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I happened across an article entitled Polymers replace metal in horseshoes for added benefit in one of my many engineering trade magazines the other day (Design fax, Volume 7, Issue 26). I suppose I shouldn’t have been shocked by its contents, but I continually hold out hope for more legitimate science in this field, and am always disappointed when it comes up short.

I’m not going to quote the entire article here, but I want to give you a few highlights. Here’s the second paragraph –

Former horse trainer and entrepreneur John Filipelli came to the realization early in his career that horses run better without shoes. But allowing them to be ridden, much less race, without shoes wasn’t the solution, either from a practical or a humane perspective. Hooves are comprised of hair and need to be protected, and that’s why man has been shoeing horses for centuries with metal shoes.

And the fourth –

Many years ago, Filipelli was challenged by an owner to cure a horse that would go off stride. He had to do this within 30 days or forfeit his fees. But no matter what he tried, nothing worked, until he removed the horseshoes. Then the horse quickly went back on stride.

Late in this rather brief article are the following paragraphs and table –

In steps to both verify product claims and industry skepticism, the company conducts ongoing research to verify that polymer horseshoes are viable alternatives. Among the results are lameness prevention, increased circulation, improved traction, increased comfort, an improved gait, and faster running speeds.

The firm has developed the following chart to make other comparisons and show other benefits.

I’m not going to attempt to point out all of the problems with this article, but I would like to give you a few things to consider, starting with Mr. Filipelli’s statement that “Hooves are comprised of hair and need to be protected, and that’s why man has been shoeing horses for centuries with metal shoes.”

That statement absolutely fascinates me, because without it, the entire article actually supports the fact that horses are best served by being barefoot. The rationale behind his comparing hooves with hair is, from a marketing perspective, quite smart, because once you accept the comparison, the “need to be protected” follows quite logically. Unfortunately, the statement is also extremely misleading. Comparing the hardness and durability of horse hooves to hair is akin to pointing out that diamonds are made of the same material (carbon) as charcoal and pencil “lead;” chemically, they may be the same, but their physical properties are radically different. The only reason “man has been shoeing horses for centuries with metal shoes” is because man has been trying to use technology to solve the problem he created when he started keeping horses in radically unnatural environments. Fix the management issues, and you’ll solve the problem! How many sound horses of every breed and used in every discipline and environment (yes, including racing) does it take to convince Mr. Filipelli that his early career observations were right on target?

I also want to mention the misleading nature of the chart comparing his polymer shoes (which, by the way, are by no means a new idea) to metal shoes. First of all, I’d love to see the research that supports the definitive figures stated, like “80% blood circulation between hoof and knee.” But perhaps more importantly, I want to point out that all of the “improvements” mentioned are improvements only when compared to a metal shoe and not improvements over an unshod hoof. That’s a crucial distinction. Although the table implies otherwise, his shoe cannot actually prevent lamenesses – it can only not cause most lamenesses that occur because of shoes and shoeing. And I guarantee that if his shoes are used in combination with so-called “corrective” shoeing, it’ll have nearly the same disastrous consequences as any other shoe.

Is what Mr. Filipelli offers really a better alternative? Without question, a flexible plastic shoe glued onto a properly-trimmed hoof is far better than a metal shoe nailed onto a hoof. But it’s still not good. In fact, the situation reminds me of a cartoon I once saw, where, in the first panel, the lawyer tells the prisoner, “Plead guilty, and I’ll get you off on a lesser charge.” And in the second panel, as the prisoner is being led away, he exclaims, “Big deal! Twenty thousand volts instead of forty thousand.”

It’s kinda like that.

Yesterday I got to ride my (horse type deleted) on a really nice trail ride on some neighboring farms and he was wonderful!!!  I can not thank you enough!  He has been consistently sound now for longer than ever since I got him 1 yr ago.  I can see his hooves changing and that is exciting to see.  I can also see how he is carrying his weight differently on his feet which is also wonderful!  I had thought the under run heels and long toes were not correctable since I had talked with my farrier about that since day one and thought he was working toward a change.  It is such a relief to see him be comfortable and sound.  And to top it off he is such a nice trail horse!!  What a shame if he would of been written off as unsound and un-ridable!

I occasionally get calls from sometimes very upset horse owners saying that his or her horse needs immediate attention because the horse’s hoof wall is chipping – usually at the toe, or sometimes in the heel quarters. Most of the time, these calls originate with owners who have had the horse barefoot for some period, but whose farrier or trimmer doesn’t really have a solid understanding of proper hoof form. Most of my clients have heard these comments, but I thought I’d go ahead and share them with the rest of you…

When a hoof begins to chip, it nearly always means only one thing: the hoof is simply too long, and nature has begun to rectify the problem. As Jaime Jackson’s (and others’) studies have shown, the optimal hoof form – the shape that all of the forces at work on the hoof are continually moving the hoof towards – is very short, with a well-rounded edge. Therefore, if the hoof is too long and/or doesn’t have an adequate “roll” on the outer edge, nature will eventually address the problem to allow the horse to break over and move in a more efficient manner – hence, the wall begins to chip away to remove the excess length. When the farrier or trimmer properly balances the hoof, however, and the hoof has had a chance to progress further down the road towards its optimal form, chipping becomes much less common. In fact, one of the frequent comments from clients is that the hooves used to be chipped up all the time, but now never chip. So chips are never a reason to worry; they just mean the hoof is getting too long.

Cracks are a bit different. When a horse owner calls or writes about a crack, I always ask three things: 1) is there any bleeding from the crack, 2) is there any other fluid coming from the crack, and 3) is the horse lame. If the answer to all three is negative, then I reassure the owner that there’s very little cause for concern.

It’s my belief that cracks are caused by several different things. Probably the most common cracks are the ones that show up when the hoof is subjected to repeated periods of extreme moisture cycling – standing in wet snow all day followed by a dry stall all night, for example. These appear as shallow vertical cracks over much of the hoof’s surface, creating a very rough texture. They don’t cause any apparent problem, but don’t look very good. Once the moisture cycling stops, the hoof grows out normally.

Another common type of crack is the toe crack, where it extends through the entire hoof wall and is often accompanied by a small deviation in the white line. These appear to be the result of unnatural stresses at the toe because of excessive length and/or insufficient “roll” coupled with a compromised white line (“seedy toe”). I can’t say whether or not the stresses directly cause or contribute to the compromised white line, but I do believe that the compromised white line may be the consequence of the presence of some chronic, low-grade laminitis. Certainly, in cases of more severe laminitis, where there is considerable breakdown of the lamellar junction (“white line”), we see a very “stretched” white line all around the toe. Dr. Pollitt’s work has confirmed that this damage is entirely the consequence of the horse’s weight tearing apart the inflamed lamellar junction. It seems logical, therefore, to believe that in milder cases, we may see separation only at the point of maximum stress i.e. the toe. Once any separation occurs, debris begins to pack into the opening and work its way up the toe. The debris prevents good growth/attachment at that spot, and, when the spot is perpetually stressed during breakover, the crack occurs. Proper and frequent trimming to maintain a short toe with a correct “roll” will definitely help mitigate the stresses of breakover, but it may be helpful, and even necessary, to remove any debris to permit reattachment and growth. Plus, if laminitis does indeed play a role in these cracks, it necessarily must be addressed as well. One final point about this type of crack: if you examine a number of coffin bones, you’ll note that some, but not all, of them will have a “groove” up the toe. This groove may be entirely congenital, but may also be caused by some other condition – perhaps via the mechanism just described – post partum. And damaged or even absent sensitive lamellae in the grooved area may explain why some of these cracks never seem to go away, regardless of the treatment.

A third crack type, less common in my experience, is the one found in the heel quarters. These cracks, along with other “miscellaneous” cracks, seem to have two causes: 1) torsional (twisting) stresses in the hoof wall caused by improperly balancing the hoof – often the result of someone trying to do “corrective” trimming/shoeing on a horse, and 2) stresses caused by external factors such as stepping on a rock of just the right shape at just the right spot on the bottom of the foot, or a weakened wall due to nail holes from shoeing. The hoof wall is generally the thinnest in the heel quarters, which makes it most susceptible to cracking under these circumstances. Sensitive tissue can indeed be affected, which makes cracks of this type the most likely to cause lameness. Treating them requires treating the soft-tissue injury as with any other wound, if present, and relieving the underlying stresses by properly balancing the hoof.

And that’s the word on chips and cracks!

I received the following email from a new client the other day –

I wanted to give you a quick update on my (horse type deleted) that was so sore before you started working on him. I have been noticing that he is moving more freely in the pasture than I have seen him since he came to me almost a year ago. Last night I rode him on a short trail ride in which he did very well. I then did just a bit of ring work. Typically in the past he has shown more of a head nod at the trot in the ring but not this time. He was more sound there then I have ever seen him! He still has a bit of healing to do because I can feel he is not quite there 100% but getting pretty darn close – especially considering the awful dx that he would of been labeled with just 2 trims ago!!

Thank you again!  It is amazing to see him move more freely and to live without chronic pain.  I also can see his heels beginning to spread out and fill in!  Yah!!

When the client first called me in April, I was convinced from the description that I was going to be working on a horse with chronic laminitis. And when I saw the horse, he did, indeed, exhibit the typical “founder stance” – his front feet parked out in front, and his rear feet tucked underneath him to shift more of his weight onto his back end. But a quick walk around him revealed no “cresty” neck, obesity, or distorted hoof capsules. What caught my eye, though, were the dark lines running up the backs of his feet between the heel bulbs and up past the hairline. “Your horse isn’t laminitic,” I said, “but he does have a bad infection in all four feet!” The client, of course, wanted to know why neither the veterinarian nor the farrier had caught it – in fact, as the email alludes to, the vet had misdiagnosed the horse as having laminitis.

I can’t answer that, but I can tell you that I’ve now seen this type of infection go undetected by veterinarians and farriers a number of times; the horse is often very lame, and yet “no one” seems to be able to figure out why. And the horse owner has every right to expect more from their equine professionals. But the sad reality is that most vets and farriers simply aren’t properly trained to diagnose hoof problems. For more information on this problem from a veterinarian’s perspective, check out my friend and colleague Dr. Neal Valk’s website.

And let’s celebrate that another horse with a less-than-wonderful prognosis is finally receiving the treatment he deserves!

Before saying too much about hooves, I think it’s extremely important to give you a little information about my background. After all, how credible would this blog be if all I had to back up my assertions were more of the usual “credentials” many horse people tend to offer, like “I love horses” or “I’ve been trimming hooves for 25 years”?

I’ve always believed that a solid formal education is a great point of departure for most any undertaking, and the 7 years I spent at universities yielded undergraduate degrees in music theory & composition and sound recording technology, and a graduate degree in engineering. At various times over the past 30+ years, I’ve been employed as an electronics engineer, graduate and undergraduate university professor, recording engineer, and professional musician. I’ve worked on several Grammy-winning recordings, have a couple of patents, designed quite a few products, and educated literally thousands of students in technical subjects at four different universities. I still do a lot of both teaching and engineering – I teach full-time at one of the largest universities in the country, and own a small engineering company specializing in electronic product development.