Barefoot Racing in California? State Board Seeks More Time for Input, But Bans Heel Nerving and Steroids

A decision had been due in California last week about a proposed rule change that would allow Thoroughbred horses to race barefoot at the state’s tracks, all of which have recently been converted to artificial surfaces.

At yesterday’s meeting at Del Mar Racetrack near San Diego, the CHRB sent two the regulatory amendment back out for 15-day public notice with minor changes to the texts. The Board indicated it would suspend the portion of the rule that requires horses to be shod, as long as it is publicly noted in the official program. The memo from the CHRB indicated that a public hearing will be held.

Vice Chairman Richard Harris noted that while this proposal to allow horses to race unshod has been around for some time. He said that the installation of synthetic surfaces in California has helped push it forward because some horses appear to be training better without shoes on the new surfaces.

The amendment would allow a horse to race unshod if the trainer feels the horse might run better without shoes. Any changes would be noted on the official program.

According to the CHRB, the issue was first raised by the California Thoroughbred Trainers at a meeting of the CHRB Medication Committee last November. CTT Executive Director Ed Halpern indicated there had been sentiment among some trainers “for a long time to allow horses to race unshod, but with the introduction of synthetic tracks, the idea has gained support for moving forward. Some horses are more comfortable without shoes.”

Dr. Diane Isbell, one of the CHRB’s official veterinarians, provided some details during a special meeting on February 20 that focused on synthetic surfaces. Dr. Isbell was among seven veterinarians on a panel that discussed the safety of synthetic surfaces in terms of injuries to horses.

“We have much sounder horses (on the synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields) and I’m finding that we have a lot less joint filling in the horses on pre-race (examinations) than we do when we have the sealed surfaces,” explained Dr. Isbell. She went on to say, “What we’ve found with the synthetic surfaces is the foot does not have the slip that it had with the dirt surface.”

Dr. Isbell continued, “A number of trainers in Northern California are starting to train their horses barefoot. There are an increasing number of trainers doing that (and those horses are) working as well or better as they did when they had shoes on. We do know from research work that the bare foot is better able to utilize the internal shock absorption system of the horse, which does help to take some of the stress off the legs.”

Dr. Isbell did not give a reference for that research.

If the regulation change passes, the official program will note when any horse adds or removes shoes. To date, the CHRB has heard no testimony in opposition to allowing horses to race unshod.

Written comments should be addressed to: Harold Coburn, Regulation Analyst, California Horse Racing Board, 1010 Hurley
Way, Suite 300. Sacramento, CA 95825.

For additional details, he can be reached at (916) 263- 6397 or Fax (916) 263-6022 or e-mail (harolda@chrb.ca.gov).

Most states and racing jurisdictions require horses to be shod. Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown recently spent a few weeks barefoot while in light exercise at Aqueduct, but has since had glue-on shoes re-applied, according to hoof repair consultant Ian McKinlay.

Standardbred farrier Conny Svensson recalled in an article recently that he pulled the shoes on champion Moni Maker in 2000 when she she raced in France. She went out and trotted the fastest mile in European history. A few weeks later, the trainer gambled and tried it again when she was racing in Italy. She broke stride and was eliminated.

Artificial arena surfaces have been detrimental to the hooves of some unshod sport horses, although ill effects of racing surfaces have not been reported, perhaps because horses in most states are required to be shod. Farrier Bob Pethick in New Jersey documented the deterioration of hoof wall thickness in a barefoot warmblood when it was moved to a new stable with a more abrasive indoor arena surface. The case was documented in Hoofcare and Lameness Journal, issue #78. Click here to read the article online.

In other news, California added horsewoman and celebrity Bo Derek to the Board, banned the four major steroids from use on racehorses in the state, and unanimously adopted a regulatory amendment prohibiting posterior digital neurectomies, or “heel nerving.” Any horse that undergoes such a procedure after October 1, 2008, will be prohibited from racing. This prohibition was opposed by the Thoroughbred Owners of California, which believes California should wait for a national policy.

Hoofcare at Saratoga: Calendar of Tuesday Events Beginning July 29th

Saratoga Springs, New York -- Beginning July 29 Please attend any or all of these casual, summer-style educational events. All events are on Tuesdays. Admission is free. Tuesday, July 29 (evening) RIDE ON Exhibit Preview at National Museum of Racing with speakers Donald Walsh DVM (laminitis) and Allie Hayes (anatomical aftermath of hoof and leg injury), who are featured in this new museum exhibit on horse health, lameness, and laminitis. Comments by trainer Michael Dickinson and farrier Michael Wildenstein; meet exhibit curator Beth Shaffer. The Parting Glass Pub will still be open for dinner after this event. Tuesday August 5 (evening) RACETRACK Shoeing at the Parting Glass with Grayson Jockey Club Welfare and Safety Summit Shoeing Committee to share new research, view new high-tech videos of different shoes on different surfaces, and discuss toe grab and shoeing rules. "Mad Genius" trainer Michael Dickinson, developer of Tapeta surfaces, will also speak. Tuesday August 12 at the National Museum of Racing (afteroon) sponsored by LIFE DATA LABS and at the Parting Glass (evening). Racing surfaces and hoof cracks, wall separations, with racetrack surface researcher Dr Mick Peterson, Thoroughbred hoof repair specialist Ian McKinlay, and Swedish Standardbred shoeing specialist Conny Svensson. Tuesday August 19 (evening) at the Parting Glass; program led by Michael Wildenstein FWCF (Hons), Cornell University, plus special guests to end the series. The Parting Glass is located at 40 Lake Avenue (one block off Broadway) in Saratoga Springs. Dinner is available at the Parting Glass at a reasonable cost. The National Museum of Racing is on Union Avenue, opposite the main entrance to the track. Out of town? Call the Comfort Inn and ask for the "Hoofcare" special rate: (518) 587-6244. The nearest airport is Albany, New York. For more information: please don't call the Museum or the Parting Glass!  Visit http://www.hoofcare.blogspot.com for updates and announcements. Speakers and programs subject to cancellation or change without notice. Presented with the help of CCE Equine and Equilite, Maker of Sore No More Liniment. Special thanks to Freida Garrison and Jim Santore and the Parting Glass Pub. Sponsorship opportunities available for some events, please inquire.

Another Word About Toe Grabs

Unless you are embedded in the world of horseshoes, you might not know what a toe grab is. It is cleat, basically, that protrudes from the toe area of a horse shoe. Many people believe that horses need something to push off from, particularly when leaving the gate, and the toe grab was designed to do that.

Toe grabs come in many lengths. The most extreme are Louisiana and Quarter horse toe grabs. Most racehorses wear regular or low-toe shoes if they have toe grabs, and most of them are on the hind feet.

Toe grabs are an adaptation of toe calks used on draft and driving horses that had to go over ice and snow in the old days. Part of a horse's maintenance in the winter included sharpening the calks. One of the major advances in horseshoeing in the late 19th century was the invention of the removable heel calk, which caused such a stir in American industry that federal intervention was needed! (But that's another story...)

Shoes are available with traction devices on the heels and they can also be added to the shoes if the track is slick or wet. Calks can also be forged or the tip of the heel of a race plate can be bent at an angle.

It is often said that the United States is the only country that allows toe grabs, and that is untrue. First of all, most racing around the world is on grass courses, especially Europe and Australia. Horsemen and horseshoers in those country are pretty horrified by the idea of toe grabs, but they also do not race on dirt.

Dave Erb of Victory Racing Plates shared with me a good rule of thumb. I asked him what countries allowed toe grabs. He said, "Anyplace with the word 'America' in it: North America, South America, Central America."

I've never forgotten that.

I think that the shoe manufacturers are a wealth of information about what works and what doesn't. I hope they will get involved in these discussions about shoeing rule changes and join us in Saratoga next month.

Note: "Hoofcare@Saratoga" will host two sessions specifically on racehorse shoes in the news. On August 5th, members of the Grayson Jockey Club Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit's Shoeing Committee will present new research and answer questions from 7 p.m. on at the Parting Pub in Saratoga Springs, NY. On August 12, a double session at both the National Museum of Racing (in the afternoon) and the Parting Glass (in the evening) will cover racing surfaces and hoof injuries.

Please see these other posts for more on toe grab rules; please note that most of the activity has occurred within 30 days of the recommendation from the Jockey Club:

(today)Hoofcare@Saratoga Event Series topics, week by week by 2008

(yesterday)Keeneland and Turfway ban toe grabs and traction on front and hind shoes

(July 16, 2008)Penn National Gaming Tracks to Ban Toe Grabs and Traction on Front Shoes

(July 14, 2008)Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Announces Plan to Ban Traction and Grabs on Front Shoes

(June 18, 2008) Jockey Club Calls for States for Nationwide Ban on Grabs and Traction on Front Shoes

(June 4, 2008) ESPN video clip with Belmont shoer Tim Shortell on basic racetrack shoeing and shoes

(April 30, 2008) Kentucky Derby: Shoewear of the Fast and Famous

(March 13, 2008) Shoes and Surfaces at the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation's 2008 Welfare and Safety Summit

(February 21, 2008) California Reports on Horses Since Toe Grab Ban, Switch to Artificial Tracks

(June 2007) Indiana Bans Toe Grabs in Response to GJC WSS Recommendation
(June 2007) 2007 Grayson Jockey Club Foundation Welfare and Safety Summit Shoeing
Committee

(May 2007) State Racing Commissioners Encouraged to Ban Toe Grabs

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!