Synthetic shoes attenuate hoof impact in the trotting warmblood horse

Abstract

Impact is considered the most critical part of the stance phase for the development of chronic articular disorders such as osteoarthritis in the equine distal limb. Modern, synthetic shoeing materials are believed to modify impact and therefore are often used to treat and/or prevent lameness due to chronic joint disorders. Scientific evidence is scarce, however, to prove this. Hoof impact of forelimb was compared quantitatively in a group of horses under three conditions: unshod, classical steel shoes and shod with a synthetic shoe. Twelve sound warmblood horses were trotted by hand on an asphalt track at a mean speed of 3.5 m s 21 and measured in a Latin square design (unshod condition, with steel shoes and with polyurethane (PU) shoes) using a triaxial accelerometer that had been fixed to the lateral hoof wall of the left forelimb. The sampling frequency was set at 10 kHz per channel. The maximum amplitude of vertical and horizontal, forward/backward accelerations at hoof impact was lowest when shod using the PU shoeing condition (P , 0.05), but the duration of the impact vibrations was lowest when unshod. PU shoes cause more damping, less friction and slower shock absorption at hoof level compared with the other two conditions and thus modify impact. Synthetic, polyurethane shoes may help in reducing peak vibrations. These short-term effects appear to be promising enough to evaluate PU shoes under field conditions in reducing impact on the longer term after substantial wear and tear. Furthermore, the possible role of synthetic materials in repairing critical tissues or even in preventing osteoarthritis in horses warrants further investigation.

Hoof ground interaction: when biomechanical stimuli challenge the tissues of the distal limb

“…The movements and forces at first contact of the fore-and hindlimb are different, as the forelimb plants down the hoof, while the hind hoof makes a more sliding movement over the surface (Back 2001;Gustås et al 2004). However, acceleration patterns were found to be similar between fore-and hindlimbs (Gustås et al 2004) and between different strides of the same individual (Gustås et al 2001;Back et al 2006). At initial ground contact a distinct vertical acceleration is generated during the first few milliseconds of the stance phase (Gustås et al 2001).…”

“…The stance phase or the period of hoof contact with the surface can be divided into 3 periods as related to the movement of the hoof with respect to surface: impact, support and break-over. The impact phase is a period of rapid deceleration of the hoof and high loading rates occurring within approximately the first 30 msec of stance (Gustås et al 2001(Gustås et al , 2004(Gustås et al , 2006Back et al 2006). Support is a period where motion relative to the surface is slight at best and loading is high, which is the case during the greater part of the stance phase (Caudron et al 1998a,b;Hood et al 2001;Wilson and Pardoe 2001;Biknevicius et al 2004;van Heel et al 2004).…”

“…The initial period of rapid increase and decrease of vertical and horizontal forces at impact has been studied using force plates (Roepstorff et al 1999;Wilson and Pardoe 2001), but, because of the low natural frequency of force plates, it has been generally accepted that accelerometers are a better method to study these events. During the concussion period, high-amplitude accelerations are observed during approximately the first 30-50 msec of stance (Gustås et al 2001(Gustås et al , 2004(Gustås et al , 2006Back et al 2006). The movements and forces at first contact of the fore-and hindlimb are different, as the forelimb plants down the hoof, while the hind hoof makes a more sliding movement over the surface (Back 2001;Gustås et al 2004).…”

High speed field kinematics of foot contact in elite galloping horses in training

“…Shoeing has been proposed as an important factor in dissipating foot impact forces (Pardoe et al . 2001; Back et al . 2006) and racehorses are at an increased risk of injury when shod with toe grabs (which increase grip) (Kane et al .…”

“…High frequency oscillations increase the risk of damage to subchondral bone and joints (Radin et al 1973;Serink et al 1977). Shoeing has been proposed as an important factor in dissipating foot impact forces (Pardoe et al 2001;Back et al 2006) and racehorses are at an increased risk of injury when shod with toe grabs (which increase grip) (Kane et al 1996). If a surface inhibits slip (in a similar way to toe grabs) or decreases the rate of energy dissipation there may be an increased risk of injury (Gustas et al 2001 (Johnston et al 1991;Burn and Usmar 2005).…”