The laws under which farriers operate in England, Scotland and Wales are being reviewed. The profession is regulated under the Farriers (Registration) Act 1975.

Lameness will likely be a problem for all horse owners at some point. It is a sign that a horse has an injury that causes pain when it moves or places weight on the affected leg. If the cause of lameness is apparent, you may be able to administer first aid. If not, confine the horse to prevent further damage to the leg and call the veterinarian if mild lameness persists. Horses with severe lameness need prompt veterinary attention, as they are usually experiencing significant pain.

A horse comes in from the pasture looking a little bit touchy on his front hooves, almost as though he's walking on eggshells. A common course of action for an owner would be to reach down and feel for unusual warmth in the hooves and coronary bands. Excessive heat was interpreted to indicate the possibility of laminitis. Time-honored practice? Yes. Completely accurate as a predictor? Most likely not, according to recent research.

Continuing a tradition started in 2001, each year SmartPak creates a top 10 horses' name list from among all the horses that receive their supplements each day. Custom packed to meet the needs of each individual horse, every daily dose is labeled with that horse's name not only making feeding mistakes virtually impossible, but also giving the Plymouth, Mass., company a unique insight into the most popular names among well-cared for horses.

A school for horseshoeing and blacksmithing has some special guests for the next few weeks. Soldiers from the Honor Guard stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas are attending Shurshod Horse Shoeing School in Grovespring. They're learning skills to help the Honor Guard maintain its own horses. Sergeant Christopher Frost has been to Iraq and Specialist Cody Abshire to Afghanistan. They'll be riding in the inaugural parade this year and need to learn how to care for the horses.

SmartPak Announces Top Ten Horse Names for 2012

Former Debutante Makes Career Shoeing Rose Parade Horses

Triple Crown Nutrition's $100,000 “TLC� for the Holiday's drive asks FB fans to first select then vote for their favorite 501(c) (3) equestrian non-profit organization at Facebook.com/TripleCrownNutrition.

Watch the top 10 viewed videos from the American Farriers Journal YouTube channel, AFJTV, for the month of November 2012.

In the summer of 2011, trainer Bob Stewart picked up a horse named Swan In A Million. The colt trotter had a mushroom shoe on at the time to alleviate some of the heel pain that he was showing in both front feet.