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American Farriers Journal

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September/October 2016

Volume: 42
Edition: 6

American Farriers Journal is the “hands-on” magazine for professional farriers, equine veterinarians and horse care product and service buyers.

  • Table Of Contents

    Table Of Contents

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    Shoeing for a Living

    A FIERCE Passion for Helping Horses

    California farrier enjoys the rewards of therapeutic shoeing
    September 12, 2016 | Posted in Clients, Education, Forging, Lamenesses, Therapeutic Shoeing, Trimming
    “And though she be but little, she is fierce.” Helena famously des­­cribed Hermia this way in A Mid­sum­mer’s Night Dream. In fact, since William Shakespeare’s words first were uttered on stage in the late 1500s, it’s been used countless times to describe people and things. When Placerville, Calif., farrier Marijke Ellert opens up her rig, the quote is there for all to see, emblazoned on the back wall. The word “FIERCE” is prominent by appearing in all capital letters.
    Read More

    Mismatched Feet: Veterinary And Farriery Perspectives

    An American Association of Equine Practitioners’ conference session delivered insight on working with horses with mismatched feet
    By Jeremy McGovern posted on September 12, 2016 | Posted in Shoeing, Therapeutic Shoeing, Trimming
    Managing a horse with mismatched feet can be a challenge for both the veterinarian and farrier. At last winter’s American Association of Equine Practitioners’ convention, a session undertook both the veterinarian and farrier’s role in these cases.
    Read More
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    Avoid Penalties By Staying Aware Of Sales Tax Laws

    State and municipal regulations on charging sales tax can change with little notice and affect your business operations
    By Buck O'Neil posted on September 12, 2016 | Posted in Business Practices, Clients
    I recently was reminded how things in the business world can change without much notice. I took my trusty old truck in for some service. When I dropped it off, my mechanic said that he had some bad news. Now, that’s scary when he hasn’t even looked at the truck! The bad news was that North Carolina had expanded its sales tax laws to include labor charges related to repairs, maintenance and installation of a number of products.
    Read More
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    Photographing Your Work As A Farrier: Help Or Hindrance?

    Consider perspective when photographing equine feet — and when you evaluate this work later
    By Martin Kenny posted on September 12, 2016 | Posted in Equipment, Shoeing

    With the advancement in smartphone camera quality, farriers are taking more and more photographs of our work. For the most part, documenting our work is a good thing for many reasons. One of the most important of these reasons is for the analysis of the trimmings and shoeings we perform.


    Read More
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    Solve Conflicts Through Understanding

    Farrier and vet share tips to build a rapport with clients and help their horses
    By Jeff Cota posted on September 12, 2016 | Posted in Business Practices, Clients
    Conflict is part and parcel of operating a farrier practice. Yet, how you handle dissention will go a long way toward not only determining how successful you’ll be, but also how well you understand your client’s point of view — and by extension, your ability to educate them about hoof care.
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    Hammer-Finished Mule Shoe Delivers New Challenge

    The 2017 Summit Mail-In Forging Exercise will earn a winner a buckle and all participants a T-shirt
    By Chris Gregory posted on September 12, 2016 | Posted in Forging
    Now in its third year, the Summit Mail-In Forging Exercise has a new challenge for this go around. The inaugural contest was a hammer-finished heart bar shoe, followed the next year by an aluminum shoe with a riveted bar made out of a rasp. The bar shoe exercise allowed for power tool application.
    Read More
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    Making And Applying A Double Nail Package

    By going through his process and reasons for use, Hall Of Fame farrier Bud Willimon explains how this package can benefit show horses
    By Jeremy McGovern posted on September 12, 2016 | Posted in Education, Shoeing
    Hall Of Fame Horseshoer Bud Willimon has spent about 60 years working with Saddlebreds, Morgans and Hackney ponies. “In all that time, I learned there is nothing new,” he reasons. “Just things are new to those who haven’t tried it.”
    Read More
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    Educating Your Clients on Supplements

    Vitamins, minerals, amino acids and even algae can support healthy feet and joints
    By Heather Smith Thomas posted on September 12, 2016 | Posted in Clients, Diseases, Lamenesses, Nutrition
    Proper equine nutrition is pivotal in support of healthy feet and joints. However, it’s not always attainable without some help. There are a number of supplements on the market today that help horse owners provide an adequate and balanced diet with the goal of improving hoof strength and growth, as well as protecting joints from wear-and-tear problems.
    Read More

    Explore The World’s Largest Online Hoof-Care Library

    By Jeff Cota posted on September 12, 2016 | Posted in Education, Safety & Healthcare
    More and more readers are recognizing that AmericanFarriers.com is the largest library of hoof-care information available anywhere on the internet. In the past 6 months, AFJ has seen a 71% increase in website page views. While our vast online library includes decades of articles from the pages of AFJ, it also offers a wealth of valuable footcare knowledge that’s exclusively published for you at AmericanFarriers.com.
    Read More
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    Farrier Q&A: September/October 2016

    Maintaining feet that can become compromised by the effects of climate and environment can be a tough challenge. What is your strategy for getting the client’s help in limiting the damage caused by heat and dampness?
    September 12, 2016 | Posted in Clients, Shoeing
    Traditionally, this article presents hoof-care advice from farriers throughout the United States and Canada. For this Q&A, we had breakfast with a group of farriers who work around the Ocala, Fla., area. Combined, these farriers shoe a variety of horses ranging from backyard horses to high-end sport horses. They shared their thoughts on a common issue that farriers in their area — as well as those elsewhere — commonly face.
    Read More

    Shoptalk: American Farriers Journal Announces Two Promotions

    September 12, 2016 | Posted in Education

    New assignments were announced in mid August for two members of the American Farriers Jour­nal (AFJ) team.

    Jeremy McGovern takes on the additional duties as publisher of the world’s leading equine hoof-care publication. He also serves as the publication’s executive editor and conference director of the International Hoof-Care Summit.

    Jeff Cota takes on the duties of managing editor after serving 2½ years as the publication’s associate editor.


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    Research Journal: September/October 2016

    The information, ideas and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the United States Department of Agriculture.
    By Albert Kane posted on September 12, 2016 | Posted in Anatomy, Diseases, Lamenesses
    A postmortem study examined the records of 241 horses at least 15 years old that died following admission to a veterinary teaching hospital over a 10-year period to investigate their causes of death, including the relationship to pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID).
    Read More
  • Featured Articles

    Featured Articles

    788_SFL_Marijke_Ellert_JC_0716.jpg
    Shoeing for a Living

    A FIERCE Passion for Helping Horses

    California farrier enjoys the rewards of therapeutic shoeing
    September 12, 2016 | Posted in Clients, Education, Forging, Lamenesses, Therapeutic Shoeing, Trimming
    “And though she be but little, she is fierce.” Helena famously des­­cribed Hermia this way in A Mid­sum­mer’s Night Dream. In fact, since William Shakespeare’s words first were uttered on stage in the late 1500s, it’s been used countless times to describe people and things. When Placerville, Calif., farrier Marijke Ellert opens up her rig, the quote is there for all to see, emblazoned on the back wall. The word “FIERCE” is prominent by appearing in all capital letters.
    Read More
    Open_Figure_8.jpg

    Photographing Your Work As A Farrier: Help Or Hindrance?

    Consider perspective when photographing equine feet — and when you evaluate this work later
    By Martin Kenny posted on September 12, 2016 | Posted in Equipment, Shoeing

    With the advancement in smartphone camera quality, farriers are taking more and more photographs of our work. For the most part, documenting our work is a good thing for many reasons. One of the most important of these reasons is for the analysis of the trimmings and shoeings we perform.


    Read More
  • Digital Edition

    Digital Edition

  • Online Extras

    Online Extras

    Online Extras: September/October 2016 Issue

    September 12, 2016

    Web-exclusive content for this issue includes:

    • Videos from AFJ's day with farrier Marijke Ellert
    • Insights on the biomechanics of mismatched feet
    • Information about the 2017 Summit Mail-In Forging Competition
    • Additional content from the Forge of July
    • The Top 10 web articles of 2016
    • Additional insights from our Hoof-Care Q&A panel
    • Tool tip videos with Robbie Hunziker

    Read More
    Shoeing For A Living

    Improving Your Skills Through Teaching

    November 8, 2016 | Posted in Shoeing
    Placerville, Calif., farrier Marijke Ellert explains how teaching apprentices and students at Pacific Horseshoeing School in Plymouth, Calif., has improved her skills.
    Read More
    News & Notes

    2017 Summit Mail-In Forging Competition

    The 2017 Summit Mail-In Forging Exercise will earn a winner a buckle and all participants a T-shirt
    September 30, 2016 | Posted in Forging
    Now in its third year, the Summit Mail-In Forging Exercise has a new challenge for this go around.
    Read More
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    Why Equine Bones Break and Tendons Rupture

    Understanding anatomy and physics can help prevent severe injuries
    By Audrey Pavia | Posted in Anatomy, Education, Lamenesses
    The life of one of the most promising racehorses of our time was cut short in 2006 after a long struggle to recover from a shattered fetlock. Barbaro’s injury at the Preakness Stakes and the New Bolton Center's heroic attempts to save him drew a lot of attention to the question of why so many young performance horses suffer from broken bones and ruptured tendons. Are these kinds of injuries inevitable? Should we give up trying to solve this problem?
    Read More
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    Contrary To Popular Opinion

    Research indicates that the positive effects of particular shoe selection for Western Pleasure horses are guided by the perceptions of judges and trainers rather than reality
    By Jeremy McGovern posted on May 9, 2016 | Posted in Disciplines & Breeds, Lamenesses, Shoeing
    Many trainers and owners often try to convince a farrier to adopt a certain style of trimming or shoeing based on a myriad of factors. Sometimes the motivation comes from a belief that a particular change will improve the horse’s overall performance, resulting in better scores from judges.
    Read More
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    Product Knowledge

    Slick Tips for Sliding Plates

    Texas farrier offers advice on how to help reining horses earn those all-important extra fractions of a point
    By Chad Chance posted on April 1, 2012 | Posted in Disciplines & Breeds
    Choosing the right sliding plate to be used on a reining horse isn't easy. Farriers must take conformation, performance, footing and other factors into consideration when shoeing these equine athletes. Because events are frequently won by fractions of a point, proper shoeing is vital.
    Read More
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    Dealing with Thrush and White Line Disease

    Combining topical treatments with good hoof care will help you keep these common problems under control
    By Heather Smith Thomas | Posted in Diseases
    Among the most common problems farriers deal with are thrush and white line disease. Thrush, affecting the sulci of the frog and sometime deeper tissues, is generally caused by bacteria. The most common culprit is fusobacterium necrophorum, which causes a variety of diseases, including navel ill/joint ill in foals, diphtheria in calves and foot rot in cattle.
    Read More

    Tackling Hoof Cracks

    A half-dozen American Farriers Journal Editorial Advisory Board members share their many years of experience in dealing with hoof cracks
    By Frank Lessiter posted on July 1, 2014 | Posted in Anatomy
    Hoof cracks can occur anywhere on the hoof wall and are caused by improper mechanics, environmental extremes or pathology concerns that lead to hoof deformities that result in failure. Named for where they appear on the hoof wall, they include quarter cracks, heel cracks, bar cracks and toe cracks.
    Read More

    Where Does the Problem Originate?

    An extreme case of scoliosis and other issues provide a reminder to look beyond the feet and that conformation can limit what farriers can do to help a horse
    By Jacob Butler CJF, AWCF posted on May 8, 2015 | Posted in Anatomy, Trimming
    Many times our eyes are drawn to the feet of the horse, since this is our specialty as farriers. As we look at the feet, we might identify various issues that are going on.
    Read More

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Farrier Education: Heartland Horseshoeing School

Farrier Education: Heartland Horseshoeing School

Farriery requires knowledge and skills to provide proper equine hoof care. In this series, sponsored by VICTORY, American Farriers Journal visits Heartland Horseshoeing School in Lamar, Mo. In this edition, Chris Gregory discussed his journey to becoming an educator, his focus in teaching farrier students and the state of farrier education.

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Life Data Labs Inc. is a dedicated product manufacturer committed to producing premium quality animal nutrition and health products through continuous product improvement and new product development. First-class ingredients, fresh products, consistent high quality and scientifically proven effectiveness are the principal features of Life Data Labs animal health products. And that's why they've produced the #1 recommended hoof supplement by farriers for 12 consecutive years.
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Kawell USA

Kawell develops and produces copper alloy horseshoes and inserts, giving horses the care that they need to fight issues associated with white line disease, seedy toe and thrush.
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SmartPak

From the feed room to the tack room, SmartPak offers innovative solutions to help riders take great care of their horses. SmartPak was founded in 1999 with the introduction of the patented SmartPak™ supplement feeding system. The revolutionary, daily dose SmartPaks are custom-made for your horse, individually labeled and sealed for freshness.
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