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FARRIER CONVENTION IN CINCINNATI
by David Farmilo
Accredited Master Farrier, Oakbank SA
PH 0418 835 186
www.horsefarrier.com.au
After putting my proverbial toe into the water by
checking out farriery in the United States last year, I was invited
by the American Farriers Industry Association to address the 3rd
Annual International Hoof Care Summit in Cincinnati in February
2006. Not only that, but I was invited to give both the opening
and the closing lectures. I wondered if maybe I had put my whole
foot in my mouth instead of in the water – was I being honoured
by this invitation or perhaps being lined up for the firing squad?
The 2 topics I selected were my usual bandwagons –
I would open with “Back to Basics” and close with
“What has happened to the K.I.S.S. Principle”. Everyone
who has ever worked with me or attended one of my courses could
probably just about recite by heart what I would say.
I did research some introductory comparison data for
my powerpoint presentation – Australia is similar in land
area to America, however Australia has 20 million people compared
to Americas 300 million. Los Angeles alone has 20 million people!
Australia has 1.5 million horses compared to America’s 8
million horses. But that does give Australia a ratio of 1 horse
per 13 people compared to America’s ratio of 1 in 33.
We had one day in LA in beautiful 25 degree weather.
Then on to Cincinnati where it was 4 degrees. Farriers Conventions
in the US are timed for the winter months when work is slow, and
good accommodation packages are available. Our room was on the
26th floor of the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, a state
of the art 28 floor Art Deco Hotel built in 1930 and renovated
to all its former glory, and we paid an amazingly cheap $US89
per night for this privilege.
The Convention Centre is 2 blocks down the road from
the hotel and as first speaker, I didn’t have any time to
think about getting nervous. Around 700 farriers registered for
this 4 day Hoof Care Summit, illustrating an amazing enthusiasm
and desire to learn.
Predictably, my lecture was my 12 point technique
to correctly balance the hoof, and thus avoiding over 90% of all
hoof problems which are totally unnecessary – I have reproduced
the main thrust :
BALANCE (AND THEREBY CORRECT) THE HOOF
1. Start with the biggest foot (the dominant hoof)
2. Clean out loose and dead material
3. Remove only dead, flaky sole and leave the sole concave
4. Expose the ACTIVE TIP OF THE FROG
5. Place my HOOF-LINE marker on this active tip
6. Compare the measurement of the hoof from active tip to the
toe and from active tip to an imaginary line drawn across the
heel buttresses – if the front is longer than the back then
leave the heels untouched. OR VICE VERSA
7. Trim the front only, (assuming that is the longer half), ensuring
that the hoof capsule is an even thickness all the way around.
Uneven thickness is caused by FLARES.
8. Rasp FLARES away, copying the shape of the coronary band
9. The measurement in front will then be correct, as the hoof
has been correctly prepared.
10. To achieve equal measurement in the back half, to a straight
line across the buttress of the heel, the heel may be left alone
or lowered accordingly.
11. Check the medial/lateral balance in the same way.
12. WHEN THIS BALANCED MEASUREMENT IS ACHIEVED, THE FRONT OF THE
HOOF WALL IS PARALLEL WITH THE PASTERN ANGLE, THE HOOF SHAPE IS
A MIRROR OF THE CORONARY BAND, THERE ARE NO FLARES IN THE HOOF
WALL AND THE HOOF IS STRESS FREE. (The foot will also stand squarely).
A CORRECTLY BALANCED HOOF should be the end result
of every single trim. But why isn’t it? Why are there so
many hoof problems?
In Australia, horses invariably have LONG TOES AND
LOW HEELS;
from what I have seen in America, there are more SHORT TOES AND
HIGH HEELS
NEITHER IS CORRECT – THESE ARE FARRIER
PROBLEMS AND CAN BE ELIMINATED SIMPLY BY CORRECTLY BALANCING THE
HOOF
Farrier problems also result in
All of which can be eliminated by CORRECLY
BALANCING THE HOOF
After the lecture and associated question time had
finished, I was still answering questions outside the hall 2 hours
later. I spent every spare minute over the next 4 days talking
- in the corridors, the elevators, the dining rooms, the bar and
on the street. The only meals I managed to eat were room service.
It was exhilarating to arouse so much attention and to talk to
so many farriers about their problems. The younger farriers in
particular wanted specific information – so much is said
about balancing the hoof, but there is no specific documentation
about achieving it. It gives me such pleasure to be able to give
them the information they need.
The 4 days was a total learning platform of roundtable
discussion groups and lectures, with some trade show slots. I
talked with so many of the well known names in farriery –
Dr Stephen O’Grady, Gene Ovnicek and Mike Wildenstein. I
also attended their lectures as well as those of Dr Ric Redden,
Dr Susan Kempson, Dr Scott Morrison and Dr Bob Bowker, and appreciated
how privileged I was to address this Convention.
I attended a breakfast for members of the World Farriers
Association. The Japanese Farriers Association had its own translator,
and I was able to explain my techniques for hoof balance to them.
Members from Canada, UK, Switzerland and Denmark were just some
of the countries represented.
My second presentation “as the cleanup batter”
(to quote the Hoof Care Summit literature) was held in the Hotel
in the extravagantly luxurious 2 storey high “Hall of Mirrors”.
I followed on from my first presentation by reinforcing the need
to keep the principles of trimming and shoeing simple, and not
to get lost in the flood of new products and techniques aimed
more at making money than at truly helping the horse.
After Cincinnati I ran a course (Clinics as they call
them) in Richmond Virginia and then more clinics in California.
I was even invited to address a select gathering at the prestigious
Santa Anita Racetrack in Los Angeles (as seen in the movie ‘Sea
Biscuit’). I ran a course at the notable Panorama Equine
Centre in Redding, Northern California with Dr Wally Libermann,
and on the way back to LA had a productive meeting with researcher
Michael Savoldi where we compared our techniques for achieving
hoof balance.
Then I flew on to Omaha (even colder than Cincinnati)
where I attended a second Farriers Convention. Emphasis here was
more oriented to shoe making (forging), shoeing competition speeds
and skills with ‘Wetlabs’ (workshops) offering the
opportunity to work alongside premier farriers.
Flying out of snowy Omaha, I flew back to LA for a
final clinic in Orange County where a breeder with 20 large carriage
horses had extreme ongoing lameness issues over the previous 5
years. I worked with his 2 farriers for 3 days and achieved soundness
in all 20 horses. It was 25 degrees when I left LA and flew home
to Adelaide to 35 degrees and an appointment book of patient clients
before preparing to head to Outback SW Queensland in heavens knows
what temperature.
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