Fran Jurga has spent her professional life weaving delightful stories about veterinarians and farriers, the unsung heroes of the horse world, for her popular websites, The Jurga Report for EQUUS Magazine and The Hoof Blog for her own Hoofcare Publishing.
She has traveled the world in search of a good story, searching for answers about hoof issues in small blacksmiths dotting the countryside of Scotland, Australia, France and New Zealand.
But perhaps few things were as exciting as her adventures on the Red Carpet!
At the beginning of 2012, she chronicled behind-the-scenes stories about the movie War Horse for War Horse News, a blog she collaborated on with Dreamworks Pictures during the height of the movie’s popularity.
As Jurga begins 2013, she remains upbeat about some creative new features on her site, as well as her plans to cover an international laminitis conference.
“The hoof world continues to surprise everyone: it’s alive and, dare I say, kicking?
The stated purpose of my little company is to chronicle progress in the treatment and prevention of diseases and disorders of the horse’s foot, and to serve the professionals of all fields who endeavor in this pursuit.
“Most of what I publish is good news, and great things continue to light up my blog. In 2012, we saw the launch of the Online Veterinary Anatomy Museum, which is a long-awaited and free tool for everyone to use. We’ll also have several exciting meetings in 2013, including the International Laminitis Conference in November in Florida.
“What’s not good news is that although I’ve been at this for 25 years, horses still have problems and we still don’t have a system in place to help people learn to do more than just shoe horses or treat symptoms. There’s so much more to it, especially in the area of prevention and early intervention.
“And of course we are making progress—just ask a horse who has been helped with a hoof problem or who is able to compete thanks to a new design of shoe or boot, or a new treatment, that were all beyond our wildest dreams a few years ago.”
Off-TrackThoroughbreds.com welcomes any updates, big or small, on the OTTBs and people featured in this blog. If you’d like to share a photo and update us, please send an email to Susan at susansalk@gmail.com.
Susan, thanks so much! I thought when you asked me that you were compiling a collection of comments from contributors–and here I am, all on my own.
I am so glad that you see the value in what I try to do on the hoof side of things. There are simply no nicer people in the world than the ones I write about and whose news I share. To watch what they do to try to help a horse is inspiring and humbling, and I’m so lucky to do what I do.
Fran,
Oh gee, I hope I didn’t rope you in under false pretenses. 🙂
Your work is amazing! Thank you so much for everything!
Great story about a diligent, knowledgeable and professional publisher and writer who provides a wealth of information to horse people world wide.
Such an important story, Sue, especially with regard to laminitis – so much we still desperately need to learn to better care for our horses. Good for Fran Jurga, and thank YOU for sharing her story!