Lost Shoes Solution: Shoe Secure Keeps Your Horse's Shoes On, World Champion Style

Whether it’s linked to conformation or a gait abnormality or a swampy pasture, the shoe loss problem may have met its match in an odd-looking product from Scotland called ShoeSecure. Designed by an equestrian entrepreneur with the help of a world champion farrier, and used by a world champion reiner, the new product launched in the USA this summer with a star-studded resume.

                                 SHOESECURE SPONSORED THIS ARTICLE.                               

What do you get when you put together the mind of a determined equestrian entrepreneur with the technical skills and imagination of this year’s world champion farrier?

The Royal Thoroughbred Tour: Irish Farriers Greet Britain's Queen Elizabeth at National Stud

When Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth set her royal foot on Irish soil last week, it was the first of her family's to do so since the Republic of Ireland gained complete independence from British rule.

But she didn't waste much time getting to the bits of Ireland that she'd probably been dying to see, like the Irish National Stud, the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud, and the legendary Coolmore Stud. All are leading Thoroughbred breeding establishments where forebears of the Queen's horses may have begun their lives or where she may have sent her mares to be bred, or where the horses originated who beat her own at Epsom or Newmarket or Ascot.

And at her first stop, the legendary Irish National Stud in County Kildare on the edge of the sweeping Curragh plains gallops, the Queen was appropriately greeted by a group of farriers.

Stud director Chryss O'Reilly escorted the Queen around the National Stud. I'm sorry I don't know who the gentleman in black is. Notice the shoe boards and signage about Irish farriery in the background. Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/Fotoglif

When I saw this press photo with the shoe specimen boards in the background, I was soon on Skype to Martin Leahy, farrier at the Stud. It's hard to imagine, but even Martin seemed a little excited by what had transpired that afternoon. "She's actually a very nice lady," Martin reported, "and I'd say she'd be quite spry for her age, now." (The Queen is 85 years old.)
  
In other words, yes, he had met her and Prince Philip and he was quite pleased about it.

Also meeting the Queen were Irish Farrier Authority directors John Brennan, John O'Connell, and Jeremy Stanley, and Irish Farrier School coordinator Sue Lilley, who was widely interviewed in the press, as well as a crew of apprentices who were set up and working to impress the Queen. You can hear their anvils in the background of the video when the Queen is watching the jockey student on the simulator horse.

I think the Queen enjoyed herself at the Irish National Stud. Pool/Reuters/John Stillwell photo

This looks like the smile of someone who is really enjoying herself. I imagine it was snapped when she saw the farriers up ahead and she knew she could relax a bit. Somehow I think relaxing was probably the farthest thing from their minds but I'm sure she left with a good impression of Irish farriery and farriers, and with an anvil ringing in her royal ears.

Congratulations to Martin and all our friends in the Irish Master Farriers Association and at the Irish Farrier School and the Stud for what Sue Lilley described as "the biggest day of our lives."

© 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.  
 

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Winter Is Here! So Are Studded Hoof Boots

6 January 2010 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog at Hoofcare.com

This art is from an ad for ice calks that was in the Horseshoers Journal 100 years ago; courtesy of Cornell University's Flower Sprecher Veterinary Library.

Ten years ago I wrote an article on winter hoofcare. It began:

"Does the sound of sleigh bells set your nerves on edge, because you are anticipating a wreck on the next icy patch down the road? Do you dream of the day next spring when you will be able to see your horse below his knees? Do you lie awake at night designing heating wires that can be implanted in horseshoe pads to melt the ice balls?"

Funny how things don't change much around here. Winter still makes me nervous. The fresh snow is beautiful for a week at the most. Then it either melts or solidifies into an ice field, especially any place the ground is level.

Right about the time that happens for the first time each winter, horse owners start to panic, especially if they haven't had their horses shoes adapted for winter or pulled. Flat shoes on ice induce unanticipated equine acrobatics and an immediate call to the farrier. Sometimes, unfortunately, the call is to the vet clinic.

Today I found out that Cavallo is now offering studs for their hoof boots. Studded hoof boots are becoming a more universally-available traction option for winter riding or driving on horses that are barefoot or seasonally shoeless.

These photos, courtesy of Cavallo, show how simple it is to drill the hole for the stud and then use the drill to insert it. I'm assuming that the same drill is reversible and will remove the stud as well. You'd have to be very careful not to drill through the sole of the boot and you will notice in these photos that they are drilling into a brand new boot. If you are drilling into an older boot that has a lot of wear on the "tread", the placement of the studs would be critical, and the whole process might require more thought and accuracy. As always, check with the manufacturer of the boots for their experiences. Most horse owners would want to leave this drilling task to their farriers. If you make a mistake, you've ruined an expensive piece of equipment.

This is a pretty big difference from the insertion and removal of studs in a horseshoe that is attached to the horse, where a stud wrench is required. I think there would be a danger that horse owners would be tempted to leave the studs in the boots all winter and never take them out, or ride in them when they aren't needed. They'd also need to remember to plug the holes when the studs are removed. Just as with shoe calks, owners or grooms would need to keep the stud holes clean, check the studs for cracks and wear, and make sure the holes aren't fatigued. Horseshoes are replaced periodically, but a hoof boot is built to last for quite a while, so the stud hole will need to be checked to make sure it has a good grip on the neck of the stud.

There must be 101 ways to winter-shoe a horse, with a variety of rim and full pads, hard surfacing puddles, nuggets, pin studs, screw-in studs, ice/frost nails, etc. This draft horse is an extreme example; he is shod to work in the woods and pull a sleigh. Notice how much the special ice nails protrude from the shoe. (Michael Wildenstein photo)

Now, won't someone design a simple velcro strap-on device with pre-installed permanent studs? (One that stays put and doesn't shift under the horse as it walks, please.) Ice-studded strap-ons could be handy for very temporary use, and you would want to be able to put them on one horse, take them off, and put them on the next, so they should be adjustable in size. Another idea: Some sort of super-gritty (on the ground side), anti-slip sole packing material might be a godsend, just the thing for boarding barns that won't allow horses to wear winter shoes or hind shoes if they are turned out.

It's always important to remember that horses can massacre their pasterns and coronets with studs and that horses that interfere when tired can and will cut their legs or bandages. And that you should obviously be consistent in the placement of studs in boots. Logic says don't use the horse with just one studded boot on and be very careful about turning horses out with boots on. And remember that if they step on you with a studded boot on, it will hurt!

The biggest caveat of all in using studded boots would have to be that the boots fit well and the horse moves well in them. An icy day is not the time to try boots on a horse for the first time. Studded boots are not a replacement for shoes but rather safety and traction equipment for an unshod horse. Nothing is more upsetting than seeing a horse slip and slide across a paddock; it's even more upsetting to be on top of a sliding horse.

Even with studded hoof boots, a horse won't turn into one of those tolting Icelandics who race on the ice. They wear special shoes to be able to do that.

It's not too late to get a horse set up for this winter. It's never too late to take the best care you can to prevent injuries and stress. How great it is that horses have so many options these days. It means that people care and that clever-minded companies are recognizing a need and serving up new ideas to try.

Note: Horse owners should check with hoof boot manufacturers for individual recommendations not only of how to install studs, but what studs to install. Some hoof boot manufacturers include Stride Equus (Marquis), Delta-Mustad, Easy Care, Theo, Swiss Horse Boot, and Renegade, in addition to Cavallo, who just started selling their new boot-specific studs today. A little homework goes a long way.

© 2010 Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. 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.

Friends at Work: Ernie Gauoette Shod His Way from the Racetrack to the Show Barn

Somehow it didn't surprise me to see Ernie Gauoette's picture in the newspaper today. Our friend Ernie has been shoeing show hunters and jumpers at the well-known Briggs Stable in Hanover, Massachusetts for a while now and he's a good model, as well as a nice guy, so Ernie gets his picture taken a lot.

What did surprise me was when I went to the Patriot-Ledger newspaper's web site and Ernie's voice came out of my computer speakers as if he was right in the room with me; the paper made a video of Ernie explaining a few aspects of shoeing. Thanks to the magic of YouTube.com I was able to embed the video and share it with you.

Enjoy the video and please know that what you are seeing Ernie do is pretty normal shoeing in the Boston area from Thanksgiving to Easter. The shoe was four tiny tungsten drive-in studs for traction on ice or slippery pavement and a big black "pop-out" pad that prevents snow from building up on the bottom of the horse's foot. Pop-out pads are a poor rider's gait analysis system. They make an audible pop-pop-pop-pop with each stride set as you ride and if the rhythm is off, you know you have a problem. A sure sign of spring around here is when horses go back to clopping instead of popping. 

The shape identification system for hooves that Ernie alludes to on the video is the "Eagle Eye" system developed by farrier instructor Scott Simpson in the 1980s. He taught farriers to look for Norman, Stubby, Ralph and Tag...and guess what? It's pretty accurate!

By the way, Ernie's excellent accent comes through nicely. Every region of New England has a distinct accent so we can tell each other apart. Thanks to the Patriot-Ledger newspaper and web site. Click here to go to Ernie's page and leave a comment, or leave one here by clicking on the word
"comment" below.

  © Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. You only need to ask. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. 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.

Big Brown's Famous Hooves Find a New Kentucky Home

Posted on Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog | 10 November 2008

Guess who?

The most famous feet in the horse world touched down on their new Kentucky home last week, as more than 500 guests were on hand for a "Big Brown Bag Lunch" to welcome Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown to Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky.

Big Brown will stand at the elegant farm for a fee of $65.000. The farm was the former home of champions like Seattle Slew and is currently home to Point Given, Smarty Jones, Dynaformer, Sky Mesa and other top Thoroughbreds.

A report by Glenye Cain in the Daily Racing Form said that Big Brown's heel bulb injury, which caused his early retirement and withdrawal from the 2008 Breeders Cup, was "filled with soft putty" and that he was wearing a z-bar shoe.

Thanks to Jen Roytz, Marketing and Communications Director at Three Chimneys Farm for the loan of these photos which were taken by Gayle Ewadinger of Three Chimneys.

Big Brown received a Big Welcome on Wednesday when guests celebrated the Derby winner's return to Kentucky. He will stand at stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. Permissions for use elsewhere are usually easily arranged.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. 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 may also be found.

Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.