Kentucky Derby Hoof Tech: Calculated Hoof Repair for Heel-Quarter Blow-Outs in Racehorses

Last week we showed you Ian McKinlay's video clip of a quarter crack, and tried to paraphrase Ian's description of the various types of "blowouts" that can fracture a racehorse's hoof wall, and showed a foot with a wall separation ready for repair. That photo showed a foot that might look something like what Kentucky Derby favorite Big Brown's feet looked like when his injuries occurred. They have now been repaired and the horse's trainer, Richard Dutrow, commented to the press today that he is pleased with the condition of his horse's feet and the recovery that has been made possible by a combination of hoof repair and cushioning of the injured area, coupled with glued on "gasket" shoes.

The shoe design and rationale has already been explained in previous posts but this serious of photos will show you a horse that is NOT BIG BROWN, but that received a similar shoeing solution. Ian McKinlay has provided these additional photos to give people a broader view of how streamlined and non-intrusive the repair process is, compared to the older ways of bar shoes and laced and layered patches.

A blog comment last week brought up a good question, regarding his ignornance that Pyro had won his two previous starts wearing glued-on shoes. A few years ago this might have been a handicap, but that racing observer wondered if shoes shouldn't be disclosed to the betting public because high-tech enhancements might offer an advantage to a horse, similar to the new Speedo "skin suits" with ultrasonic welds instead of seams, which will be used in the 2008 Olympic swimming competitions. That is, unless they are ruled to be performance-enhancing equipment.


The shoe (race plate) package ready for application. The heels are fully cushioned where the wall has been removed. The copper "clips" are not clips in the sense of those used on steel shoes; they are providing more surface area for the adhesive. They are just thin tab-like strips of copper. Remember that this shoe will be glued on, there is no issue with nails having to penetrate the rubber.


The heel is rebuilt and the shoe is on. The temptation is probably to incorporate the heel repair into the shoe but the two have to maintain separate entities so that the shoe can be removed. The artificial heel will be trimmed as it grows down. Only the copper tab crosses the frontier between the shoe and the real/artificial wall. Remember that the padding under the heel is the full width of the shoe only in the heel area, which is why you see the black line fill with adhesive in the quarter.


I am not sure whether or not this horse had blowouts (wall separations) in both heels, possibly caused by subsolar abscesses, hard racetracks, or gait changes, so both heel walls were trimmed out and replaced with artificial wall. It's also possible that the the adhesive and heel cushion were used on both heels to provide symmetrical heel architecture and encourage normal gaits and stride characteristics.

The finished feet. This horse will have the benefit of pain relief from the cushioning and the realigned support of the artificial heel wall to stabilize weightbearing over the entire foot (or where the foot would be). This procedure hopefully encourages normal circulation and a normal gait pattern. The finished job does not look very different from a patch for a quarter crack or a wall rebuild for a thin-walled horse so you can see why a trainer would just refer to the injury as a "quarter crack".

Thanks to Ian McKinlay for sharing this technique, and for interrupting his work to take these photos. Racetrack repair technology is continuing to evolve as more horses are being shod and supported as their needs dictate. Ian is a career specialist in quarter crack repair and is bringing new ideas and materials to the racetrack to help horses stay in training. He is very generous to share information from the racetrack with the world through this blog.

Links to previous stories from last week on Kentucky Derby hopefuls' feet:
Click here for quarter crack explanation and Ian McKinlay's video
Click here for glue shoes on Kentucky Derby favorites and Ian McKinlay's explanation of heel separation
Click here for interview with Big Brown trainer Richard Dutrow about the horse's feet.

Airs Above the Games: Chicago's Olympic Bid for 2016 Games Sweetened by World-Class Equestrian Site at Tempel Farms

The Olympic Torch kept winding its way around the world this week. Protests in India and Thailand were in the news but, closer to home, some equestrian news stole the Olympic spotlight.

As you may have heard by now, the city of Chicago, Illinois is vying to be the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Sounds great, doesn’t it? The Olympics in Wrigley Field?

But where would the equestrian sports be hosted in the Windy City? Today we found out.

Chicago 2016, the organization bidding for the privilege to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, announced today that Tempel Farms in Lake County, Illinois, will be the proposed site for the Olympic Equestrian Complex. Tempel Farms' participation is expected to strengthen Chicago’s concept for the Games significantly.

Background: Tempel Farms was founded in 1959 by the late Tempel and Esther Smith and is home to the largest privately-owned herd of Lipizzan horses in the world. Over the years, Tempel Farms has hosted many equestrian events including the North American Young Rider Championships and the United States Dressage Federation Young Rider Clinic Series.

The farm’s area is large enough to accommodate spectators and officials comfortably. In addition, the possibility of establishing an equine veterinary clinic after the Games works cohesively with Chicago 2016’s interest in leaving a positive legacy for future generations to enjoy.

Tempel Farms’ offer will improve Chicago’s initial proposal because the critical cross country course already exists.

News source: www.aroundtherings.com, the subscription-based Olympics news service.

Pollitt Hoof Studies Group Hot on the Trail of Australian Wild Horses

A wild horse pen in the Australian bush.

Researcher Brian Hampson at the University of Queensland in Australia is in pursuit of two lofty goals: a solid database of information about the hooves of “brumby” wild horses and a PhD on the topic of "Improving the foot health of the domestic horse".

Australians are known for their relentless pursuit of goals, as illustrated in that most classic of all horse films, The Man from Snowy River. In that film, we saw a foreshadowing of things to come, as the real-life contemporary Australians established global dominance in the sport of eventing. The riding in that film was so good, it seemed like any number of the cast could have been members of the Australian Olympic team picking up some extra cash.

Pollitt and Hampson are more likely to be pursuing their brumbies from a helicopter than on horseback, but both are more than capable of stepping in as rider extras in the next Australian horse film classic. Pollitt’s equestrian accomplishments include a national heavyweight championship in endurance and Brian competes in cattle working horse events and trains horses when he’s not in the research lab.

“I will be going bush in a few weeks,” writes Brian in an email today. I think that means that he will head into the wilds to check on the "mob" of wild horses outfitted with GPS sensor collars. The foot research group is studying how much movement wild horses do in a day, in what direction, over what terrain and what changes show up in their feet. The project also have video cameras mounted at watering holes to see how much immersion the feet typically experience. The horses are in an exceptionally dry area with access to two watering points.

Each sensory-equipped brumby is funded by a sponsor, including one that originated from the introductory post on this blog. Thank you very much to that donor…whoever you are! It is not too late to become involved in this project and help Dr Pollitt and Brian reach their goals. The cost is approximately $2600 per horse.

Click here to read the original post about the brumby hoof study.

Click here to visit Dr. Pollitt's Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit's in-depth web site.

"You can bid the mob good day": This short clip from the film "The Man From Snowy River" is on everyone's favorite lists for capturing amazing horsemanship (and horses) on film. For a lot of people, this is the ultimate wild horse image. At some special fundraising events for laminitis research, Dr. Pollitt recites the original Banjo Patterson poem on which the movie is based. He wears his Akubra hat and cracks an authentic kangaroo-hide stock whip for punctuation.

Cult or Clown? April Fool's Artistry on British Hillside Landmark Just in Time for Breeding Season

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Can you find the white horse on the Google Map? This is an image of the little town in Wiltshire, England where an ancient outline of a white horse is carved in the hillside; it was captured before the enhancement described in this story. If you are new to Google Maps: Use the directional buttons on the map to move around; use the plus/minus symbols to enlarge/reduce your view. Hint: the white horse is just above the edge of the bordered tilled fields, at the upper center of the photo. If you put the mouse arrow over that spec and hit the "plus" symbol, the horse should come into view. Keep trying, you'll get the hang of it! You should also be able to navigate around the image by holding down your mouse button and dragging across the image. The little "pins" in the map indicate Google advertisers. They're everywhere.

Have you always wanted to visit Stonehenge? Think crop circles are more interesting than "American Idol"? Fancy you'd look great in a hooded cape? Then you probably know all about the white horses that dot the remote countryside hillsides of southern England.

Some of the "chalk horses" trace their origins to prehistoric times.

But one has been in the news lately. The hillside horse above Alton Barnes in Wiltshire was enhanced recently when a creative landscape artist added an anatomical detail to the horse.

Motorists on the motorway glanced up and said, "I've been driving down this road for years and never noticed it was a stallion before."

Well, it wasn't a stallion before.

So far, apparently, no one has climbed up there (this is a steep hillside) to find out if the change is merely artistic or if the ground has been excavated down to the chalk. Apparently once in the past, it was temporarily turned into a zebra. And (I would love to see this) on the summer solstice, the entire horse is outlined by candles--placed there by chanting Druids, no doubt.

Here's a Scrabble word for you. The art and science of carving horses into hillsides is known as "leucippotomy". I guess that means that Alton Barnes has a lewd leucippotomist...on the loose.

Thanks to Horse and Hound, the BBC, and a lot of rather strange but helpful cultish web sites for assistance in assembling this post. I found out that Alton Barnes has crop circles, too, and that the chalk horse there is one of the newest; it was carved in 1812.

Friends at Work: How Many Guys Does It Take to Shoe a Horse?

Some things are the same the world over. People hear that tap-tap-tap of the farrier's hammer and it's like a call to meeting, no matter where you are.

In this case, "we" are in Punjab, one of the four states of Pakistan.

Here's the worldwide formula: One guy has to own a horse. It takes two (at least ) to do the work. And two to stand around giving a running commentary.

Meanwhile, in the capital city of Islamabad, the Olympic torch was passing through...in a horsedrawn wagon. Perhaps the runners were exhausted...and maybe this fellow in the cart was on his way there!

Photo courtesy of Yvonne Stepanow and Stock Exchange photo agency.

Note: “Friends At Work” is a regular feature of the Hoof Blog. When newspapers and web sites alert us to features on our hard-working readers and farflung friends, I sometimes can figure out how to link to the story and share the photo with blog readers. Preference is given to people who aren’t normally in the news…and the more exotic the locale, the better! Scroll down the blog to read more "Friends at Work" posts from all over the world. You could be next!

"The First Saturday in May" Will Be on the Third Friday in April! See you there!

Click on the "play" icon to launch the movie trailer. Turn up the volume!

Something special is coming to a theater (possibly) near you on Friday, April 18th.

That's the date of the premier of the exciting new documentary "First Saturday in May" about the Kentucky Derby. Made by the New York born-on-the-track Hennegan Brothers, the film whirls you through the excitement surrounding two Kentucky Derby winners and includes a great deal of previously unseen footage of our ill-fated friend Barbaro at New Bolton Center.

But it's mainly about the horses and people who make the Kentucky Derby such an unforgettable event, one that we look forward to each year because it is strong enough to endure and capture our hearts, year after year.

We may forget who won, but we never forget the thrill. And this film is full of thrills, colorful characters (maybe you're in it!) and of course, the horses on whose hooves the hopes of the horse world run.

Here's a list of the cities hosting premieres: Atlanta, Austin, Berkeley, Boston (you bet I'll be there!), Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Lexington, Louisville, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Saratoga, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington DC.

The Grayson Jockey Club Foundation for equine research (including laminitis) will be the charity beneficiary of the opening night festivities.

The official premiere was in Louisville this past weekend, with a press screening in Manhattan, and there's also a special showing next week in Saratoga. So far, the film has gotten great reviews.

This one's about the world we live in, on the best day of the year. It's about the horse world that the public needs to believe in if horse sports, especially racing, are to survive.

There's a big wonderful web site about the film here.

And some amazing raw out-takes of Barbaro here.

A great way to celebrate finishing your taxes!