Shoeing is an underrated profession in India!
FAF organized its annual course for Indian veterinarians from October 1st to 4th at its farriery Institute in Dundlod. Conducted by Dr. Dominique Lavorel from France and Bernard Duvernay from Switzerland, the main aim of this course was to address lameness in horses, introducing veterinarians to different approaches to achieve an accurate diagnosis, treatment options, and solutions provided by farriery to promote the horse’s recovery.
This course brought together practitioners from 6 different states of India working in areas such as breeding, racing, veterinary universities, governmental veterinary services, and research, all highly motivated to explore a field that is either poorly taught or not taught at all in the veterinary faculties of the country. These four days were very intense, both in the classroom for theoretical approaches to cases and when examining previously selected lame horses.
Dr. Lavorel, as an experienced practitioner, methodically described the different diagnostic methods for various lameness issues based on their location, even without access to the sophisticated equipment found in some equine clinics. Various flexion tests, joint stress tests, tests on tendons and ligaments, as well as local anesthetics, were practiced. Once the diagnosis was made, treatments and farriery aspects were addressed and put into practice.
Different trimming and shoeing techniques were presented to facilitate horse locomotion and reduce stress on tendons, ligaments, or joints. The field of lameness is extensive and requires updating anatomical knowledge and understanding the horse’s pain.
Following the diagnosis, various aspects of treatment, along with numerous approaches and sometimes delicate and precise techniques for localized injections into joints, were discussed. Care practices, dietetics, rest, controlled exercise, and treatment repetition were also discussed to maximize treatment success.
Lastly, a key aspect addressed was farriery, which should be jointly decided by the veterinarian and the farrier to achieve the desired results. In the field of therapeutic shoeing, the profession provides numerous options for modifying shoes to facilitate hoof movement, ensure soft landings, reduce movements on the transversal or anteroposterior axis, limit third phalanx movements, or alleviate pressure on the sole. Although not all subjects could be practically covered, they were extensively described and explained in theory.
Many thanks to Dr. Lavorel for his excellent intervention and to the entire FAF team: Sandeep Shelar and Kan Singh, both teachers at the farriery school, Sugnaram our cook.
FAF recognizes the importance of continued education to enable numerous Indian veterinarians to excel in a field that is particularly overlooked in India.
This course will be repeated in 2025.
Happy Diwali to everyone!

On March 28-29-30, 2024, in Dundlod, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our FAFFID school. It was an opportunity to reunite with a good number of our former students. Some came to take an exam to obtain the title of ‘Indian Qualified Farrier’. Others came to participate in our 2nd Farriery Competition. The events took place over 3 days, which were rich in surprises, exchanges, and friendship. Thank you to everyone who participated in this unforgettable event.

A deep regret and an incident that will remain etched in the history of the school: the rejection at the Indian border of Dr. Simon Curtis due to an error in the date on his visa. Once again, our sincere apologies to Simon.

Bernard

      our special guest Tom Overton Clarke Australian diplomat at the                        “Australian High Commission in New Delhi”

 

 

 

 

               

               

               

               

               

               

               

 

 

29 March 2024

I am still in shock and I don’t know how to understand such frustration and humiliation. Our very special host Dr. Simon Curtis was rejected at the Indian border in Mumbai for a visa reason for which he was absolutely not responsible. I am so sorry that Simon went through this situation, this stress and this unnecessary fatigue. I hope that Simon will overcome this injury and keep an epic memory in his life as a great traveler.           Bernard

 

                       

                       

                       

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FAF Cairo Egypt September 2021,

FAF is very proud of the first course results in Cairo, Egypt, The course is now over: we had about 18 trainees, plus 10 part-time vet. students.

Our course was held at Al Sorat Farm, and thanks to Marianne Stroud Gabbani for generously providing such a good venue.
We extend our gratitude to the Barbour Foundation, Geneva, for their financial support.

Our sincere thanks go to Dr. Reem, our translator. She did an excellent job, with very precise translating for both Dr. Sergio Forapani and myself.
Dr. Sameh – from the Equine Clinic Egypt – made excellent digital X-rays on the laminitic horses we treated.

Our work schedule

Every day, 3 hours were devoted to theorical content on anatomy and farriery work, followed by practical work on the horses, mules and donkey’s feet, and dissection on dead limbs. Thank you to Allie Hayes and Horse Science for providing FAF with precious anatomical leg parts for our teaching.

Our trainees were mostly local farriers and trimmers who mostly deal with working horses. They were motivated to learn about all the different cases we presented, chosen to reflect their everyday challenges. Thrush, seedy toes, white line disease, abscesses and laminitis were amongst these. Foot care is a major problem amongst working equines, and owners do not care at all about the health of their equine partners. Nutrition is a major problem, so many equines are under-fed, with a lack of dental care.

Obviously, the situation is not easy to manage because the basic knowledge and care are very insufficient and owners of the working equine are so poor. For them, horses should not waste their money but rather assure their daily revenue.

The difficult points,

In many cases, it was hard to decide where to start – when you have a horse that is under-fed, with fetlock and knees injuries, its shoeing overdue for many weeks with an owner asking you to check the feet because of lameness. Even with good new shoeing, this poor guy had a thousand good reasons to ask for rest!
Unfortunately, farriery can’t solve all the problems, but for sure we made many horses more comfortable on their feet.
This is a beginning; our trainees are very keen to attend the next course and thus participate in our program for 2022.

Any volunteer farriers are most welcome to apply to participate – if by chance, any potential volunteer spoke Arabic, it would be a huge advantage, but English would also be very adequate.

Thank you for contacting me at FAF, Geneva. Bernard. Duvernay

On behalf of the entire FAF Foundation Board team and on behalf of all our partners who work for the FAF, a very cordial thank you.
Bernard Duvernay President FAF

The difficult points,

In many cases, it was hard to decide where to start – when you have a horse that is under-fed, with fetlock and knees injuries, its shoeing overdue for many weeks with an owner asking you to check the feet because of lameness. Even with good new shoeing, this poor guy had a thousand good reasons to ask for rest!
Unfortunately, farriery can’t solve all the problems, but for sure we made many horses more comfortable on their feet.
This is a beginning; our trainees are very keen to attend the next course and thus participate in our program for 2022.

Any volunteer farriers are most welcome to apply to participate – if by chance, any potential volunteer spoke Arabic, it would be a huge advantage, but English would also be very adequate.

Thank you for contacting me at FAF, Geneva. Bernard. Duvernay

On behalf of the entire FAF Foundation Board team and on behalf of all our partners who work for the FAF, a very cordial thank you.
Bernard Duvernay President FAF

Your help is always welcome

Your support allows us to provide training in places and with people that very few care about. Through our training we show an interest, recognition towards them, as well as their animals who work tirelessly for very little income. Your loyalty is precious to us and our results are also yours.
I wish you a very pleasant end of the year.
With my sincere thanks
Bernard Duvernay

For your donations

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