Over the years, many a hoof has been sketched on cocktail napkins and scraps of paper where farriers gather to break bread. Being able to draw the foot isn't a skill that is required of shoers, but one that can be helpful when taking advanced examinations and grasping anatomical concepts. In this session, equine enthusiast and artist Anna Haas shares basic tips that will help you render a foot that is proportionate and can provide a meaningful reference in your client records.

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Bob Smith, an International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame farrier and owner of the Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School in Plymouth, Calif., is this year's Burney Chapman Memorial Lecture speaker. The series, which is sponsored each year by Life Data Labs of Cherokee, Ala., honors deceased Lubbock, Texas, farrier Burney Chapman and his life-long commitment to education.

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Steve Kraus has been shoeing for more than 50 years, The head of farrier services and senior lecturer at Cornell University has gained keen insight on how conformation affects the horses overall movement. In this presentation, Kraus reviews established principles of conformation and discusses the farrier's role in addressing these with each horse.

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When Marshville, N.C., farrier Mike Stine first began learning to trim and shoe, most of the focus was on the hoof, and very little about the rest of the horse. After meeting the late Tony Gonzalez, author of Proper Balance Movement, A Diary of Lameness, that perspective began to change. This session will touch on equine balance, body posture, conformation, movement, hoof balance and other outside pressures that impact equine soundness and performance. Although we have many modern tools for measuring equine movement and for studying the hoof, when we are in the field, we often have to rely on our observational and practical skills. These evaluation skills translate that into the work we do to help the horse remain sound or regain soundness, and perform to their maximum potential.

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Hall of Fame farriers Jim Ferrie of Newmilns, Scotland, and Craig Trnka of Edgewood, N.M. discuss their careers and challenges they’ve overcome over the decades. The give-and-take format will make an entertaining talk. Be prepared to pick up gems that can change your perspective on footcare.

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Hall of Famer Jim Ferrie returns to the Summit with a thorough review of the foot to compel farriers to think of their work in three dimensions. The Newmilns, Scotland, farrier will cover normally perceived front foot balance and discuss mechanical forces that affect the hoof. By reviewing anatomy, he also will discuss using the external hoof to accurately locate the internal structures. He will stress the perspective of one dimension, the lateral plane, while reviewing various issues and typical appliances.

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No two equine limbs are exactly alike. In this presentation, farrier Mike Wildenstein of Sharon, Vt., will share his systematic approach for identifying the deviations. Understanding conformation is a crucial skill every farrier and veterinarian must grasp to be effective practitioners. Why You Shouldn’t Miss This: Leave with some helpful approaches for analyzing the horses you work with and the effects of conformation.

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This presentation focuses on Steven Beane’s decade-long journey and his quest to assess the effect different dorsal hoof wall trimming techniques have on the strength of the dorsal hoof wall using scientific data. Comparing the dressing of the dorsal hoof wall flat from proximal to distal border or to dump the dorsal hoof wall (known as dorsal rounding). Do these two standardized trimming techniques have an effect on the mechanics of the dorsal hoof wall or solar arch?

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Does P3 bone angle dictate hoof wall angle? In his research, Straffordshire, England, farrier Jon Nunn set out to answer his question. Through his work of analyzing 100 front and hind cadaver limbs, Nunn investigated the variation of angles of P3 to test the hypothesis of angular similarity of bone morphology to hoof wall angle. This research helped earn Nunn a Fellowship of the Worshipful Company of Farriers.

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Shoeing since 1979, Lexington, Ky., farrier Bobby Menker has shod performance horses of all kinds, including winning horses in both English and Western disciplines. In this fastpaced session, he will survey a variety of cases among a variety of disciplines giving his input on what should be considered for better use of traction. He’ll also talk about how traction needs vary depending on common issues with surface material.

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Farriers are aware that poor fitting horseshoes can cause discomfort and lameness in horses. Unfortunately, many do not realize that poor fitting saddles can cause lameness, gait faults, shoeing problems and even personality problems. Cornell University farrier Steve Kraus will show why it is vital to be able to recognize problems and how to best handle them. He’ll also explain how appropriate, skillful farriery needs to be in concert not only with saddlery, but other equine care issues.

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Understanding the relationship between what’s above the distal limb is important for farriers to recognize. In this lecture, equine chiropractor Patricia Bona will discuss an important aspect of equine chiropractic care: the basics of evaluating posture and how to evaluate the difference between posture and conformation (as too many confuse the two). She will discuss how scar tissue and old injuries are often the cause of poor posture and irregular biomechanics — not to forget hoof care and balance. Mutton withers, ewe neck and a tight throat latch are not signs of poor conformation, but they are signs of poor posture.

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In his previous lecture, British farrier Jon Nunn shared his research on the relationship between P3 and hoof angles. In this, he takes a more practical approach to P3 misalignment. He’ll review structures and anatomy commonly affected by palmar/plantar de-rotation of P3. He’ll pull from case studies in his practice to show how he treats negative palmar/plantar angle of P3 with modern shoeing methods.

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Farriers must evaluate their work, especially when working alone. Dusty Franklin of the Five Star Horseshoeing School in Minco, Okla., says he’s developed techniques for examining his own work. Ultimately it will be the horse that determines the job you did, but to cut down on costly mistakes, his techniques will give you better insight.

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Simon Curtis’s research shows that the hoof compresses during its descent of the hoof wall after generation at the coronary band triggered our further study into regional loading. This work indicates that uneven loading affected hoof compression and hoof growth.This talk will investigate current techniques used by farriers and discuss how we might further use this knowledge beneficially. Significant changes in loading will be demonstrated in a short series of quasi-static pressure mat experiments on mature horses.

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Many of the sessions at the Summit touch on the trim or different strategies to shoeing. But it is time to get back to the basics. Are you properly analyzing the horse before and during your work with it? What do you look for in its conformation? In this presentation, Hall Of Fame farrier Mike Wildenstein will give a detailed presentation on conformation and what farriers should consider regarding the subject. He’ll also discuss other aspects of equine management, such as environment, that play critical roles in hoof and horse health.

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This annual lecture is named for Burney Chapman, the late Lubbock, Texas, farrier whose work influenced so many veterinarians and farriers. It has been about 16 years since the Hall Of Fame farrier lost his battle with brain cancer. The generation of farriers who have entered the trade over the subsequent years have heard his name and his work in reintroducing the heart bar shoe, but there was much more to the reach of his innovative work. And what’s also important to remember, Chapman was a profound educator, willing to share his knowledge with all willing to learn. Coshocton, Ohio, farrier Dave Farley worked with the legendary Lubbock, Texas, shoer and will share some of the insight that he gained from his friend. Farley certainly will touch on the lessons for laminitic horses that Chapman taught him, but will provide important lessons from other areas of farriery that changed his work with horses.

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Every year, there is a lot of talk about the “basics.” Berthoud, Colo., farrier Steve Foxworth says that one of the most widely discussed and generally confusing topics seems to be about the trim. Is it possible to come to a common understanding about what a “basic” trim should be? Is it a primary factor in soundness? Is it a foundation for which we apply an apparatus for performance, soundness or rehabilitation? What does mapping show us? Is it a starting point for shoe placement or is it much more? These are all important questions, and are critical for understanding the next steps for mapping the foot. Foxworth will guide the audience through these to better explain the value of hoof mapping.

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Whenever presented with a horse, a farrier must take the static and dynamic states in mind. Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., vet and farrier Mark Silverman says it is a conceptual question that farriers deal with on a daily basis. During this presentation, Silverman will walk through how he approaches this situation when considering soundness and fine-tuning the horse’s performance. He’ll then explain how these principles are applied to how you trim and shoe using examples from his sport horse practice in Southern California.

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Who believes everything they read about horses’ feet? Most people are likely to read an article and accept it as “good” if it reflects their opinion and consider it “wrong” or outdated if it doesn’t, and disregard these articles. John Stewart of Ramona, Calif., says certain details about horses’ feet seem to have been repeated so often they are accepted as fact but may not be so, or may only be so in certain situations. The farrier and former veterinarian in the United Kingdom will discuss some of these oft-repeated “facts,” and try to show why some are probably not true or might apply only in some circumstances.

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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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