Hoof

The Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food has decided to extend the ban on the movement and slaughter of small ruminants throughout Greece in an attempt to control the spread of rinderpest - a contagious viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals.

At full gallop, the horse emerges from the darkness and races through a string of bonfires in an ancient ritual to ward off sickness performed every January in a tiny Spanish village.

Known as Luminarias, the festival takes place every Jan. 16 in San Bartolome de Pinares, a village perched high in the hills about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Madrid.

The Cluj University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine (USAMV) has started a farrier training course, under a project intended to produce experts capable to further teach this profession in Romania.