ameeraalhakawati

The hind feet of Ivar Gooden, the "best shod horse" prize winner at England's Burghley Horse Trials this year, are shod with dramatic lateral extension shoes, as prescribed by the horse's veterinarian. But the judge said that it was the front feet that won this horse the prize for farrier Paul Varnam of Leicestershire, England. (Paul Varnam photo)




By Fran Jurga© Hoofcare Publishing

























It's

This photo of World Champion boxer Bob Fitzsimmons is a mystery. "The Fighting Blacksmith" from New Zealand posed with an anvil wearing his apron. His left foot seems to be on top of a very large horseshoe.



I’m not a boxing fan, but I like a good story. I wish I could say that this story has been passed down through generations of horseshoers around the world, but that doesn’t seem to be the

EquineGuelph is reporting that the Ontario Veterinary College's Professor Jeff Thomason, BA, MSc, PhD is working on a summer project investigating the changes of loading pressure on the joints of Quarter horses as it relates to shoeing.




Professor Jeff Thomason


According to EquineGuelph, most of the current research in this area has focused on Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds. For this

The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Congress is only six weeks away, and the time has come to make plans to attend this world-class event. Touting itself as "organized by horse vets for horse vets", the BEVA Congress is Europe’s largest equine veterinary conference. This year it will be held at Liverpool Arena Convention Centre from 13-16 September.  The Hoof Blog has dissected

This time last year, I sat sanctimoniously on my high horse and turned my nose up at electronic books.

Publishing a book isn't all sunshine and butterflies, as I've come to discover. Most of the journey has been fantastic and I'm overwhelmed by Desperate in Dubai's success, despite barely doing any Marketing (given my anonymous status). There have been no book launches, no book signing events, no book tours, no TV interviews. There have been no ads either, no publicity gimmicks. Whatever publicity that has been generated, has basically been from my blog, Facebook page, Twitter and a some interviews I've given. But evidently, it has been enough as the book has dominated the Number 1 spot in the UAE Bestsellers list for weeks now :) It's also sold out for the 5th time in Kinokuniya.

But, as with everything in life, there are always different opinions, different expectations, different tastes from the thousands of different people in the world. Desperate in Dubai isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I wouldn't have it any other way. However, I have to admit, it's difficult when people who don't like the book start slating it and sending me nasty messages, mainly Emiratis who feel that my portrayal of Lady Luxe was unjust and unfair towards their culture. To an extent, I don't blame them. I was expecting this from people who are finding it difficult to comprehend that Desperate in Dubai is a story with characters and a plot. Just because a character is crazy, doesn't automatically mean that the writer is trying to say that all women of that particular nationality are crazy.

When we read The Catcher in the Rye, did we think that all American teenage boys were off their rockers? When we read The God of Small Things, did we think that all South Indian women had big bums and love affairs?

The list can go on and on and on.

One particular ignorant message came to me via Twitter - when a woman said that Desperate in Dubai is obviously my desperate attempt to overcome my failure at bagging a wealthy, already married Emirati man. Erm, I'm actually very happily married :) And thankfully my husband only has the one wife.

Another surprising comment came from an Emirati author who obviously doesn't realise that one author slating another just isn't the 'done' thing. It is tasteless and uncouth. I would never reciprocate with negative comments on her work.

You know what, though? The first negative comment I got really got to me - but as I get used to this business, my skin not only gets thicker but I actually start finding it amusing. After all, only one in 10 comments I get is negative - most of them are fantastic - so when that one person starts saying all this stuff on Twitter or whatever, all it does is generate more publicity. And we all know, there's no such thing as bad publicity :)

Wasn't it Oscar Wilde who said that 'The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about?' ;)

Apparently, Desperate in Dubai has been un-banned!