After 60 years as a farrier, including 14 years as head of Farrier Services at Cornell University, Steve Kraus has seen almost every hoof pathology that one can imagine — and quite a bit more that one can’t. In this session, the International Horseshoeing Hall of Famer shares a compilation of various hoof injuries, fractures, keratomas and serious infections that require teamwork between veterinarians and farriers. He details the shoeing solutions that put these patients backs to work.

Paige Poss is on a journey to understand the horse from the ground up. The Tucson, Ariz., farrier unravels the complexity of equine anatomy with countless dissections that are meticulously photographed for comprehensive understanding of the structures in the hoof capsule.

In it’s sixth year, the Texas Professional Farriers Assn. and Oklahoma Farriers Assn. partner with many industry leaders to raise money to assist farriers who have been injured. The prize is a Stonewell Midi Trailer, valued at more than $28,000.

The equine limb and foot need support, regardless of whether it’s healthy or a therapeutic situation. In this session, International Horseshoeing Hall of Famer and Newmarket, England, farrier Simon Curtis returns to the International Hoof-Care Summit to detail the uses for digital support and how to achieve it.

The American Farriers Journal staff introduce inductees into the 2024 International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame and the 2024 International Equine Veterinarians Hall of Fame with moving video tributes.

Laminitis manifests in three major forms — sepsis-induced, supporting limb and endocrinopathic. Over 5 years, Lexington, Ky., farrier Stuart Muir documented the case of a laminitic mare. The case identified fluctuations in insulin and hormones as the primary antagonist to her condition. The resident farrier at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital explains how he used blood work and radiographs to guide the mare’s shoeing.

Kinesiotherapic horseshoes have become common orthotics in therapeutic farriery, but the research describing the effects are limited. Patrick Reilly, chief of Farrier Services for New Bolton Center at the University of Pennsylvania, details a new technique for measuring dynamic stance parameters. He also provides information on submitting papers for the review process.

The external hoof capsule often provides indications of what is occurring internally, but how do we identify them? Steve Kraus, head of Farrier Services and senior lecturer of Large Animal Surgery at Cornell University, examines various cases in which he details terminology, what we gain from various views, what to look for internally after observing the external hoof and how the information influences shoeing strategy.

This program honors three outstanding students who are earning a living as farriers just 3 years after graduating in 2020 from one of North America’s more than 50 public and private horseshoeing schools. The program’s goal is to promote the importance of continuing footcare education, while encouraging young shoers to develop the talents needed for a successful career.

Mediolateral deformities occur in both front and hind legs. These are exaggerated in foals compared with mature horses. While the foal is developing, there is an opportunity to correct most deviations.