There's one thing farriers can all agree upon when it comes to lameness in horses — it’s a very complicated subject. While some books barely scratch the surface on lameness, others delve deep into the convoluted details of what could make a horse lame. 

Adams’ Lameness in Horses — Fifth Edition, revised by Ted S. Stashak, is a 1,174-page textbook that tackles lameness from the foot through the pelvis and in the muscles, bones and joints. Any problem a farrier has when it comes to lameness will be covered by Stashak’s remarkable revision of Dr. O.R. Adams’ timeless classic.

Easy To Use

While scanning 1,174 pages for a quick reference may seem like a daunting task, Stashak uses 29 of those pages for the index. This allows a farrier to quickly leaf through the index to find the section that is dedicated to a horse’s specific problem.

After finding the necessary information in the index, a reader will uncover countless photographs, X-rays and diagrams that are all carefully labeled and clearly marked within the text. 

All Areas Covered

The text is divided into nine chapters covering a variety of topics, which all will be of interest to horseshoers. While chapters dealing with examination, diseases and nutrition are useful, farriers will want to pay particular attention to Chapter 8. Within this chapter simply titled “Lameness,” Stashak, and other qualified contributors, discuss lameness in 18 areas. These include: feet, pastern, fetlock, metacarpus and metatarsus, carpus, forearm (antebrachium), elbow, humerus, shoulder, tarsus, tibia…