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Di Arbuthnot (Director of Operations)
T: 01488 648998
E: info@ror.org.uk

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Retraining of Racehorses
75 High Holborn
London WC1V 6LS

UK Registered Charity No: 1084787
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Farriery

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As a Racehorse As an Ex-Racehorse

Racehorses have come from a regimented life where shoeing is regulated by how many times they race and the yard shoeing policy.

They are likely to have been re-shod every three/four weeks. They are comfortable to be shod in a quiet environment free from distractions.
Most racehorses have not been hot shod and do not have sufficient thickness of hoof wall to burn off without burning them. Also they will need prior training to get used to the smoke and noise. Most do well being shod cold with no detriment to their soundness or hoof quality.
When the environment is dry, the feet survive the very regular shoeing times. Equine feet are better served by keeping them as dry as is possible, the moisture control system is an internal function that can be unbalanced when feet are exposed to wet, they suck it up by osmosis, stretching the structures as they expand and damaging them at micro level.
Thoroughbred are renowned for having flat feet which can have shallow heels and/or thin soles. Attention must be paid by the farrier to the hoof/pastern axis. An unbalanced hoof can lead to problems further up the limb.

Cold shoeing

The domestic environment is very different to that of a racing yard.

Horses are kept in a wetter environment.
Shoeing periods get stretched longer (6-8 weeks is not uncommon).
Application of oil or grease based hoof dressings degrade the horn and make the hoof wall too soft and pliable to sustain the forces placed on it.
Deep litter bedding systems are extremely damaging to hooves. Straw bedding is also not a preferred choice because straw will not absorb the moisture in the bedding i.e. Urea and ammonia.
Keep feet dry as is possible, the dryer the better.

Provide a regular shoeing programme of five weeks maximum.
At walk your equine friend should have a slight heel first landing on all four feet. Get someone to walk your equine friend towards you and you should see the feet have a slight flip upwards, just prior to landing. Have someone walk your equine friend past you whilst you are standing some distance away, it may be easier to see the slight heel first engagement from this position.
Pick up your equine friend's feet and draw a line across the widest part of the feet. From side to side, in thoroughbreds, approximately 25mm or 1 inch back from the tip (frog apex) of the frog, it is also where the bars ought to insert into the sole.
Measure the amount of shoe in the front half of the line you have marked on the foot and compare this distance with the amount of shoe in the rear half of the foot, behind the line.
In the world of traditional farriery the proportions you have just measured should be about 50% - 50%.
In the world of Natural Balance these proportions should be a minimum of 50% - 50% but many measure better than the minimum, measuring 40% in the front half of the foot and 60% in the rear half of the foot.
In Nature the 60/40 split is more common.

(Natural Balance photographs courtesy of Cecil Swan, Glos, T: 01242 621590)

Written by: David Nicholls, AWCF NBHM NB-BT CNBF CLS, Technical Director - Total Foot Protection Ltd, www.totalfootprotection.com

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