09/26/2026
It is hard to imagine what could keep my little car from barreling out the Mass Pike today, en route to the NAEP conference in Saratoga Springs, New York. Yes, it’s my favorite place on earth (um, except for a few other favorite places) and their speaker roster is second to none.
But for the past three years, I’ve had the honor of presenting some of my own veterinary and hoof history research for the Equine History Conference, held this year in Frankfort, Kentucky. I’ll be presenting from the safety of Zoom, so I can be here to defend against the impending nor’easter pounding the surf in front my little cottage. (Here it comes….)
The first year, it was the quest for safer horseshoe traction for urban work horses, who struggled to stay on their feet on the smooth pavement of city streets 100+ years ago. (Horse advocates wanted to bring back those hoof-friendly cobblestones, so the shoe toe and heel calks could slip safely into the spaces between the setts!)
Then last year, it was the mobilization of military farriers who served army horses on the move, thanks to ever-improving field forge wagons, large and small, and how today’s high-tech farrier and vet “rigs” are the latest generation of more than 500 years (at least) of horse-drawn army forges on wheels.
This year starts with the farrier’s ax, used after battles to “put horses out of their misery” before hacking off the hooves of dead horses to take a count of the number of horses lost. The addition of “horse ambulance” wagons allowed at least a small percent of injured war horses to be saved. especially during World War I.
Did you know that ambulances for horses predated ambulances for people?
Away from battle, horse ambulances were critical in horse-powered city life, where horses fell off piers, into ditches, collided with street cars, or collapsed in exhaustion. Slings and winches and sledges evolved to move and support horses. A synergy of charity, military, veterinary, racing, and private corporate engineering minds kept improving the concept until now it is possible for completely-equipped mobile vet clinics to roll up at horse events, and the field of technical large animal rescue has developed tools, techniques, and expertise to rescue horses from disastrous and perilous situations.
So, no Saratoga for me this year. But I’m there in spirit, while I share what I’ve been learning with a tribe of people who share my interest in horse history, and who are extending that interest to include some history on the hoof again this year. (Thank you!)
Follow the Equine History Collective here on Facebook to take your place in this association’s fascinating corner of the horse world. And wish me luck--I'm usually reporting *on* speakers, not speaking myself!
