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The findings of fresh research have cast new light on different types of shoeing in racehorses and their interaction with track surfaces.
The findings, led by the Royal Veterinary College in London, will be an important step toward helping both the racing industry and farriers understand how different shoeing practices impact horses’ movements during high-speed locomotion on different surfaces.
Researchers led by Dr Kate Horan, a postdoctoral research scientist at the college, assessed the effect of eight horseshoe-surface combinations on hoof acceleration patterns in 13 retired Thoroughbred racehorses.
Hoof accelerations were measured using accelerometers mounted to the upper wall of the hoof as the horses trialed aluminium, barefoot, GluShu (an aluminium-rubber composite shoe) and steel shoeing at a gallop on turf and artificial surfaces.
Modelling was then used to determine whether surface, shoeing condition or stride time influenced maximum or minimum accelerations at hoof landing and during the push-off stage of the horses’ stride cycles.
The researchers, reporting in the journal Animals, found that during hoof landing, accelerations were increased for the hindlimbs and leading limbs. They were also elevated by 1.2 to 2.4 times across limbs on the turf surface compared to the artificial surface. It was also found that barefoot hooves experienced the lowest impact accelerations and that impact accelerations were increased as speed increased (or stride time decreased).
The work, a collaborative effort involving James Coburn’s farriery team and staff and horses from the British Racing School, also found that, during the propulsive stage of a stride, accelerations recorded as the hooves pushed off from the ground surface were increased for low stride times, particularly in the hindlimbs. Accelerations were also increased on the artificial track during hoof push-off.
Importantly, the researchers suggested that increased impact accelerations on turf and in shod conditions could be detrimental to horses’ health and have implications for musculoskeletal injuries. However, increased push-off accelerations on the artificial surface compared to the turf track may indicate that this surface returns more energy to the hoof, aiding propulsion and potentially conferring a performance benefit.
Horan said the findings demonstrated that patterns of hoof landing and push-off in galloping racehorses are affected by horseshoe and surface conditions. “In contrast to other equestrian disciplines, the shoes permitted for racing Thoroughbreds are currently tightly controlled in the United Kingdom by the British Horseracing Authority.
“We hope that the findings from this research will equip the racing industry with new knowledge to inform their decision-making regarding horseshoes and surfaces and ultimately improve both the performance and safety of our racing equine athletes.”
Professor Thilo Pfau, principal investigator on the project and now a professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary, and visiting associate professor at the Royal Veterinary College, said the project was a fantastic team effort. Farriers, jockeys and scientists had collaborated in an applied study addressing questions around shoeing and surfaces in Thoroughbreds.
“Making use of state-of-the-art sensor technology, the rapid changes in movement experienced by the hooves on impact and during the push-off phase have been documented for different shoeing conditions,” he said.
“The findings of this research provide important groundwork for future studies investigating shoeing-related questions in the context of injury prevention.”
Henry Carnall, a farrier who was also part of the research team, said: “As a farrier, this study offered interesting insight into how modern sensor technology can provide evidence about how our shoeing practices influence hoof biomechanics when horses work at high speeds.”
Although further research is needed to more accurately relate these findings to specific injuries and racing outcomes, the study provides important foundational knowledge into how certain hoof-surface interactions may help achieve optimal performance and reduce injury risk in horse racing.
The study was funded by the Horserace Betting Levy Board.
Horan, K.; Coburn, J.; Kourdache, K.; Day, P.; Carnall, H.; Brinkley, L.; Harborne, D.; Hammond, L.; Peterson, M.; Millard, S.; Pfau, T. Hoof Impact and Foot-Off Accelerations in Galloping Thoroughbred Racehorses Trialling Eight Shoe–Surface Combinations. Animals 2022, 12, 2161. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12172161
The study, published under a Creative Commons License , can be read here .
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