I am Derrick Cooke, a Certified Journeyman Farrier with the American Farrier's Association. I have been shoeing horses more than 28 years and had the pleasure to help many with lameness issues improve quality of life and, in many cases, return to work and win championships. Many times, I hear people use the terms of the industry in context that are inconsistent with their needs. I am setting out to help clear up what we mean when we use the terms appropriately. The terms most confused are "Therapeutic Shoeing" and "Corrective Shoeing."

What is your preferred method for treating a case of thrush? How do you get the horse owner's involvement?

We hear a lot about “backing up the toe.” How would you actually define this? When does a toe need to be backed up?

A broken P3 (the third phalanx, or coffin bone) can sideline a racehorse for several months. It can be career-ending or just a temporary setback depending on the position and severity of the break. Small fractures on the side of the bone are said to be wing fractures because they are located on the wings of the P3 bone. (picture1) They can actually separate the wing tip from the rest of the P3, or just compromise the structure with a hairline fracture in that area.

In the summer of 2011, trainer Bob Stewart picked up a horse named Swan In A Million. The colt trotter had a mushroom shoe on at the time to alleviate some of the heel pain that he was showing in both front feet.

An experimental drug discovered by entomologists doing research on biological insect control substances now holds some promise as an effective treatment for laminitis. Veterinarians at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine will conduct the first clinical trial of the anti-inflammatory drug known as t-TUCB after it was used to treat a horse that they thought would have to be euthanized. A paper on this case has been accepted for publication by the peer-reviewed Journal of Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. The paper is expected to be published in the journal's February 2013 issue, but journal editors have allowed the authors to disclose their findings ahead of publication.