I've asked this question elsewhere but sadly no response just yet, so I thought I'd ask you shiny, smart people because I know there are a fair few knowledgeable souls on this subject here on THF.

I was watching Saucy Night get pipped at the post on Saturday and noticed that he had a very different way of going to the other shoed horses. Superficially the other horses seemed to have lovely long floaty actions whereas Saucy looked a little short and tight. It made me think because my little mare since changing to barefoot has done the same, her stride appears shorter and almost 'choppy' to watch.

Unfortunately I didn't think to record it so I could look back at it properly, but I'm tinking that maybe it's so much that Saucy's stride is shorter but simply that it is more purposeful and surefooted? The more I watched the other horses the more I felt as though they were simply throwing their legs out and hoping for the best!

Can anyone fill the gaps in for me as to why this is, I've got a few garbled thoughts regarding biomechanics (the difference having a shoe on makes) and a bit more stuff about proprioception or the lack of with a shoe on, etc...

Ta very muchly!

Technical question that m'dear! KC talks about some studies done on Pro-prioception, where there were various areas on the sole of the foot (5 if I remember correctly) that have a concentrated number of nerve endings underneath the solar corium. 4 of these are just inside the inner wall and of course are covered up by the shoe. The 5th is in the centre of the frog (underneath the frog corium). So, a shod horse has impaired pro-prioception in 4 out of 5 points minimum. 5 if shod with the frog raised. This is partly why some horses are 'sore' coming out of shoes. It's a lot of sensation for an animal not used to it, like coming out of plaster I would guess, but worse, as it's weight bearing.

The other explanation for their action could be the cutting effect of the barefoot hoof. It's explained well in James Rooney's 'The Lame Horse', but basically the wedge shape of an unshod foot is much more efficient at cutting into the ground, like a blade. The shoe deadens the angle and causes the foot to slide further before cutting in. Seeing two horses run side by side you probably would see this as a longer stride in the shod horse. The unshod/barefoot horse would cut in and grip sooner, showing as a shorter stride. A beneficial effect of course would be the lesser likelihood of tendon strains and shoulder fractures, particularly in the racehorse.

Don't know the answer but my guesses went along the same lines as Diane.

Another thought I had was that it may be something to do with the fact that KC's trim aims to get the hoof landing heel-first. If a shod horse is unable to do this and has more of a toe-first or flat-footed action then I can also imagine how this would contribute to the shod horse having to throw his foot out further in order to break over.

I can also imagine that it's a combination of all of the above. But should reiterate that I'm guessing and don't know

Are you on Justine's HPT email list? I could ask some of the clever people on there if you'd like (including EPs Trevor, Richard etc)

Catherine

Ooooh! Thank you Diane and Catherine, Trevor is actually coming out on Sunday so I'll grill him about it then. He he!! Couldn't wait for Sunday as it's been causing me a few sleepness nights thinking about it...you'd think I'd have something better to do wouldn't you like maybe sleep??? Hey ho I shall rest a little easier tonight.

So what did Trevor say then??? Suspense has been getting to me!

Hiya, sorry for the delay!!! His opinion was pretty much what you guys said but apparently Saucy Night has a short stride anyway. He thought that it was probably due to the breakover point and that the shod horses would be likely to have longer toes meaning on top of everything else the foot would be on the ground for longer...now why did that make perfect sense when he explained it to me and now seems a bit weird...hmmmm...what do you think??