Changes in location of centre of pressure and hoof-unrollment pattern in relation to an 8-week shoeing interval in the horse

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: In order to optimise shoeing and shoeing conditions, it is essential to know how the horse adapts to a common shoeing interval.

OBJECTIVES: To measure changes in location of the centre of pressure (CoP) and hoof-unrollment pattern during a shoeing interval and to assess whether these changes in CoP result directly from changes in hoof conformation or are also influenced by compensatory mechanisms.

METHODS: Eighteen horses were trotted over a pressure-force measurement system shortly after shoeing and 8 weeks later. The position of the CoP was measured and also predicted using calculations based on changes in hoof conformation.

RESULTS: The measured shift in CoP was less than calculated. This difference was largest in the hind feet. The hoof-unrollment pattern stayed basically the same in the front feet, but in the hind feet there was a substantial lateral shift of the trajectory of the CoP.

CONCLUSIONS: Horses can compensate, to a certain extent, for changes in hoof conformation that develop during 8 weeks on shoes. As the capacity to compensate is less in the forelimbs, the relative increase in loading of these limbs during a shoeing interval is larger than in the hindlimbs.

POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: This study provides essential basic data for the development of science-based shoeing techniques.