Thinking Outside the Flip Flop Box: Florida Farriers Find Flex-Step Free-Heel Hoof Pad Aids Problems in Sport, Racehorse Feet

Far from the racetrack, a warmblood show horse sports the new high-tech Flex Step free-heel pad. The shoe is cut to the widest part of the foot, and rabbit ear drainage holes have been opened to allow sand, footing and water to drain out. Attentive show grooms maintain the pads by inserting the hose nozzle between the pad and the heel bulbs to make sure the sole isn't packed. Two small holes in the heels accommodate studs for traction, if needed, on some models. Copper rivets on the inside of the shoe's web attach the pad to the unheeled shoe. Made by Polyflex, a company known for its glue-on shoes, the pad is designed to be partially attached to the foot with nails and requires no adhesive or hoof packing.

Sometimes you wonder where things came from. Who was that first Standardbred farrier in Europe who cut the heels off a horse’s shoe, put a plastic pad against the foot, and nailed it on? You can hear it now: the horse walking down the barn aisle with a clumsy sounding “flap flap flap flap” sound from the loose pad against the heels. The farrier probably never counted on the noise. The trainer took some teasing, without a doubt. But that horse must have won, because they’re still around.

And no one laughs at you when your horse is winning.

Swedish research tests hoof sensor capable of predicting wall structural changes

An electronic sensor taped to a horse's hoof walls at Chalmers University in an earlier stage of research.

Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden is entering a public testing phase for a new sensor that gauges the structural integrity of the equine hoof wall, with a goal of pinpointing cracks and wall damage before they are visible to the human eye.

Best Shod Horse Award Debuts at Grand National Steeplechase

For the first time in the history of both the Worshipful Company of Farriers and racing in the United Kingdom, one of The Company's prestigious Best Shod Horse awards will be judged and presented at a race meeting. The hooves of the starters in England's world famous Crabbie's Grand National will be evaluated by a farrier judge, who will decide which horse's hooves are best prepared to tackle Aintree Racecourse's legendary obstacles like Becher's Brook and The Chair.

Which horse will gallop into history on the best-formed hooves and wearing the most appropriate shoes?

Equine Hoof Research: Digital Cushion Response to Pressure Tested in Horses vs Elephants at Royal Veterinary College

Most of the digital cushion of the horse is housed inside a rigid outer hoof capsule and between the lateral cartilages of the coffin bone. Its function has been proposed by different researchers as having both passive and active roles in weightbearing and shock absorption in the equine foot. (© Christoph von Horst plastinated hoof tissue specimen, color enhanced)

Hoof science turns up in some unexpected places, and it is always a joy to report on it when it does. That was the case earlier this month at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) annual meeting in San Francisco.