Swedish barefoot vs shod showjumper comparative research preview at FEI World Championships

The world watched Swedish barefoot show jumpers sweep the individual and team gold medals at the FEI World Championships in August in Herning, Denmark. At the same event, the media received a preview of a comprehensive hoof science study that hopes to explain why they won. 

The Hoof Blog offers this exclusive report.

Barefoot show jumpers make history at 2022 FEI World Championships--and beyond

History was made at the FEI 2022 World Championships in Herning, Denmark in August. After the first two rounds of jumping, three of the top four horses on the scoreboard were shoeless. And at the end of the full event, the world champion individual horse was barefoot, as were half the winning gold medal team.

Some may think that barefoot grand prix jumpers leaping, landing, and turning on groomed-to-perfection arena footing aren't news anymore, after the brilliant Swedish gold team and silver individual medals at the Tokyo Olympics last year, but this was the FEI World Championship. 

The Olympic Hoof Explained: Swedish farrier outlines barefoot management of gold medal team

Everyone has questions about the shoeless Swedish showjumpers that have been so successful at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Sweden won the Team Gold Medal Saturday, as a followup to rider Peder Fredricson's Individual Silver Medal for jumping earlier this week.

To explain it to you, we went straight to the source. Peter Glimberg is the farrier at Peder Fredricson's training farm and oversees the hoofcare of some of the world's most elite show jumpers, many of whom now train and compete without shoes on carefully-groomed arena surfaces.

Barefoot by the Numbers: Swedish Standardbred trotters are faster without shoes, but risk breaking gait

Researchers at Sweden's University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) at Uppsala have analyzed the performance records of trotting Standardbreds based on varied configurations of fully shod,  front or hind shoes only, or without shoes entirely. 

Equine Research Live at the 2019 FEI World Cup: Swedish university students measure velocity of world's top show jumpers

Jump crews work hard at a horse show. At next week’s FEI World Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden, one unique jump crew will be working hard in hopes of getting a good grade.

For the fourth consecutive year, Sweden’s premier horse show will have a mini research lab set up, right in the ring. But this year is a little different, since the Gothenburg Horse Show will also include the FEI World Cup finals in dressage and show jumping.

Gene Test, Research Unravel Severe Skeletal Atavism Limb Deformity in Shetland Ponies

Limbs of a 16-week old Shetland pony with Skeletal Atavism, often described as "bow legs". (Left) caudal view when standing; (center) caudal view when walking and (right) view from the front when standing square.  Complete, or "fused", fibulas and ulnas cause instability in the tarsocrural and antebrachiocarpal joints respectively; the angular limb deformity becomes more severe at the walk. Photo: Ove Wattle

Skeletal Atavism is a genetic defect that can cause skeletal deformities in Shetland ponies. The deformity has now been genetically identified by researchers at Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), in cooperation with colleagues in the USA at Texas A&M University, the University of Kentucky's Gluck Center, and the University of Washington, as well as at the University of Qatar in the Middle East. The discovery means that healthy carriers now can be identified for better breeding decisions with the use of a gene test.

Shoes, Half Shoes, or No Shoes At All: Swedish-Trained Trotters Ruled Hambletonian Day

Think Swedish: Some of the most interesting horseshoes come from Sweden. But just as interesting is the way that the shoes are used. Swedish-trained and shod Father Patrick, the 4-5 favorite, and Trixton, the winner, both went to the post wearing cut off American-made Thoro'Bred Queen's Plates with Grand Circuit Flapper pads that farrier Conny Svensson cut to fit. (Conny Svensson photo)

Say "Sweden" and what comes to mind: Saabs and Volvos? Singing along to an Abba song? Swedish warmbloods? Mustad nails? Furniture shopping at Ikea? Lars Roeppstorf's hoof research at Upsaala University? How about a martini made with Absolut vodka?

But you really should think of harness racing. And horseshoes. Maybe after reading this article, you will.

Footing Science: FEI Sport Horse Arena and Track Surfaces Report Download

Is there an ideal footing for all horses? Racetrack surfaces and sport horse arena surfaces are always fair fuel for arguments. The FEI's new report may add some science to personal preferences. (Photo © Hoofcare Publishing)

This announcement from the FEI includes an offer to download this extensive technical report for free: 

The world’s most extensive study into the effect of arena surfaces on the orthopedic health of sport horses in the seven FEI disciplines and in racing has been published by the FEI.

Behind the Scenes at the FEI World Cup Finals with Swedish Farrier Bjorn Berg

You're a long way from home when you go to the Gothenburg Horse Show in Sweden. The huge Swedish spring horse show hosted both the dressage and jumping finals of the 2013 FEI World Cup indoor winter competitions. The best in both sports converged on the annual show and turned it into a world stage.

Sweden's Bjorn Berg has been the show farrier at Gothenburg for 12 years but you can bet that it had never been like this before.  Still, Bjorn managed to find time to snap some photos and email them to the USA.

Equine Locomotion Research: Qualisys Mocap System Captures Dressage, Jumping, Trotting, Icelandic Gaits...and Your Imagination

Today we go across the ocean and behind the scenes. The location is Stromsholm, Sweden, home of Professor Lars Roepstorff,.DVM, PhD and his amazing research into how horses move.

Whether you want to know how a horse moves or how the surface beneath the horse affects his gait, speed, or traction, this is one of the places in the world that could help you figure it out.

At the recent International Conference on Canine and Equine Locomotion, a field day (literally) was held at Stromsholm to showcase the capabilities of the research facility and of the technical equipment used in the research.

Both the horse and the rider are being tracked by the Qualisys cameras.

One setup showcased the three-dimensional motion capture ("mocap") capability of 60 Qualisys Oqus cameras. With a motion capture system this big, it was possible to have a capture volume of 20x40 meters--this gave dressage and jumping horses the freedom of being evaluated for a series of strides and movements at full canter. Measurements were made on dressage horses, jumpers, trotters, Icelandic horses (pace & tölt) as well as German and Belgian Shepherds running at full speed--who didn't make it onto this little video.

In the outdoor setting, the horses can work naturally and be captured in a series of strides.

The camera system was first used indoors, in a 60 camera setup. It was later moved outside into a 42 outdoor-camera system for the Icelandic horse and the trotter.

Qualisys is the clever tech firm that developed the software and assists the researchers in ramping up the technology to ever greater accomplishments. Their software is often featured on the Hoof Blog, and we look forward to what's next!

--written by Fran Jurga

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