LND: DISCLAIMER!

BE AWARE!

   The very concept of doomsteading involves coping with the absence of civil authority and trained professionals.

   I'm going to detail what has worked for us.  Many of the things covered in this book may not be up to code or in accordance with statutes in some jurisdictions.  Others may be inherently dangerous for some people in certain situations.  Use some common sense, and don't get in over your head.  Proceed at your own risk.  (Don't at your own peril.)

   Natural Selection is still a thing.

   And, as Granny used to say: "If you break your fool neck, don't come runnin' to me!"

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'Tis the Season...

   Well, the Thanksgiving Feast is done.  Hope this season found y'all well and in good company!

   Now it's for those turkey sandwiches, midnight pumpkin pie raids, and (of course) the start of the holiday shopping season!

   For those of you with tech-inclined horse-folks on your shopping list, Millwater's FARRIERY, the encyclopedic reference of hoofcare and horseshoeing, is now available in Kindle Edition for less than half the trade paperback price.  This ebook version includes all the content of the print edition, and has hyperlinks for cross-referencing with a tap or click!

   For the Christmas season, I'm activating Amazon's "Matchbook" feature that allows folks who buy the paperback to add the Kindle Edition for $2.99.

   For Black Friday / Cyber Monday you can also get the trade paperback version of Millwater's FARRIERY for one-third off the list price by ordering direct and using code ZT7855DA .  This code only works for direct order, not on Amazon.

   Of course, Amazon will be running various promotions of their own.

   You can follow Millwater Publishing on FaceBook and Twitter for the various discount sales of the Hardcover Edition and eBay promo copies.

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Millwater's FARRIERY: Getting Modern...

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   I published the 2010 version of the lexicon of farriery to (then still fairly new) Amazon Kindle e-reader using Amazon's online system to convert it from the original PDF file of the print edition.  I was never that happy with the results, but it actually sold some 'copies'.

Quick revisit of the final "New" Dictionary of Farrier Terms.

   I wanted to do it better with the current Millwater's FARRIERY, so the conversion was done in-house, much of it manually.  Which is why the Kindle (and other e-reader) port has taken so long to release.

   Cross-referencing has been a big part of the design since the first Pocket Dictionary in 1994, relying not only on SEE:, SEE ALSO:, and similar instructions, but on typesetting cues within the definitions and articles themselves.

   With the Kindle version, we can take that a bit farther with hypertext.  Instead of just seeing words defined elsewhere in the book printed in boldface italics, you'll actually be able to tap/click on them and go directly to their entries.

   Aside from the magic of hypertext, the content of the new e-reader version is identical to the trade paperback and hardcover editions...  Even though the Amazon page count is over 100 pages higher.  That's due to the very tight formatting in the physical print editions getting a lot of content onto each page.

   The text content is "flowable", so you can change the size smoothly...  The graphic elements have been reformatted for best display on base Kindles while staying withing the data size limitations of the format.  On some of the higher resolution new models, these element may initially display small, but you should be able to blow them up and still have good viewing resolution.

   At around half the price of the trade paperback, there are some advantages to this newfangled age.

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Millwater Publishing: 2014 Project...

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   Well, since the Mayans came-up short with the whole End Of The World and all, I suppose I may have to get a publishing project for '14 underway.

   But which one?

   Two possibilities come to mind...

   The 2010 New Dictionary of Farrier Terms and Technical Language has done okay in Kindle and other digital formats.  I could focus on formatting the Millwater's Farriery encyclopedia for digital publication...  It'd take some doing, because this time I'd want to do it right, with hypertext cross-referencing throughout.

   While doing the historical reference appendix of Millwater's Farriery, I became fairly adept at reproducing pages from old texts...  I have the ability to put entire books back into print in both hardcover and paperback now.  While they are in Public Domain, and may be available in digital versions online now, that's not quite the same as an actual, printed book to many readers.

   So, do I take the new book from paper to digital, or get an old book or two back onto paper?

   If the latter, which book(s)?  Centaur did a fine reproduction of Dollar some years ago, but I believe it's been out of print for a while.

   Or is the whole 'dead tree' thing hopelessly obsolete?

   Opinions welcome!

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Somebody get Ma Nature a calendar...

   Summer's supposed to be wrapping-up now, right?  That's why I put the final illustration photo shooting off until last...  But here it is, September, and everyone outdoors is still a sweaty mess.

   Oh well... Deadlines approaching. Gotta shoot anyway!

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Farrier encyclopedia cover design...

   

   Okay...  Having worked my way through the entry drafts list, it's time to start actually putting this thing together.  That includes a cover.

   First stab at the new design.  Mostly just to try out the montage border approach.

   It's kinda' busy, but the idea is for it to convey the whole "busting at the seems with info" thing...  And to be strikingly different than the earlier lexicons.

   May replace several of the images.  May go to four big ones in the corners with or without smaller pics in-between.  Could still go an entirely different direction...

   So how about some opinions?

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Why does Tennessee get all the cred?

   Among the new entries for Millwater's Farriery: The Illustrated Dictionary of Horseshoeing and Hoofcare will be a couple of horseshoes that reference the Volunteer State in their names...

The Tennessee Navicular Shoe.

and...

The Memphis Bar Shoe.

   Assuming, that is, that the latter isn't named for the Egyptian original or something.

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Encyclopedic Dictionary of Farriery: Borium.

   Next up from next year's Millwater's Farriery: The Illustrated Dictionary of Horseshoeing and Hoofcare...  Shoeing for hard, slick surface riding and driving.

Borium.

(Alternate link if one above fails.)

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Encyclopedia Sample: Farrier's Radiograph.

   It's true that modern radiology can be a great tool when it comes to horseshoeing and hoofcare.

   But let us not forget the value of an older, and in some ways more detailed source of insight.

Farrier's Radiograph.

from next year's encyclopedic dictionary.

(Alternate link if above fails.)

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Last Call...

   This is the last month of content composition for next year's Millwater's Farriery: The Illustrated Dictionary of Horseshoeing and Hoofcare... So if any of you can think of a topic or term that needs to be in there that might have been overlooked, now's the time to speak up!

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Suspensory Ligament and Related Lameness.

   Another sample entry from next year's Millwater's Farriery: The Illustrated Dictionary of Horseshoeing and Hoofcare.

   Supporting this piece will be an entry which is already in the current New Dictionary of Farrier Terms and Technical Language...

selenium: A nonmetallic element. Atomic number 34. Atomic weight 78.96. Selenium is a naturally occurring mineral nutrient which is deficient in nearly all American soils east of the Mississippi, and much of the rest of the nation. Selenium deficiency in horses has been implicated in suspensory ligament soreness, poor hoof growth and quality, and dull haircoat. Henry Heymering, RMF suggests 4mg daily supplemental selenium for horses in selenium poor areas. Frogs discolored yellow are a sign of selenium deficiency.

   And now today's entry...

suspensory ligament

(Alternative link for entry if above fails.)

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Corrective/Therapeutic Illustrations...

   Because next year's Millwater's Farriery: The Illustrated Dictionary of Horseshoeing and Hoofcare already has illustrated entries on "bar shoe", "heartbar", "eggbar", and many other concepts cross-referenced to the corrective/therapeutic article, we only needed a handful of new illustrations.

This is a "tip" horseshoe.  Can be used to stop excessive toe wear in youngsters during growth spurts.

This image is from Dollar's 1898 book.

I could draft a more technically accurate image, but this one gets the concept across fine.

It's kinda' neat to throw in a few vintage illustrations to remind us that 

farriery is indeed an old, old profession... And that our grandparents weren't

quite the ignorant primitives some would have us believe.

This is a new one showing how asymmetrical traction devices can be used to turn a front foot.

I dunno.  The arrows may be a bit much.  Might redo those.

The shoe itself is a squared/set-back/rolled toe, akin to a Natural Balance horseshoe,

but with deep fullering on one branch only.  Would be overkill in most real-world shoeing.

But the illustration is to make the point of asymmetrical correction.

Now the hind.  Fullering and calk on one side to turn the foot.

Slick on the other side to let it slide on around.

Asymmetrical weighted shoe. Quarter/side weight.

I've got some side and toe weight shoes I forged years ago hanging

on my old Registered Journeyman Farrier board display...

But, instead of tossing them onto the scanner (Figuratively! Don't wanna break the glass!)

I thought I'd plunder ol' Dollar some more.

And the toe weight.

Aside from being really fine-punched, 

these old illustrations are pretty cool, no?

(All the images posted online are low-res compared to what will be used in the book.)

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Corrective/Therapeutic Farriery...

   Okay...  Just over a month left to compose content for Millwater's Farriery: The Illustrated Dictionary of Horseshoeing and Hoofcare.  So entries will be coming hot & heavy now.

   The sample entry .PDF rotates with updates.  If you see a subject of interest in an older blog post, hang-on...  It'll probably be re-posted when we switch over to formatting/assembly and don't have whole new entries to post every few days.  But stay alert.  There's usually only one major sample entry available at a time.

   Big one this time.  Again, the cross-reference style of the book doesn't work so well when the articles are posted alone, especially without their illustrations, but you can get the general idea...

corrective and therapeutic farriery, basic principles

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Farrier Encyclopedia Sample: Flipper foot.

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   Still considering options for the 2012 book title.  "Encyclopedic Dictionary of Farriery" is the most technically accurate, but nobody seems to like the "encyclopedic" adjective.  Fran & Henry suggested putting my name in, which I didn't quite have the hubris to come up with myself, and moving "farriery" closer to the start of the title for referencing sake...  So right now it's looking like Millwater's Farriery: The Illustrated Dictionary of Horseshoeing and Hoofcare.

   Meanwhile, the latest sample is on flipper foot.  The term has been in The Dictionary of Farrier Terms for years, but it's been expanded considerably for '12.

Flipper foot.

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Trim Technique Diagrams...

   Continuing from the previous post, which was the Encyclopedic Dictionary's entry on basic trimming technique...

This is the solar view of the hoof before wall trimming.

Note that the entire bearing surface has "slid" forward,

putting the heel buttresses ahead of the widest part of the frog.

This is a lateral view of the untrimmed hoof.

Note that this is just a slightly overdue for trim foot.

Not a severe case.

Here is the same foot, trimmed to be left bare.

In real life, the bevels are hardly noticeable unless the horse is on pavement.

The same foot, if it had been trimmed to receive a shoe.

This foot is a little shorter, ground to coronary-band, than the barefoot version.

Once the thickness of a shoe is added, it will be slightly taller than the barefoot trim.

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eBook releases...

   One of my distributors has made the New Dictionary of Farrier Terms and Technical Language available on Apple's iBookstore (part of iTunes).

   For some reason, it's the previous version of the Dictionary.  But it is a couple dollars cheaper than the digital versions of the current edition.  I don't know if the current edition is also up in the iBookstore, as I don't have an iPad or iPhone, and can't search their catalog.

   Of course the current edition has been out for Kindle for some time.

   As well as in Adobe Digital Edition form.

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