Hoof bruises 101: Forte's Kentucky Derby scratch had a common but loosely-defined cause

On Saturday, the 2023 Kentucky Derby favorite was scratched from the big race, just hours before the horses headed to the starting gate. Two-year-old champion Forte stayed in the barn that afternoon, after a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission veterinarian scratched the colt following a post-gallop inspection in the stable area.

Forte’s scratch by regulators came at a time when a dark cloud already hung over Churchill Downs. He would be the fifth horse to be scratched that week from the roster of three-year-old colts who had qualified for the 2023 Kentucky Derby. By Derby time, seven horses had lost their lives at Churchill Downs, including two as a result of injuries suffered in undercard races on Derby Day itself.

As tragic as those losses were, it was Forte's scratch that attracted the most attention and discussion on Derby Day. Should he have run or not? Was the colt a victim of discrimination by regulators who feared that such a high-profile and valuable horse might be further injured if he raced? We'll never know that answer, but Forte is safe tonight, and will almost certainly run again.

HoofSearch Publishes Online Donkey Hoof Research Guides Published with Free Access for All

HoofSearch, the index of equine foot research, has released an updated resource guide to peer-reviewed articles and theses on donkey hoof science and lameness studies. The index is free and accessible online to anyone interested in monitoring advances in donkey hoof health or improving the soundness-related welfare of working donkeys.

Dual Surveys Compare Veterinarian and Horse Owner Priorities for Equine Research

Colic (gastrointestinal diseases) is considered by both equine veterinarians and horse owners as the most important equine health care problem in need of more answers, according to the results of parallel research surveys conducted by the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Foundation and the American Horse Council (AHC) Foundation.

Racing Research: Can ultrasound predict whether an injured Thoroughbred will return to racing?

"Will he race again, Doc?" That's the question you hear trainers ask their veterinarians when a racehorse is sidelined with a tendon injury.

Veterinarians don't carry crystal balls in their trucks. Advances in equine imaging have made it possible to be much more accurate in diagnosing the severity of an injury, but it's often a matter of wait-and-see.

But now, a new tendon injury scoring system utilizes diagnostic ultrasound technology to predict a racehorse’s likelihood to return to racing. It was developed by veterinarians at Great Britain's University of Nottingham and Oakham Veterinary Hospital in Leicestershire, England in conjunction with the Hong Kong Jockey Club in China.

American Pharoah Wore Custom Heel Plate Horseshoe in Breeders Cup

In an interview today from the Breeders Cup at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky, Santa Anita horseshoer Wesley Champagne confirmed that 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah raced today in the Classic wearing his now-trademark heel-plate double-shoe on his injured left front foot.

Will Golden Horn Make History at the Breeders Cup? Meet His Farrier, Ed O'Shaughnessy

Newmarket, England farrier Ed O'Shaughnessy looks like he's about to share a bottle of champagne with his #1 customer, champion three-year-old Thoroughbred Golden Horn, trained by Ed's client, John Gosden. Earlier this month, Golden Horn became only the seventh horse in the long history of British racing to win both the English Derby and the French Arc. And today, Golden Horn will run in Ed's shoes in the Breeders Cup Longines Turf to make history by winning the third great turf race, in a third country. British farrier supplier Stromshom Supplies presented the bottle of champagne to Ed, who was their "plater of the year" for 2014.

It's Breeders Cup day. Click around the Internet and you can see the races through the eyes of the breeders, the jockeys, the trainers, the owners, the bettors, and everyone else with a stake in the world championship race day.

Here's a chance to look at one of the world's top horses through its shoes, as told by his farrier.

Event Announcement: William Moyer, DVM Headlines Myhre Equine's 27th Farrier-Veterinarian Conference

WHAT: Myhre Equine Clinic's Annual Farrier-Veterinarian Conference

WHEN: Thursday and Friday, October 9-10, 2014

WHERE: Rochester, New Hampshire

WHO: Farriers and veterinarians

WHY: Dr. William Moyer, guest speaker

Farriers and veterinarians in the New England states will come together next week to share their knowledge and hear lectures by Dr. William Moyer at the Myhre Equine Clinic's Farrier-Veterinarian Conference, to be held at Myhre Equine Clinic in Rochester, New Hampshire on October 9-10, 2014. (Click the link below to read more.)

Video: How Does Dianne Volz of Equine Therapy 502 Help Keep Top Thoroughbreds Running?

Equine therapist Dianne Volz serves top Thoroughbred racehorses on the East Coast. A new video in this article explains some of the services she and her assistants provide and the tools they use to keep horses supple and comfortable during training. (photo © Fran Jurga/Hoofcare Publishing)

Triple Crown Hindsight: California Chrome's Hoof Bulb Injury in Pictures

The dream is over, and that's horse racing. The champion is just a horse, after all. But a special one.

California Chrome: Horseshoer Judd Fisher with a Horse on the Doorstep of History

Best of luck to California horseshoer Judd Fisher as he waits to find out if the horse with his shoes on will make history today by becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. Cross your fingers, rub a horseshoe, raise your glass--whatever happens, Judd has done a great job to get California Chrome to this point.  (Judd Fisher photo)

Read more about Judd Fisher and the special shoes that California Chrome wears.

Who Shod the Last Triple Crown Winner?

Sometimes a great event gives me a chance to dig into the archives and find some lost facts that deserve to have another chance to shine.

E-Hoof: European Hoofcare Educational Reference Takes Profession to the Next Level

E-hoof.com is in the launching stage and is available for a ten-day free trial. The massive reference and education site has been under construction for years and Hoof Blog readers are invited to view the English-language site.

This article has been a long time in the making. For years, I have tried to peek behind the curtain while wizards created wonders. Finally, it is time to unveil what is surely the single most ambitious hoof-related education project that anyone has ever undertaken.

St Dunstan and the Devil: Why We Hang Horseshoes Over Doors

A French painting by Antoine St Aubert seems to illustrate one version of the St Dunstan legend, or a French legend like it. Religious history seems to be full of blacksmith and farrier saints!

Today is celebrated as the feast day of St Dunstan, a 10th Century saint who lived a quiet life as a smith and a musician in Sussex, England, until one night the devil paid him a visit and one of the great traditions of folklore was born: the nailing of a horseshoe over a door.

Who Left Those Hoofprints in the Sand?

The impermanence of art: the incoming tide will wash away the hoofprints on the beach near Mont St Michel, but the FEI has made a grand impression on the world that only 100 days remain before the opening of the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in France. (FEI photo)

It's 100 days until the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games begin in Normandy, France. Something was bound to happen, but who would expect this?

Spring laminitis case videos: What’s new for prevention and hoof management?

It's spring, that annual stock-taking time when horse owners should be taking serious care of their horses' feet and examining them for signs of changes brought on by the shift of seasons and feeding as brown grass turns green. It's time for owners to talk to vets and farriers about their horses' overall condition and to look at age and lifestyle factors that might be increasing a horse's risk of laminitis-related lameness or a serious episode of the debilitating disease.

PBS "My Bionic Pet": Putting Hooves and Paws and Tails Where They Weren't

On Wednesday, April 9, the PBS documentary series Nature will focus on pets who are missing parts. The star of the show will be the all-time star of this blog, Molly the (Three-Legged) Pony, but you'll also meet Chris P, the piglet who lives in a wheelchair or Mr. Stubbs, the alligator who needed a tail, and a pack of pooches who are running with the best of them but without as many legs.

Dubai Hoofcare: What--or Who--Was Underneath the Horses in the World's Richest Race?

Australian farrier Rob Stevenson now lives and works in Dubai. He demonstrated shoeing a lead pony with
gold raceplates before the Dubai World Cup last week; this week he's in China.

The emirate of Dubai is a tiny speck on the map, but it is growing into one of the world’s premier destinations for farriers and innovations in hoofcare. Saturday’s Dubai World Cup races in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) brought not just the world’s best horses and trainers and jockeys to the tiny desert nation; it brought farriers and some horses left with more interesting equipment on their hooves than when they arrived.

Resource: CSU Video "Hangout" on Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Laminitis

Here's a resource to bookmark and share. Last night, three veterinarians from the Colorado State University Equine Veterinary Teaching Hospital hosted a Google+ "HangOut" on the subject of "Metabolic Problems That Affect Your Horse: Insulin Resistance, Cushings, and Laminitis".

ShoeSecure Conquers Lost-Shoe Season, Now with Global Patent Approved to Keep Horseshoes On Hooves Everywhere

Spring means lost shoes. Instead of wondering if there’s a shoe at the bottom of that

puddle, rely on ShoeSecure to hold horseshoes on hooves that tend to pull shoes, lose shoes or that require a particularly full fit. Developed with the assistance of two world champion farriers.

                                        SHOESECURE SPONSORED THIS ARTICLE.                           

It’s a sure sign of spring when horses lose their shoes. But this year’s lost shoe count could be higher than usual, as American horse farm pastures thaw out after the longest, coldest winter in years.

Announcement: Second International Saddle Research Trust Conference to Examine Impact of Horse, Saddle and Rider on Each Other

WHAT: Saddle Research Trust Second International Conference: 

Horses, Saddles and Riders: Applying the Science

WHEN: Saturday, November 29, 2014

WHERE: Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, England

The world’s top scientists will come together to share their knowledge at the Saddle Research Trust (SRT) Second International Conference, to be held at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England on November 29, 2014.