Shoeing & Heel Expansion

Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine researchers experimented with 15 clinically normal horses to compare heel movement when horses were barefoot or shod with either a conventional nail-on aluminum shoe or a glue-on shoe that’s attached with a fabric cuff that’s glued to the hoof wall.

A linear displacement sensor was attached between the heels to measure heel movement during the walk and trot on asphalt and soft arena footing. The shoeing was changed for each horse while the displacement sensor remained attached.

On asphalt, heel movement was similar between the walk and trot with significantly more heel movement in the barefoot horses compared to the shod horses and more movement with the glue-on shoes compared to the nailed-on shoes at both the walk and the trot.

There was less heel movement at both the walk and trot on soft footing (around 2.7 mm) compared to asphalt (around 4 mm). The barefoot horses had the most heel movement on the soft footing, but on soft footing the glue-on shoes restricted heel movement more than the nail-on shoes. The authors suggest future work should explore other shoeing configurations including different methods of attachment with more flexible adhesives and fabrics to better replicate barefoot biomechanics.

—  Roa FJ et al. EVJ 2026. DOI:10.1002/evj.70336

Quality of Life Assessments & Equine Cushing’s Disease

Two abstracts from the 2026 British Equine Veterinary Association Congress address decision-making in the context of assessing the quality of life (QoL) of horses when faced with emergencies…