the subject.

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The forces placed on the hoof capsule are astounding. When problems arise that compromise this structure, the farrier must act. Having an understanding of why distortion occurs in the back half of the hoof capsule is paramount in coming up with a solution. Califon, N.J., farrier Bob Pethick will pull from his experiences and research on how to best approach this issue. By providing insight on why these problems arise, Pethick then can explain solutions to overcome these challenges.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Walk away with a greater understanding of how to address problems affecting the hoof capsule.

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Managing palmar heel pain and pathology of the navicular apparatus in the horse’s foot requires a team approach. In this presentation, Lexington, Ky., veterinarian and farrier Vern Dryden will discuss the diagnosis of the navicular apparatus and the surrounding area to pinpoint what the problem is. He’ll explain various therapeutic shoeing options and how they are used to reduce stress on this and surrounding areas.

Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Add new shoeing solutions to your arsenal for managing issues affecting the palmar heel

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