Lameness Evaluation: American Sensor System Tests Successfully in British Research

Flexion testing, using the sensor-based system, at the University of Glasgow's School of Veterinary Medicine

For many years, opinions on the value of flexion tests in assessing equine lameness have been divided. Now, however, new research looks set to turn what has always been regarded as a subjective process into a wholly objective one. 

A comprehensive study, published in a November 2012 supplement to the Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ) in partnership with the American Association of Equine Practitioners, showed that a wireless, inertial sensor-based system can effectively measure the horse’s response to a flexion test.

Flexion tests are used routinely in horses with subtle or imperceptible lameness, to exacerbate the problem and make it apparent to the observer. The test involves applying a short period of pressure to the joints of the limb before re-examination, and evaluating any change in gait. However, flexion tests rely on the ability of the observer to identify and interpret changes in the horse’s gait: in that respect, these tests are subjective and not necessarily consistent between observers.

The research study was conducted by orthopedic surgeons based at the University of Glasgow's School of Veterinary Medicine. Seventeen healthy adult horses, all in work, were fitted with sensors before being trotted in a straight line. The sensors measured vertical pelvic movement asymmetry for both right and left hind limb strides and the average difference in maximum and minimum pelvic height between right and left hind limb strides. 

A hind limb was randomly selected for 60 seconds of proximal flexion, after which the horse was trotted for a minimum of ten strides. Response to the flexion was blindly assessed as negative or positive by an experienced observer.

John Marshall, lecturer in equine surgery at the University of Glasgow, led the study. He concluded: “A positive response to flexion resulted in significant changes to objective measurements of pelvic symmetry, supporting the use of inertial sensor systems to objectively assess response to flexion tests.”

Professor Jim Moore, North American Editor of the EVJ, continued: “The introduction of an objective approach to documenting lameness examination will not only help vets and trainers to investigate equine lameness more accurately; it will also serve as an unbiased method of communicating lameness examination findings among vets, trainers, farriers and other professionals.”

The next phase of research will be to establish cut-off values for objective assessment of other equine lameness diagnostic procedures, such as nerve blocks.

Study publication details: Use of a wireless, inertial sensor-based system to objectively evaluate flexion tests in the horse, JF Marshall, DG Lund and LC Voute, EVJ ISSN 0425-1644 DOI:10.1111/j.2042-3306.2012.00611.x

Information in this article was provided by the Equine Veterinary Journal.

More: The paper, which was published at the end of last year, is currently available online as open access to be read in its entirety. The system tested was the Equinosis system, developed at the University of Missouri.

Click here for ordering information; last copies of first edition available.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Maryland's Hoof-First Connection to the Triple Crown: Raceplates and Horseshoers in Preakness History

Photos from Victory Racing Plates, a Baltimore-based horse shoe manufacturer whose plates have been on eight of the 11 horses that won the Triple Corwn. (Courtesy of Only A Game's Sam Gallant)

It's Preakness Stakes day in the USA! Whether you think Kentucky Derby winner Orb is a shoe-in to win in his Jim Bayes Jr. crafted raceplates or if you like California's Goldencents, shod by Jim Jimenez, today's the day they line up at the Baltimore, Maryland track affectionately known as "Old Hilltop" for the second leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred racing.

What is it about Maryland? Why are there so many connections to the Triple Crown that pass through this state?

As the racing world comes to Baltimore for the second leg of the Crown, it also enters a zone of rich hoofcare tradition, historic icons and even a noisy factory where the raw material of aluminum is crafted into the delicate raceplates today's runners will wear.

You can hear all about it, too: National Pubic Radio (NPR) devoted a big segment today to Baltimore's own aluminum racing plate factory known as the Victory Racing Plate Company, including a listen-in podcast version of NPR interviewing Victory President Dave Erb and Baltimore-area racetrack shoer Joe Ludford.

The sound file is complete with the factory noise in the background! You can hear it today on many NPR stations or listen to / read a transcription on the NPR web site:
Shoe Maker Primes Horses For The Track (Victory Raeing Plate Company)

While Dave states that eight of the 11 winners of the Triple Crown wore Victory Racing Plates, it might be an even better statistic if people knew that Sir Barton won the Triple Crown before aluminum plates like Victory's were available.

The last farrier to shoe a Triple Crown winner was Affirmed's Elmer Campbell, who was from Maryland, as well. He shod Affirmed in 1978, and no one has won the Triple Crown since. The year before, Seattle Slew, who won the Triple Crown in 1977, wore shoes fitted for him by another Maryland horseshoer, Dave Pearce.

Andrew McDermott with Man o' War's
 shoes. He described himself as the
great horse's "farrier and shoeing
smith". (McDermott family photo)

Man o' War didn't win the Triple Crown--he never had a chance, since he wasn't entered in the Kentucky Derby in the first place. He did defeat the very first Triple Crown winner Sir Barton, however. Sir Barton was shod by Mr. Widener's exclusive horseshoer, Benjamin Franklin Talbert, who lined the colt's shoes with piano-key felt to protect his fragile feet.

Man o' War's horseshoer (blacksmith) Andrew McDermott shod him for his race start on this day almost 100 years ago, when he won the 1920 Preakness on May 18. McDermott identified himself as the great colt's "farrier and shoeing smith".

Hoofcare Publishing is working on compiling an honor roll of horseshoers who worked on Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown winners of the past (and present). If you have information, please send an email or get in touch however you can. You can also leave a comment at the end of this article.

The news from Maryland hasn't always been happy; in the 1960s, union horseshoers--members of the International Union of Journeyman Horseshoers--in Maryland refused to shoe the horses of Canadian owners who did not use union horseshoers back home in Toronto. The owners sued, and the case went to US Court of Appeals as an early example of the emerging union-busting fervor that would dominate the second half of the 20th century.

It's not all about the past in Baltimore: Shackleford won the 2011 Preakness wearing synthetic glue-on Polyflex shoes for a Triple Crown first.

Elmer, Dave, Andrew and the rebellious horseshoers of the IUJH's Local 7 may be gone, but there is a new generation of farriers working the tracks and farms in Maryland today. People like Berkley Kern, who seem to understand the tradition that they follow every day as they make their way around the barns.

And if you have a hankering to place a bet today at Pimlico, Berkley's trainee horse Trappist Monk is running today, on the Preakness Day card,  in the second race at Pimlico.

WBAL has a page devoted to Berkley, where you can listen to several sound files of interviews with him, as well as the video.

On Saturday morning, Orb--who shares a connection to Maryland via one of his owners, Mr. Janney-- is the odds-on favorite to win the Preakness, even after drawing the inside post on the rail. It's up to him now, to make his way into the history books if he can. He'll be in good company on those pages that are rich with connections to Maryland.

Good luck to everyone, and don't miss it! The telecast begins at 4:30 p.m. EDT on NBC with the actual post time of the race estimated around 6:30.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Have You Tried It Yet? "Blacksmith Buddy" Re-imagines Hoof Demonstrations with Education/Practice Tool

H O O F    B L O G   S P O N S O R E D   S T O R Y

The Blacksmith Buddy 

The Blacksmith Buddy was designed with students like these in minds. Once the Buddy is in place, the real horse becomes an accessory--and someone has to hold him instead of trying out the new practice leg!

Every year there's something. Farriers hang out after a trade show and talk over what stuck in their minds after they paraded up and down the rows of booths. Most often, it's a little thing--a new size, shape, hardness or color of something they use every day, which they believe will save them time or money. Sometimes it's a big thing, like a new model of gas forge or even a truck body.

But this year, many people listed an educational tool. "Wes Champagne's deal was slick," one said. Another's eyes lit up and sighed, "Why, oh why, didn't I think of that!"

Medicinal Leeches: The Much-Maligned Traditional Healing Aid is Making a Comeback for Equine Lameness Therapy

In this photo from German rehabilitation therapist Martina Mäter of Kathmann Vital GbR in Vechta, you see three colorful medicinal leeches hard at work. Lower-limb lameness is a common callup for leeches in the horse world; they may soon be in wider use in the United States. (Photo © Martina Mater, used with permission)

You're in a veterinary lecture on laminitis at a major conference on equine lameness. Set your watch to see how soon one of the speakers makes a wisecrack along the lines of "Yeah, sure, and we used to use leeches to treat laminitis, too." Cue: nervous laugh from the audience. Rolling of eyes. Wrinkling of noses. "Gross!" Shudders.

Connecticut Drops Charges Against "Equine Podiatrist" for Illegal Practice of Veterinary Medicine

For years, Connecticut has been known as the wealthiest state in the United States of America. Add to that the highest number of horses per square mile of any state. It's also one of the most beautiful states. If you had to pick a state to live in and run a farrier business, you couldn't do much better for job security than Connecticut.

After a state legal decision made there last month, it might be an even better state in which to be an equine podiatrist.

Badminton Horse Trials' Farrier Prize to the Best Shod Horse 2013 Won by David Smith

There might not be much left of a pair of shoes by the time the horse has made the circuit of the world's most challenging cross-country course, which is just one phase of the Badminton Horse Trials. Video of horses in this year's event courtesy of Centaur Biomechanics.

Each year, the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials presents a "Farriers Prize" for the best shod horse at the world's most prestigious three-day event. To most, it is an after-the-fact announcement on a loudspeaker as they make their way back to the parking lots.

But to others it is a big deal.

Hooves of the Kentucky Derby 2013: Race Shoes, Hoofcare and the Farrier's Daughter

Sixty Minutes featured top jockey Rosie Napravnik the week before the Derby. Her other claim to fame? Her father is a horseshoer!

It's 90 minutes before the Kentucky Derby, do you know where you'll be today at 6:24 p.m.?

Kentucky Derby News: Scollay Replaces Injured Bramlage for NBC's "AAEP On Call" Role

Dr. Scollay is no stranger to television; she'll step in front of the camera today at the Kentucky Derby.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners reports that longtime AAEP On Call Veterinarian Mary Scollay will serve as the spokesperson for equine health during today's NBC Sports racing coverage at Churchill Downs.

Behind the Scenes at the FEI World Cup Finals with Swedish Farrier Bjorn Berg

You're a long way from home when you go to the Gothenburg Horse Show in Sweden. The huge Swedish spring horse show hosted both the dressage and jumping finals of the 2013 FEI World Cup indoor winter competitions. The best in both sports converged on the annual show and turned it into a world stage.

Sweden's Bjorn Berg has been the show farrier at Gothenburg for 12 years but you can bet that it had never been like this before.  Still, Bjorn managed to find time to snap some photos and email them to the USA.

Meader Supply's New Hampshire Farrier Appreciation Day with FPD's Michael Wildenstein

Shoes, shoes, shoes! One of North America's largest horseshoeing supply stores opened its doors last weekend to welcome farriers from far and wide to the annual "Farrier Appreciation Day". Meader Supply soon found out that the appreciation was mutual; the flavor of the day was more akin to a high school reunion than a business event.