Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation "Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit" Planned for Keeneland in October

A two-day workshop concerning the safety and soundness of the Thoroughbred racehorse, will be held on Monday, October 16, and Tuesday, October 17, at Keeneland racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky.

Three dozen individuals representing a cross-section of the breeding, racing and veterinary community have agreed to participate in the "Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit", which is sponsored by Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

The first morning session will be open to the public. There is no admission, but a voluntary donation to Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation will be accepted.

The open session will be followed by a closed round table discussion and subsequent breakout groups. Monday afternoon, each group will give a 30-minute presentation on their ideas. Participants will meet in a closed session again Tuesday to develop and recommend definitive action plans.

The open session will include panel discussions and presentations by the following participants:

* Dr. Rick Arthur and Dr. Larry Bramlage, “Trends in Thoroughbred Racing by the Numbers”

* Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, “Joint Trauma and Osteoarthritis (DJD) — A Major Cause of Attrition in Thoroughbred Racehorses”

* Dr. Michael “Mick” Peterson, “Extending the Careers of Racehorses Through Engineered Racing Surfaces”

* Dr. Sue Stover, “Risk Factors for Musculoskeletal Injuries” and “Race Surface Preliminary Findings”

“To gain further public insight, we propose that anyone with suggestions is welcome to submit a one- to three-page summary of their ideas,” the Foundation's Ed Bowen said. “We will provide these summaries to the participants prior to the summit.”

Summaries should be sent in Word or WordPerfect to khix@jockeyclub.com no later than October 1.

“Horses are the core of the racing industry, and their safety and soundness is paramount to the industry’s success,” said Dell Hancock, chairman, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. “We hope our findings also benefit horses of all breeds and disciplines.”

To learn more, please visit: http://www.jockeyclub.com/mediaCenter.asp?story=254A Jockey Club press release was used as the primary source of this post.

BEVA Congress in the UK

The news is coming in from the British Equine Veterinary Association Congress, which ended yesterday at the National Exhibition Center at Birmingham, England.

Hoofcare & Lameness Consulting Editor Dr. Hilary Clayton, McPhail Chair in Sport Horse Lameness at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, was a popular speaker. Her lecture "Current Trends in Equine Gait Analysis" was sponsored by Equinalysis and will be summarized here as soon as possible.

Our British correspondent, Mark Andrews MRCVS, was at the conference and will provide his usual succinct reports.

Carbon-Fibre Heel "Patch" Developed for Underrun Heels at Royal Veterinary College Structure and Motion Laboratory

Carbon fiber heel patches developed at the Royal Veterinary College in England are designed to assist the growth of heel quarters.

It looks like a black potato chip and weighs about the same, but researchers at England's Royal Veterinary College believe that this tiny patch will, when applied correctly, aid horses with underrun heels by redirecting the horn tubule growth from the coronet.

I first heard about the "Heel Support" at the "Maximizing Equine Performance" conference in England this spring. I've been staring at the handful of samples I brought back ever since. Farrier Peter Day at the RVC helped develop the product, and claims that it can stengthen the wall by 40%. Before you scoff, remember that this is the RVC, home of Alan Wilson's Structure and Locomotion Laboratory, where they have any number of ways to test tensile strength of a product or the wall. Wilson's own farrier (and PhD candidate) Chris Pardoe showed me the product.

From a press release about the product: "The prevalence (of collapsed heels) is so high in Thoroughbreds (reportedly affecting between 52% and 97%) that it can lull individuals into thinking that the condition is a normal hoof variation rather than a serious pathological deviation. Despite its prevalence the condition is notoriously difficult to prevent or treat."

Last week I discussed the product with Frank Dugan from Vettec; his company's urethane-based adhesives are used to adhere the patch to the heel below the coronet--placement and adhesion would seem to be key components to success. Frank said that the product's marketing group does not yet have a USA distributor but he was enthusiastic. Since the "chips" are almost weightless, shipping from the UK might not be too expensive.

Marketing is currently through VetCell, the firm that is also marketing the RVC's bone-marrow stem-cell therapy for tendon injuries. The British racehorse Chancellor recently made a victorious comeback to the track wearing the patches; his foot is shown in the photo. No, I can't explain the steel shoes, perhaps they use a thicker training plate in the UK?

If the sea gulls haven't stolen the samples, I will send some to interested farriers or vets to try. Please contact Fran at the Hoofcare Publishing office during business hours: 978 281 3222.

Central Park Loses a Solid Citizen: Carriage Horse Dies

Juliet, one of the carriage horses at the southern end of Central Park in Manhattan, died early Friday morning in her stall on the third floor of a stable in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. To my surprise, and appreciation, the New York Times has published a combination news story and obituary of one of New York's beloved and controversial (depending on your politics) four-footed citizens. Click here to read the story on NYtimes.com. (But please come back to the HoofBlog.)

In the past, we have written articles about carriage horses slipping on the pavement and, in 2004, about a carriage horse in New York that was electrocuted through its steel horseshoes.

Thanks to the Ritz Carlton for coming to the horse's rescue with what was probably a very expensive rug. There's something tragically poetic about this story.

All HoofBlog text and images © Hoofcare Publishing 2006 unless otherwise noted.
To learn more about new research, products, and treatments for the horse's hooves and legs as reported to veterinarians and farriers
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Fran Jurga, Publisher Hoofcare Publishing 19 Harbor Loop Gloucester, MA 01930 USA

Shoes for Thought: Burns Polyflex Synthetic Glue-on Prototypes Put to the Test at Major Racetracks

The new Burns Polyflex shoe is made of polyurethane with a wire core (Fran Jurga © photo)

Have you seen one of these before? Probably not. You're looking at the prototype of a new glue-on shoe made entirely of polyurethane. What makes it different from most plastic shoes is that these are made with a steel core, so the shoe is somewhere shapeable, and it has a steel toe grab. The shoes are made in molds.

This shoe is the brainchild of Florida-to-New-York farrier Curtis Burns. I ran into him at Keeneland back in April, and then again at Saratoga. The shoes are underneath some very good horses--this is the foot of a top stakes-winning filly.

People talk about the eternal quest for a better mousetrap...for me, the quest is for a better horseshoe. And as long as there are farriers out there, they will never stop trying to come up with a better design and a safer way to keep a horse's feet in perpetual motion.

Curtis deserves a big pat on the back, as does his wife Diane, who does a lot of the molding. I think you'll all be hearing a lot more from them, but for now it is one horse at a time.

Will there be a special shoe design needed for the new Polytrack surfaces being installed at the California tracks and Woodbine in Ontario, among others? I'm sure there is one on a drawing board somewhere right now!

New DVD on Underrun Heels Will Be Marketed by Hoofcare Publishing

Client education takes a big step forward this month as we begin marketing the new dvd "Get Your Horse Sound" from California farrier John Suttle. In just 38 minutes, John does a remarkable job of explaining the lever theory of hoof construction/function and how underrun heels compromise a horse's ability to bear weight and lead an athletic life.

Not everyone will agree with John's "materialistic" solutions (Vettec should have bankrolled this dvd, given the heavy use of their adhesive hoof reconstruction materials in the shoeing) but the explanations are clear and the examples are good. I think John has a great career ahead of him in educating owners (as well as vets and farriers) because his low-key approach (he even wears a Mr. Rogers-type cardigan) is sincere and direct. And, he doesn't have anything to sell (except the dvd). It's like a breath of fresh air.

Click here to watch a simple preview.

(You will need the QuickTime viewer to see this film on your computer; you can download the application for Windows or Macintosh platforms for free at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download.)
To place an order for the dvd, please call, fax or email the Hoofcare office with your name, address, and Visa/MC information. This dvd is made for North American format dvd players; if you are in another hemisphere, you'll need a universal player and even then, it may not work. Cost is $30 per dvd plus $5 post in USA.