Horses and Traction: Why Did Cities Have Cobblestone Streets? Why Did Traction Matter?

A cobblestone street in Italy is paved with round stones; some sources say that a "cobble" originally meant a round stone. These look like old cannon balls. Were they put there to keep horses off the plaza or to help them?

When newcomers get off the ferry on Nantucket Island and settle into a car, they are soon shaken up. They're expecting an idyllic entry to the old New England whaling town and tourist center. Instead, they rattle across a rough cobblestone street that will shake the fillings right out of your teeth.

And the islanders like it that way.

Even though they seem slick and tricky for today's horses, "modern", or flat, cobblestoned streets were a godsend to horses. And, as you might suspect, there's a hoof connection that holds this whole story together.

Prix d'Amerique 2015: 15 of 18 Horses Will Race "Barefoot" by Pulling Shoes Before Race

72 hooves. 6 shoes. (Maybe.)

That's the ratio for Sunday's Prix d'Amerique trotting race in Vincennes, France. The purse is worth $1.15 Million (US). It's the world's richest harness race. You'd take your shoes off, too, for that kind of prize money.

This is not just another horse race. It is a 1 11/16 mid-winter downhill then uphill push to the limits for the world's hardiest Standardbreds. These are the strongest, fastest two-beat trots you'll see anywhere in the world.

But minutes before the race starts tomorrow, the shoe pullers will come out and dozens of shoes will be left behind.

Barefoot Research: What Are the Consequences of Shoe Removal for Trotting Racehorses?

How are the health, comfort and wear of the horse's feet affected when shoes are removed for racing? A research special report from Hippolia Foundation and CIRALE-ENVA

Text and images © CIRALE-ENVA and/or Hoofcare Publishing 

No reproduction or copying without permission

Professor Denoix

Special thanks to researcher Claire Moiroud and Professor Jean-Marie Denoix, who kindly arranged to share this research project with Hoofcare Publishing. This text is an approved, verbatim translation of a French document and is published to coincide with the excitement of the Prix d’Amerique, one of the world’s great trotting races, at Vincennes, France on Sunday, January 25. That race has been won by horses using the methods described in this article.

Introduction
In French harness racing, it is customary for the trainer to remove the shoes of some horses before races. "Relieve the foot, increase the speed"...that is the goal. Perhaps the immediate benefits seem obvious, but no study has addressed the risks to the horse itself in terms of possible discomfort and especially the risk of excess wear to the feet. That has now been accomplished through the work of the CIRALE-ENVA Hippolia team in Normandy, France.

Breeders Cup Classic: Will It Be a Battle of the Specialist Horseshoes?

Will it be 3/4 shoes by a head? Nailed on glue-ons by three lengths? Or tabbed glue-on shoes in an exciting photo finish?

Bigfoot on Course: Is Gatcombe's Best Shod Horse the Biggest Shod, Too?

This horse is making a big splash in the eventing world. British event rider Ben Hobday's big-footed advanced horse is headed to the 4* Land Rover Burghley International Horse Trials in September next, with new shoes that measure seven inches across. Does Mulrys Error OBE have the biggest advanced section feet in the eventing world? (Smudge9000 photo)

Congratulations to British farrier Paul Conway, whose shoes were on Mulrys Error OBE, winner of the 2014 "Best Shod Horse" award at the British Festival of Eventing at Gatcombe Park last weekend. The judge couldn't miss this horse's feet.

Scotland's David Varini Wins European Farrier Championship for United Kingdom

Scottish farrier David Varini was World Champion in 2013 and has won the European title previously. (Hoof Blog file photo)

Congratulations to Scottish farrier David Varini, who has just been declared the winner of the European Farriery Championship, held this weekend in England.

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?

California Chrome Wins Kentucky Derby in Judd Fisher's California-Hybrid Horseshoes

There will always be an as asterisk next to the name of California Chrome in the Kentucky Derby history records. Yes, California Chrome was the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby wearing glue-on shoes. Glue on shoes that weren't glued on, that is.

And that's only part of the story.

How Much is a Famous Horse's Shoe Worth? Derby Winner Orb's Raceplate on eBay Today

A horseshoe worn by 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb is being auctioned today on eBay. The auction benefits equine research.

People often what a shoe from a famous horse is worth. The answer isn't easy. Authentication is tough, and fraud could be rampant.

Have there ever been horseshoes on PBS's "Antique Road Show"? History Channel's "Pawn Stars" authenticated a horseshoe as having been on Secretariat's hoof based on the brand. Yet secretariat.com says that Secretariat always wore Victory plates. Most of the "authentic" shoes auctioned off as having been on Secretariat seem to be Thoro'bred plates. Will we ever know?

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.

History Detectives: What Do You Notice About These Irish Farriers?

 Irish Farriers at the Barracks, Waterford, 1909

You don't need to wear a funny cap and carry a magnifying glass to be able to apply Sherlock Holmes's "deductive reasoning" to old photos of farriers. Well, a magnifying glass might be helpful.

White Turf: How Do Polo Ponies and Racehorses Stay on Their Feet in the St. Moritz Snow?

A ski-joring horse displays the outside of his right front hoof during a race. Coronet and hoof wall injuries are common when horses are shod with calks. (Swiss Images photo)

Calks? Check. Snow rim pads? Check. Ice-breaker hoof pick? Check. Horses competing in the polo and racing each February in St. Moritz, Switzerland are prepared from the ground--or should we say snow?--up.

It happens every February. Winter looks gray and boring and spring can't come quickly enough and then the images start showing up from the glamorous ski resort of St Moritz, Switzerland and you remember that it is possible to have fun with horses in the snow. And that there are some people out there who manage to do it with a great deal of style.

But how do they keep the horses of their feet?

A Farrier's Christmas Tale, World Champion Style, in Video and Poem

There are many tales about Christmas in the forge, but Santa Claus knows exactly where to go when he needs help. He seeks out three World Champions: Grant Moon (Wales), David Varini (Scotland), and Paul Robinson (Ireland) who just happen to be working late on Christmas Eve. But have your read the poem?

The Real Deal: Laminitic Pony in Australia First Horse in History to Wear 3D Printed Titanium Horseshoes

A pony with chronic laminitis in Australia is wearing the world's first horseshoes that are "printed", not forged or cast or turned. The shoes are made of titanium and were created in a laboratory setting by the government agency CSIRO.

The Hoof Blog promised a follow-up on that viral story back in October about 3D printing of titanium horseshoes in Australia. We promised that when we could show you a horse wearing them, we'd be impressed.

3D Printed Horseshoe Update: No Purple Titanium Horseshoes on Hooves (Yet)

Australian national CSIRO research laboratory engineer Chad Henry has gone back to the drawing board to perfect his titanium horseshoe produced via 3-D printing. (CSIRO photo)

Do you remember the flashy purple horseshoes from the Australian laboratory that were destined to crush racetrack records? The story--along with examples of the way that 3-D printing is used in the hoofcare world--was popular on the Hoof Blog last month. 

The Hoof Blog contacted the horse's trainer to see how it was doing with the special new shoes and he kindly responded. Apparently the rest of the media in the world re-published the story without checking on the result.

3D Printing in the Forge and Clinic: Hoof Anatomy Models, Veterinary Applications, and Horseshoes

3D printing in the horseshoe world probably was done first in some high-tech factory in Asia, but let's give some credit to Curtis Burns in the United States, who has been using 3D printing in the design of Polyflex glue-on shoes. Watch for Mucho Macho Man to run in the Breeders Cup Classic wearing shoes derived from this 3D printing technology on Saturday. (photo courtesy of Curtis Burns/Polyflex Horseshoes)

What Do Laminitis and Wimbledon Have in Common?

Lush grass at Wimbledon is being blamed for the literal downfall of several players this year. This much higher casualty rate is blamed on the late spring, which is keeping the grass so lush at the end of June. According to a British newspaper article, Wimbledon's high-sugar grasses are also more slippery than non-lush grass.

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.

News and HSUS videos: Walking horses seized from show trainer's barn in Tennessee, veterinarian Adair explains soring

Walking horse trainer Larry Wheelon heads to court today in Blount County, Tennessee. The well-known trainer and judge will face charges following his arrest on Friday. As shown in this video from the Humane Society of the United States, horses placed with Wheelon for trained were seized by the USDA, with assistance from the county sheriff and humane society officials, in connection with the charges.

Wheelon may be criminally charged for violations of the federal Horse Protection Act; soring is also a violation of state law in Tennessee. Further charges may be levied against Wheelon's employees or associates.

(Please wait for the tv news videos to load.)

The Horse Protection Act has been on the books since 1978 but attempts to enforce it have not been fully effective at wiping out the practice. As these videos point out, soring may be of the "chemical" type, which works on sensitizing the horse's pasterns and/or coronet, or "mechanical", which involves intentionally trimming the foot to thin the sole and lower the wall and then inserting objects or hard-curing epoxy between the padded shoe and the thin sole.

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.