New HISA racing rules for Thoroughbred horseshoe traction to begin July 1 in USA

New federally-mandated racing safety rules from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority will be introduced "feet first" this summer. The first new rules are primed to take effect on July 1 at U.S. racetracks. 

A change to how American Thoroughbreds may be shod, including what shoes they can wear, is key to the new rules, limiting the use of shoe traction devices with one national rule for the entire United States.

Horseshoes + Racing Injuries + Video = Eclipse Award for the Louisville Courier Journal

The friendly smile of Churchill Downs horseshoer Sonny Broaddus brightened the Louisville Courier-Journal's otherwise sobering media-rich mini-site on injuries in Thoroughbred racing. The video-enhanced feature hit the web in mid-August and this week was announced as the winner of the prestigious Eclipse Award for multimedia.

Roll out the red carpet, here come the horseshoers.

When the Eclipse Awards for journalism and media coverage were announced this week, the Louisvillle Courier-Journal was in luck. Lots of luck, as it turned out: the winning feature section "Tragedy at the Track" on racing injuries was heavily laced with text, photography and especially video of horseshoes and the people who nail and glue them on the Thoroughbreds in Kentucky.

Graphic from the newspaper articles shows the effects of a toe grab when a racehorse stands on a hard surface, such as a concrete wash rack slab, or a paved road.

Written and compiled by Jenny Rees, Andrew Wolfson, and Gregory A. Hall, the series looks at racing injuries as a combination of the medical, mechanical and surface strains put on Thoroughbreds. It's an exciting combination of short and longer clips, including a short feature of Churchill Downs horseshoer Steve Norman and his entourage of helpers and apprentices on a hot August day.

Two special videos make a real impact on the newspaper's web site with the original stories. These are farrier Mitch Taylor's high-speed clips of horses running over different surfaces, wearing different shoes, with a simple measuring interface to show the difference in slippage and "snowplow effect" of changes in the foot's equipment and surface. I believe the high speed videos were shot by Scott Lampert and interpreted with his OnTrack analysis system.

Click here for high speed (slo-mo) video of a horse running on different surfaces, fetlock action in Polytrack, laminitis, Barbaro and other video clips associated with this series.

© 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.

Choose Your Racing Shoes: Last Days to Wear Toe Grabs Before 2009 Rule Changes!

by Fran Jurga | 28 December 2008 | Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

Observations and filming of horses on different surfaces and wearing different shoes has been convincing evidence of the variations of horses' running styles and their adaptability. High-speed videography by Mitch Taylor in Kentucky has been slowed down to detail the different phases of a horse's stride. He has filmed the same horses over different surfaces, wearing different shoes. (Mitch Taylor photo, still image captured from OnTrack video system, presented at the Fourth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot.)

A major fashion change is due on most Thoroughbred racetracks on January 1, when the majority of racing states will change over to the outlawing of most toe grabs on the front shoes of raceplates.

The January 1st deadline is in compliance with a ruling by the American Graded States Committee that states would not qualify for graded stakes status unless the rule was adopted. It is feasible that some states may delay implementing the rule if the state does not have many graded stakes, or if the graded races are run later in the year.

In California, a rule began in February 2006 banning toe grabs higher than 4mm on the front shoes of Thoroughbred racehorses only; racing Quarter horses and mules do not run under that particular rule in California. At this point, it looks like California will hold with their original 4 mm rule, which may move it from one of the first to restrict toe grabs to being one of the most lenient.

At CDI tracks, owned by Churchill Downs, a new rule enacted this fall reads: “Front horse shoes which have toe grabs greater than two millimeters shall be prohibited from racing or training on all racing surfaces at all Churchill Downs Incorporated racetracks. This includes but is not limited to the following: toe grabs, bends, jar calks, stickers and any other traction device worn on the front shoes of Thoroughbred horses.

"Any hind shoe with a turndown of more than one-quarter inch will not be allowed on the dirt courses. Hind shoes with calks, stickers, blocks, raised toes or turndowns will not be allowed on the turf courses. This includes quarter horse shoes or any shoe with a toe grab of more than one-quarter inch.”

CDI tracks include Churchill Downs in Kentucky, Arlington Park in Illinois, Calder Race Course in Florida, and Fair Grounds Race Course in Louisiana.

The CDI rule is an example of what is known as a "house rule", meaning that individual racetracks can create specific rules for horseshoes that are more strict than the rules of the state where the track is located.

Down the road from Churchill Downs, but also in Kentucky, Keeneland and Turfway Park announced a toe grab ban last fall on their artificial Polytrack and turf courses. The house rule there reads, "“No toe grabs, caulks, stickers, inserts, blocks, turndowns, trailers or heel extensions will be allowed on front or hind shoes. Only flat, Queen’s Plate, Queen’s Plate XT or equivalent may be used on the Polytrack or Turf.”

Horses training at Keeneland to race at Churchill had better check their shoes at the gate when they get back to Lexington, or else make an appointment with the horseshoer for race day in Louisville.

At the Penn National group of tracks, a house rule went into effect in October, stating "All Thoroughbreds competing or training at Penn National Gaming owned racetracks will not be permitted to use toe grabs in excess of two (2) millimeters in height. The use of bends, jar caulks, stickers or any other traction device on front shoes for racing or training will also be prohibited." Penn National in Pennsylvania and Charles Town in West Virginia are impacted by this rule.

Racehorse trainers will need to be conscious of both state and "house" rules at different tracks, and horseshoers will need to be prepared, although publicity about the rule changes has been widespread. Horses that ship between tracks may need to be reshod in some cases.

Shippers should be happy about the traction ban, since toe grabs and other protuberances rip up mats on loading ramps and in van stalls.

Some questions about special designs of shoes may be decided by stewards or horseshoe inspectors, depending on how each track or state designates the decision-making process surrounding shoes.

As you can see, some tracks will enforce the ban on the hind shoes as well as the fronts; some won't. Some allow two millimeters, some don't. The strictest rules of all, at Keeneland and Turfway, allow no traction at all on any feet.

While the arguments over toe grabs seem to have died down, the winter months are when trainers would naturally turn to traction devices, depending on the type of conditions at a training track or on the main track where the horse will be racing. While they may assert that they are using shoes to help the horse "get hold of the track", many feel that the safety of the rider is more assured if the horse is less likely to slip, especially around turns. Others feel that toe grabs are more dangerous to jockeys and exercise riders, in the event of a fall.

Thoro'bred's new three-dimensional Turbo shoe is an interesting innovation, since it provides traction on the sidewall of the shoe, not directly on the ground surface and does not increase the angle of the hoof. The horseshoe is no longer a two-dimensional object.

If you are working with racehorses and are uncertain of rules, think of toe grabs as the equivalent of medication, and don't take someone else's word for what the rules are at a given track. Check with the racing secretary's office.

The Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation's Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit has a shoeing and hoofcare committee that would like to have feedback about the rule changes and shoe designs. Call the Grayson-Jockey Club: (859) 224-2850

"The Snow Plow Effect" is a new commonly-used term to describe the displacement of the racing or arena surface as the foot lands. Since the foot basically disappears into a loose surface, the relative snow-plow effect is of interest to observors. (Mitch Taylor photo, still image captured from OnTrack video system, presented at the Fourth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot.)

© 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.

Keeneland and Turfway Park: No Toe Grabs, Front or Hind

What's worse, the toe grab or the long toe? Some people believe that this distorted hoof shape is typical of racehorses in the United States (and elsewhere). On the other hand, in New York, people tsk-tsk that the feet are too short. Does the toe grab have the same effect on the coffin joint when the foot is short? This photo is from the research conducted by Kentucky farrier Mitch Taylor. He put a leg in a vice and applied pressure. The point of this photo is to show the affect of the toe grab when the foot is on a hard surface, pushing the forces back but, more importantly, compressing the joint space in the coffin joint, between P2 and P3. Presumably, galloping at speed would have a similar effect. Mitch has put a lot of work into these studies; he also has been making high speed video recordings of horses wearing different shoes and galloping over different track surfaces. Mitch's research is part of his work with the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation's Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a press release tonight from the Keeneland.com website for the Keeneland Racecourse and Turfway Park, two Thoroughbred tracks in Kentucky that both use Polytrack surfaces.

As background, the racing commission in Kentucky announced earlier this week that it would recommend that the legislative committee in the state government endorse its decision to ban toe grabs and other traction adaptations on front shoes at all tracks in the state. The verbiage was based on a recommended model rule from the new Safety Comittee of the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation.

The next day, Penn National Gaming, a conglomerate of tracks that includes Charles Town in West Virginia and Penn National in Pennsylvania, announced that they would also ban front grabs and traction devices.

And today, although I only learned of it this evening, this announcement that goes a Secretariat-length stride farther:

(begin press release)

Officials at Keeneland and Turfway Park today announced a new shoe policy banning the use of toe grabs. The policy is effective at both racetracks beginning September 1. Rogers Beasley, Keeneland’s director of racing, and Bob Elliston, president of Turfway Park, said in a joint statement: “We applaud the efforts of the Jockey Club Thoroughbred Safety Committee, TOBA’s Thoroughbred Action Committee and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to address safety in racing. Their unanimous support for a ban on the use of toe grabs is a significant step toward improving the welfare of horses. The policy, which will apply to all horses training and racing on Keeneland’s Polytrack and Turf course, as well as Turfway’s Polytrack, states, “No toe grabs, caulks, stickers, inserts, blocks, turndowns, trailers or heel extensions will be allowed on front or hind shoes. Only flat, Queen’s Plate, Queen’s Plate XT or equivalent may be used on the Polytrack or Turf.”

Both tracks are closed to racing for the summer, and will reopen in September for fall meets, but presumably horses are in training and would be affected.

Up to this point, hind shoes had never been in any suggested rules.

Yes, horseshoers have been voicing their opinions. While many are not particularly fans of toe grabs, especially on front feet, they fear that any rule that bans this and that opens the door for them and those. For instance, notice that the Keeneland/Turfway rule does not mention bends. Bends may not help a horse on Polytrack much, but neither would the other adaptations listed.

Horseshoers are concerned about traction and the safety of the horses both getting out of the gate and around the turns. One shoer last night suggested that getting rid of toe grabs would make the most lucrative job on the racetrack that of the chiropractor, and that gluteal muscle injuries would be the most likely manifestation if hind toe grabs were ever removed.

Maybe we'd better start taking reservations for seats at our "Hoofcare@Saratoga" August 5th forum on racetrack shoeing in Saratoga Springs. The August 12th "Hoofcare@Saratoga" forum is on hoof injuries, especially quarter cracks, and we have added Dr. Mick Peterson from the University of Maine as a speaker, along with Ian McKinlay of Big Brown fame and Conny Svensson of Moni Maker (Standardbred) fame. Dr Peterson is the country's leading researcher on racetrack surfaces and how the horse's hoof hits them.

(For more information about the Hoofcare@Saratoga forums and events in August, click here.)

So far, California, Florida and New York tracks and racing jurisdictions have not weighed in on this issue. Last year, California banned excessive toe grabs over 4 mm high on front shoes.

Kentucky Adopts Toe Grab Limitation Model Rule Change; Process to Ratify Begins

Lisa Underwood, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, confirmed tonight that her agency today announced that they would adopt the model rule proposed by the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation's Thoroughbred Safety Committee and significantly add to the language describing how horses may be shod for racing and training on all types of racing surfaces in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

On June 17, the Committee issued a model rule suggestion to the individual state racing jurisdictions around the country.

The recommendation calls for :

1) An immediate ban on toe grabs other than 2-millimeter wear plates, turn downs, jar caulks, stickers and any other traction devices worn on the front shoes of Thoroughbred horses while racing or training on all racing surfaces.

2) The Association of Racing Commissioners’ International (RCI) and all North American racing authorities to implement this ban by rule as soon as possible, but no later than December 31, 2008, and for all racetracks to consider immediately implementing this ban by “house rule” in the interim.

We all know that most of those adaptations are worn on hind shoes, but this does clarify the previous model rule change suggestion, which called for a ban on toe grabs higher than four millimeters.

The new rule sounds like it would limit horses to wearing flat plates in front.

Hoofcare and Lameness will host a forum on the topic of racehorse shoeing regulations on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 as part of our "Hoofcare@Saratoga" event series. Come and meet Bill Casner of Winstar Farms, chairman of the Grayson Jockey club's Welfare and Safety Summit's Shoeing Committee, and hear farrier instructor Mitch Taylor, who will present new research conducted by the Welfare and Safety Summit (WSS), and get real-world insights from Kentucky Thoroughbred shoer Steve Norman. Introductory lecture about artificial surfaces will be by the "mad genius" trainer, Michael Dickinson of Fair Hill, Maryland and Tapeta. Other speakers and participants will be announced.

All in the horseshoeing and racing worlds are welcome to attend...and it might be a good idea, given these new rule changes. Watch this blog for more news about this important event, or send an email to Saratoga@hoofcare.com to get on our email notification list for the Hoofcare@Saratoga series.

Photos for this post courtesy of Dan Burke of FPD, distributors of Kerckhaert shoes in the USA. Thank you!

Toe Clips Making a Comeback on the Track?

Happy Feet, originally uploaded by Rock and Racehorses.

Here's a lovely shot of the hooves of Lawyer Ron, caught before he stepped off Ray Amato's famous black mats outside trainer Todd Pletcher's barn at the Oklahoma track in Saratoga.

Note two things about this photo: 1) the toe clips! and 2) no toe grabs! and, while you're at it, the depth of heel on the near side. Many racehorses are dismissed as having low heels but Lawyer Ron seems to be doing just fine. He just turned five.

Lawyer Ron won the Eclipse Award this week for best older stakes horse.

Todd Pletcher is often imitated around the backstretch; I wonder if we'll be seeming more toe clips this year!

By the way, a detailed presentation and forum on toe grabs is scheduled for the AFA convention in Lexington, KY on March 1; toe grabs will also be on the agenda of the second Racehorse Welfare and Safety Summit, hosted by the Grayson Foundation/Jockey Club on March 17-18. Mr. Pletcher is on the hoofcare committee that has been studying toe grabs.

PS I don't think Todd Pletcher would tolerate messy wrapping, in case you are wondering about that. I think the near bandage was probably pushed up during shoeing. The off has probably been rewrapped.

Thanks to Sarah Andrews for the image to post.