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.

Penn National Tracks Will Ban Toe Grabs on Racehorses

Mitch Taylor has been shoeing and re-shoeing horses at the Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky as part of the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation's Welfare and Safety Summit's Shoeing Committee's mission to understand how different shoes affect a horse's gait on different surfaces. Both the Keeneland training and main tracks have been converted to Polytrack, a surface that the track promotes as safer than traditional dirt. Mitch will present new research from these studies on August 5th at the Hoofcare@Saratoga event in Saratoga Springs, New York. This photo is  a still from the high speed video presentation by Mitch presented at the Fourth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot in November 2007.

This is a sensitive subject, so I am going to present this information in the form of the press release that was sent to me. Penn National owns both Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing facilities, including Penn National, Charles Town in West Virginia, Bangor Raceway in Maine, Freehold in New Jersey, etc. Here's what they sent out yesterday:

(begin press release)
Penn National Gaming, Inc., the second largest owner of pari-mutuel racing facilities in North America, today announced the implementation of several initiatives intended to ensure the continued health and safety of equine participants at its racetracks. These initiatives include limiting the height of toe grabs on front shoes worn by race horses, endorsing rules for new riding crops for Thoroughbred jockeys, and recommending, at a minimum, the adoption of the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) model rule regarding Androgenic Anabolic Steroids.

The initiatives follow the recently issued recommendations of The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Safety Committee. Founded in 1894, the Jockey Club is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and is the breed registry for North American Thoroughbreds.

“Penn National Gaming endorses and embraces The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Safety Committee’s recommendations which are sound steps toward ensuring the health and welfare of our equine participants,” said Chris McErlean, Vice President of Racing for Penn National Gaming. “We have outlined a plan to introduce several of these recommendations at our horse racing facilities over the next few months. In addition, we will actively promote the adoption of permanent rules and regulations for these items with regulators in every one of the six jurisdictions where we conduct racing. We have identified several other areas where information, uniformity and cooperation are needed to achieve additional results to benefit the industry and expect that other responsible pari-mutuel facility owners and industry leaders will follow our actions.”

Penn National Gaming owns and operates gaming and racing facilities with a focus on slot machine entertainment. The Company presently operates nineteen facilities in fifteen jurisdictions, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. Penn National is the second largest owner of pari-mutuel facilities in North America and conducts over 1,000 dates of live racing annually. Total wagering at its pari-mutuel facilities on live and simulcast racing totaled nearly $850 million in 2007.

(end press release)

From what I can tell, this ban on toe grabs would be what is called a "house rule". Individual states have rules regarding shoes; Kentucky banned toe grabs on a statewide basis this week. However, apparently an individual track or even a meet, can have separate rules, if I understand the process correctly. The New York Racing Association, or "NYRA", is an example of an affiliated group of tracks--Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga--but a NYRA rule might not apply at Finger Lake Race Track or Vernon Downs in western New York state, for instance, if I understand correctly.

Therefore, this rule would affect only horses racing and training at tracks governed by Penn National Gaming. For instance, it would not affect Presque Isle in Pennsylvania or Mountaineer Park in West Virginia, which are not part of the Penn National group, as far as I know.

Click here to read the Hoof Blog's announcement about the recent Kentucky decision to change its shoeing rules.

Click here to read the Jockey Club's recommendation for a rule change.

Return to hoofcare.com.
Go to most recent story on the Hoof Blog and view all news.

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!

Strasser Trimmer's Conviction on Cruelty Charges in England Loosened on Appeal

Joanne Kowalski (left) with Hiltrud Strasser DVM outside a British courthouse during Ms. Kowalski's first trial for cruelty by means of radically trimming the hooves of a foundered pony. An appeals court lessened charges against the trimmer.

Amazing news from England today. A hoof trimmer who worked on a foundered pony following instructions from German veterinarian Hiltrud Strasser has had her conviction and sentence softened considerably.

Josephine Kowalski had been convicted of cruelty and of intentionally not seeking veterinary care that might have spared the pony some pain. She had been charged with 100 hours of community service and 10,000 pounds (about $20,000) in restitution.

Kowalski appealed and, after serving 30 hours of community service, was cleared of charges in a British appeals court, although she still appears to have been reprimanded for not seeking a veterinarian to medicate the pony.

This story is painful to read, but if you would like to, here's a link to the British newspaper.

Is the Biggest Horse Around Here the Biggest in the World?

Shoeless or shod, New Hampshire's "Tex" is pretty big. But is he big enough? (Concord Monitor photo)

To make it into the Guinness Book of World Records, a Belgian pulling horse named Tex had to have his shoes pulled. Farrier Rick Sharp pulled the shoes for an official measuring ceremony recently. Guinness requires that the horse be measured both with and without shoes.

According to the Concord Monitor newspaper, the six-year-old Belgian stands about 7 feet, 6 inches from hoof to head and weighs 2,450 pounds. This hoof is ten inches across, according to the article.

Tex is trying to tower over Radar, a Belgian in Texas who currently holds the Guinness honors, according to the newspaper. It's not clear whether Guinness goes by the overall height of the horse or the actual hands at the withers. His owners are hoping he makes 20 hands.

Shire horses in Australia and England are also trying to claim the title.

You can see why Guinness requires the shoes to be pulled before a horse is measured. This is not Tex, but another very large Belgian pulling horse that I saw worked on at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky a few years ago. Tex is probably shod in a similar way for the competition season. This horse had laminitis, but farrier Aaron Gygax managed to get him sound enough to keep pulling. This horse was shod in a very low-tech way for a high-tech place like Rood and Riddle: Aaron made the horse's new shoes. In this photo, you see his old shoes. I think he could climb telephone poles, too.

Invitation: Join Hoofcare@Saratoga at Professionals' Preview Evening for the New RIDE ON Exhibit at the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga, NY

"Ride on! Rough-shod if need be; Smooth-shod if that will do,

but ride on! Ride on over all obstacles, and win the race! "--Charles Dickens

You are invited to a special preview night for professionals to RIDE ON!

Hoofcare@Saratoga, Hoofcare and Lameness Journal

and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
invite you to attend a special evening

--Tuesday, July 29, 2008--

at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
109 Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York
(directly opposite the main entrance to the racetrack)

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. in the Hall of Fame Theater

Program highlights beginning at 6:30 p.m.:

Equine Laminitis Update
Research Update and Field Practice Notes by Donald Walsh DVM of the Animal Health Foundation. Dr Walsh will survey current research accomplishments and treatment innovations from research funded by AHF at the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit and other research centers. Dr. Walsh's work on behalf of laminitis research is featured in the RideOn! exhibit.

Followed by
Thoroughbred Hooves: The Inside Story
Professional anatomical specimen creator Allie Hayes of HorseScience and Horsescience.com will compare and contrast Thoroughbred feet with other breeds and share a haunting collection of the preserved feet and limbs of Thoroughbreds, including breakdown victims and laminitis sufferers. Allie's educational anatomical specimen are featured in the RideOn! exhibit.

Remarks and short presentations by Thoroughbred trainer and footing expert Michael Dickinson and Cornell vet school farrier professor Michael Wildenstein FWCF (Hons).

7:30 p.m.
Exhibit Viewing
Doors open for a private viewing of RIDE ON! The Museum's new exhibit on advancements in the health and soundness of racehorses. Enjoy the exhibit and share your observations and experiences with our special guest, curator of collections Beth Sheffer of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

About the New Exhibit:
The new exhibit focuses on colic, leg fractures, breakdowns, hoof and limb anatomy and laminitis. Artifacts in the exhibit include shoes, braces, and hoof-related equipment handcrafted and provided or loaned by contributors and editors of Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. The main part of the Museum will be closed on Tuesday night but will be open on Tuesday afternoon and on Wednesday. Tuesday night attendees will be able to see the Hall of Fame and the Ride On! exhibit.

About Hoofcare@Saratoga's Plans for August:

Hoofcare and Lameness Journal will host four Tuesday events in Saratoga Springs during the 2008 summer race meet, beginning on Tuesday, July 29 at the Museum. Confirmed speakers for August 5, 12, and 19 include (in alphabetical order) Bill Casner, Michael Dickinson, Ian McKinlay, Steve Norman, Mick Peterson, Conny Svensson, Mitch Taylor, Michael Wildenstein and others to be announced.

The series is made possible by generous support from LIFE DATA LABS, makers of Farriers Formula, as well as the National Museum of Racing, the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation, the Animal Health Foundation and the Van Lennep Equestrian Center at Skidmore College.

The series is presented with the help of CCE Equine and Equilite, maker of Sore No More liniment products.

Hoofcare@Saratoga would not happen without two special friends of the hoof in Saratoga, Frieda Garrison and Jim Santore, and our friends at the wonderful Parting Irish Pub. Join us for one program, or come for them all. Events are free, thanks to our generous sponsors.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS: For the July 29 event only, hotel rooms are available at the spectacular new Hampton Inn on Lake Avenue in downtown Saratoga (directly opposite the Parting Glass Pub) for $159 per night. Call for reservations: 518 584 2100. A special rate of $159 per night is available for the entire Hoofcare@Saratoga series at the Comfort Inn, conveniently located at Exit 15 on the edge of town. Call 518 587 6244. You must request the "Hoofcare" rate. $159 is a very reasonable price during the race meet.

Saratoga Springs is a few hours due north of New York City, and 30 or so minutes north of Albany, where the closest major airport is located. Home of the longest-running Thoroughbred racing season in America, the town is also alive with major Standardbred racing, polo, and all sorts of pleasure and sport horse activities.

For more information, please email saratoga@hoofcare.com

Reservations are not necessary but an RSVP would be appreciated for planning purposes at the Museum. Please email saratoga@hoofcare.com. Do NOT call the Museum or the Parting Glass.

Watch this blog for more announcements of Hoofcare@Saratoga events or call the Hoofcare and Lameness office: 978 281 3222. The office will be closed Monday through Wednesday during the Saratoga event series.