I've been a bit scarce on the Internet lately. Trying to get everything caught-up and a bit ahead in preparation for being laid-up after another danged surgery. And the weather hasn't been helping.
If anyone has any topics they'd like to see addressed on the blog, or Encyclopedia sample entries they'd like to request, please feel free to let me know.
Meanwhile, a 20% discount is available on the Millwater's Farriery HARDCOVER through 2/23/12... Just enter "SWEET" as your discount code.
I don't get to travel to these things like I used to. Used to be a frequent flier to the Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium, AFA, GPF, and even BWFA national conventions, and various other clinics and events. I do miss it sometimes. Learning from some of the great minds in the profession, both in the formal settings and, perhaps even more beneficial, in the many informal discussions between and after the lectures and presentations.
Spending days soaking-up wisdom and techniques from Burney Chapman, Grant Moon, Edward Martin, Simon Curtis, Gene Ovnicek, and so many other farriers... Learning about the cutting-edge research and theories from Doc Redden, Jaime Jackson, and many other vets and horsemen... Always had me coming home with a new enthusiasm for the profession, albeit perhaps a little too eager to try the latest thing on horses in my own practice. Fortunately, I eventually learned to temper that impulse. (Which in itself is something I try to convey to folks who get carried-away with the study, technique, or guru du jour.)
Of course, it was always hard to get away for cross-country trips. Seems like horses have a psychic ability to know when their farrier is out-of-state so they can throw shoes. It's frustrating for horseowners to call and be told their shoer is thousands of miles away when they need him NOW. But their patience is rewarded with a real farrier who knows more about horseshoeing than how to lop-off a bit of foot and mount the horse on iron.
