Adventures in Hoof Science: British Farriers Collect Data on Heart Bar and Lateral Extension Shoes at Royal Veterinary College's Structure and Motion Laboratory

Story and photos provided by Carl Bettison, AWCF (Hons)

British farriers spent a day at the Royal Veterinary College's Structure and Motion Laboratory last week; they watched while Jim Blurton shod two horses with bar shoes. Equigait wireless gait analysis technology was paired with high speed video and a force plate to monitor changes with the addition of the shoes. (Gill Harris photo)

A small group of farriers with a keen shared interest in equine biomechanics and a thirst to understand the science behind horseshoeing had a unique opportunity to witness an afternoon’s research conducted in the Royal Veterinary College’s Structure and Motion Laboratory in England last week. The RVC’s Renate Weller DrMedVet, PhD, MRCVS, FHEA led the event, along with her team, which represents a range of scientific disciplines.

Totilas and Matthias Rath Cancel Competition Debut; Hoof Abscess Resolved

Team Totilas: Owner Paul Schockemohle, Totilas, and rider Matthias Rath as they appeared on German television in early February when Rath rode Totilas in a demonstration at a stallion exhibition

Almost two weeks ago, the Hoof Blog reported that world champion dressage gold medalist Totilas is now wearing heart-bar shoes. At that time, he was unable to perform for a press conference because of a hoof abscess.

Today, rider Matthias Rath announced that the horse's planned return to competition next weekend at the "Dressage and Dreams" show in Hagen, Germany has been cancelled.

Here is Matthias Rath's statement today:

"We very much regret not being able to compete in Hagen, but the health and welfare of our horses is always the top priority. We had a great feeling before the injury and the preparations and joint development were going much better than expected, which is why we had made firm plans for our early competition debut in May and we were really looking forward to it."

(English version supplied by Matthias Rath)

According to the team, the abscess has healed completely. Rath and Totilas trained over Easter but the veterinary treatment required brings into question the withdrawal/detection times that need to be observed before a competition when a horse has been treated for a medical condition.

 © Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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