When examining a hoof, mentally split the foot from front to back and from the medial to lateral side. Check all the normally healthy areas first and then remember the areas of concern.

A TIME-TESTED human medicine technique that has proven valuable in healing diabetic pressure sores may offer a new way to tackle a number of wound concerns with horses, including devastating hoof injuries.

FARRIERS MAY PRIDE themselves on being their own boss and owning their own company, but with the expansion of the International Union of Journeymen Horseshoers of the United States and Canada, now may be the time for shoers to think about joining a union.

Future research is more likely to find a pharmacological cure for systemic laminitis than for overload weight-bearing laminitis, maintains equine veterinarian Larry Bramlage. The surgeon with Rood and Riddle in Lexington, Ky., defines systemic laminitis as a disease process that liberates enough mediators within the body to trigger the separation of the hoof wall.

 As you might guess, the four-point trim is a method of trimming horses with both advocates and adversaries.