A study with dairy calves was conducted to determine if exercise in a mixed terrain (grass, dirt and rocks) affects development of the digital cushion and pedal bones compared to less exercise in a grassy environment. Two-month-old animals were randomly placed into exercise and control groups. For 4 months, the exercise group was fed and watered at opposite ends of a half-mile long lane. Feeding was twice a day so the animals ran or walked briskly behind a feed truck 1 mile a day and walked leisurely to return to water 1 mile a day. After 4 months, the volume and surface areas of the digital cushion and the volumes of the short pastern and coffin bones were compared using magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography.

If you go to a Jim Quick clinic expecting him to dictate how you should shoe a horse, you’re at the wrong clinic. Instead, the Niwot, Colo., farrier says his purpose is to not give instructions to tell other farriers how to shoe, but to share his thoughts on how he does the job. Quick did just that at Bruce Daniels Memorial Clinic in early April when he suggested points of consideration regarding medial-lateral balance.