The real winners from the International Hoof-Care Summit weren’t to be found in the classrooms and exhibit galleries of the Cincinnati Convention Center, or in the plush hallways of the Hilton Netherlands Plaza Hotel.

That’s because neither building was open to horses.

But more than 500 of the farriers, veterinarians and other hoof-care professionals from 40 states and eight other nations did make their way through the doors of the two venues that hosted this inaugural event and they’ll be taking what they learned back to the racetracks, stables, veterinary clinics and paddocks, where they’ll use it to help hundreds of those four-footed no-shows.

“I’ve been shoeing for more than 50 years,” presenter and attendee Eddie Watson, “and I’ve learned things over the last 3 days that I’m going to take back with me and use. I’ll probably put some of them to work on Monday morning.”

When someone with the experience and knowledge of the certified journeyman farrier and International Horseshoeing Hall Of Fame member from Keswick, Va., expresses an opinion like that, it carries weight.

An educational program that included large-group general sessions, 12 smaller hoof-care classrooms and 24 roundtable discussions on various topics proved popular with attendees, while also providing a varied learning environment that helped the Summit deliver on its “Shoeing Knowledge Is…