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Some farriers say toe grabs are needed; academic studies show they can be lethal

Posted: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 12:38 PM

TOE GRABS

Courtesy of Grayson-Jockey Club

by Denise Steffanus

The ban on toe grabs is a subject that enflames passion on both sides of the controversy. This dynamic often happens when tradition runs headlong into modern science.

Traditional thinking is that toe grabs provide an advantage by enabling a racehorse to get better traction, which proponents claim reduces fatigue and injuries.

Science shows that toe grabs create a snowplow effect, and when used on the front shoes, the sudden deceleration they create can place as much as 450 G-forces on the limb, which leads to catastrophic breakdowns. The incidence of breakdowns increases with the height of the toe grabs on the front shoes.

Toe grab proponents

Recently, three veteran racetrack farriers on the Midwest circuit, Larry Eilers, Bill McGaughey, and Randy McChesney, asked THOROUGHBRED TIMES for a forum to present their views in opposition to the ban on toe grabs; East Coast farrier Linda Muggleworth joined them, but with a slightly different take on the issue.

Eilers, who has been shoeing racehorses since 1970 and is vice president of the Ohio Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, asked, “What changed in the last five years? This is the way we did things for 40 or 50 years. Now, all of a sudden, it’s a whole new theory.”

He maintained that a 1996 study led by Susan Stover, D.V.M., Ph.D., at the University of California-Davis was flawed. In that study, Stover documented the type of shoes on horses that died or were euthanized on California racetracks from August 1992 to July ’94. She and her colleagues concluded that horses shod with toe grabs on the front shoes were as much as 17.1 times more likely to incur cannon bone condylar fractures, 15.6 times more likely to suffer ¬suspensory-apparatus failures, and 3.5 times more likely to die because of catastrophic breakdowns.

“That study was done in the summertime on perfect conditions,” Eilers contended. “They didn’t have mud; they didn’t have slop; they didn’t have trouble with horses getting a hold of the racetrack.”

He also rejects results of other studies that demonstrate the hazards of toe grabs.

Based on his personal experiences, Eilers said some horses that race without toe grabs are more likely to injure themselves because without the traction provided by the devices they become fatigued.

“I have experienced numerous times when forced to remove toe grabs to race in a different jurisdiction that the horse not only becomes excessively fatigued, but these have resulted in serious injury,” he said.

Eilers pointed out that in December 2008, Turfway Park in Northern Kentucky, which has a Polytrack surface, experienced an increased number of breakdowns (eight in one month) when the track banned toe grabs on both the front and hind shoes, in contrast to five breakdowns during the same period in ’07. Trainers pressed management to rescind the ban on rear toe grabs, and the breakdown rate returned to the previous level, Eilers said.

McGaughey learned his trade in Louisiana and began his shoeing career there before moving to Northern Kentucky in the early 1990s. He agreed with Eilers that loss of traction is a key issue when horses are not permitted to run in toe grabs. He believes this leads to soft-tissue injuries and soreness in the hindquarters when horses become fatigued because they are unable to get a hold of the track.

“You need to get under these horses [shoe them] to see how sore they are,” he said. “I’m shoeing some two-year-olds that have only been in training 30 days, and they’re already sore in the back end.”

Muggleworth, who has been a racetrack farrier since 1994, believes the problem lies not with toe grabs but with farriers.

“It’s not the shoe,” she said. “It’s how you apply the shoe and the knowledge of the horseshoer.”

She noted that in the past, an aspiring farrier was required to apprentice for five years before being eligible to take a rigid union test to evaluate his or her skills and knowledge. Only those who passed the test were allowed to apply for a racetrack shoer’s license.

“The tracks have made it so anyone can walk in and get a license and start shoeing horses,” she said. “You don’t have to prove that you know anything, or in some cases, it’s just a matter of nailing on a set of front shoes. This needs to change.”

She advocated bringing back union testing as a condition of licensing. She also blamed injuries on trainers who think horses run better with a long toe and a low heel, and she wants to see a rule implemented to limit the length of a horse’s toe.

Trainer’s decision

McChesney’s major objection to the toe grab ban is that it takes the decision away from the horse’s trainer and farrier. Eilers, McGaughey, and Muggleworth also were adamant on this point.

“I don’t want people who don’t know what they’re talking about to tell me how to shoe horses—the people making all these silly rules,” Eilers said.

“All through the years that I’ve been shoeing, I’ve always asked the trainer what kind of shoes he wants on the horse, because he goes out and watches this horse every day,” McChesney said. He added that he cannot understand why the racing commission would listen to someone who runs a horseshoeing school, referring to Mitch Taylor, a member of the Jockey Club’s Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee who conducted the investigation into toe grabs, rather than consulting a cross section of racetrack farriers.

Moreover, McChesney wants racing jurisdictions to have consistent rules about what type of shoes are permitted. He complained about the detrimental effect on the horse’s foot when he has to switch shoes to comply with restrictions in another jurisdiction. Many trainers based in his area routinely ship to tracks in five nearby states (Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania).

“Two or three times a week, I have to change shoes on horses that otherwise wouldn’t need anything done,” McChesney said. “It’s an added expense for the trainer, and you’re trying to put a shoe on tight and deal with the old nail holes. You can’t have a hoof like a pin cushion because you keep replacing shoes all the time.”

McGaughey said complicating the problem is that shoeing restrictions outlined in condition books are confusing and sometimes contradictory.

Toe grabs are lethal

Bill Casner, co-owner of WinStar Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, is chairman of the Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee assigned the task by the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit to investigate commonly used racehorse shoes and, in particular, toe grabs. Using high-speed video, the committee observed the detrimental effects of toe grabs on the horse’s limb. Based on that information, together with results of existing studies, the committee recommended the toe grab ban outlined in the model rule adopted by many jurisdictions.

Casner defended the scientific findings.

“There have been several ¬university-based studies that have been going on for some time,” Casner said. “This hasn’t been a shoot from the hip. It has not been an opinion-oriented study. Dr. Stover, who has been on the forefront of this research, has done this project methodically, and the data are there. ... The research has shown that toe grabs are lethal. As the height increases, so does the chance of injury. There have been multiple studies that have shown this.”

In his 2007 presentation to the Association of Racing Commissioners International of the committee’s findings, Casner also showed a still frame of two horses clipping heels in a race while wearing toe grabs. The toe grabs tend to interlock, causing spills, added Darrell Haire, then-interim manager of the Jockeys’ Guild.

“It used to be when horses clipped heels, you’d hear the shoes hit and that would usually be it,” Haire said. “Now, you hardly hear anything, and those toe grabs get caught in the other horse’s shoe, and you have a big spill. It’s one of the scariest things that can happen.”

Casner challenged proponents of toe grabs to present valid scientific evidence that shows the devices protect horses from injury.

Traction versus safety

Racing Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, a member of the Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee, took issue with the assertion that horses cannot get traction without toe grabs.

“I train quite a few horses barefoot and work them miles and three-quarters,” he said. “There is too much made of horses not getting a hold of the track. I don’t think you have to have a big toe grab to do that.”

Mandella commented that even if horses needed toe grabs for traction, banning them on all horses would prevent any one horse from gaining an advantage. He added that the detrimental effects of toe grabs, especially on the fetlock joint, outweigh any slight advantage they might provide.

“If you watch slow motion of the horse’s stride, it’s pretty drastic how far that ankle drops down into the ground, and any increase in the length of the toe or putting a protrusion on it, such as the toe grab, just increases the drop of that ankle. Then when they grab the ground to take off again, it puts a lot of strain on the fetlock joint mostly. That is where the majority of breakdowns happen.”

Kentucky-based farrier Steve Norman, who shod Lookin At Lucky, Conveyance, Make Music for Me, and American Lion for this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), also is a member of the Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee.

He rejects the notion that banning front toe grabs creates more stress in the hindquarters and simply transfers the site of injuries from the front of the horse to the backend.

“They are getting fatigued more with toe grabs,” he said. “If you put a toe grab in front of [the break-over point], it takes more energy to break over. It would be like you trying to walk in swim fins for a mile. That’s where the fatigue comes in.”

Not outsiders

Those involved in the process of investigating toe grabs and suggesting the content of the model rule banning them are intimately involved in the horse industry, not outsiders as asserted by Eilers and McChesney.

Besides Casner, Mandella, and Norman, the committee includes Rick Arthur, D.V.M., equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board; John Harris, owner of Harris Farms and chairman of the CHRB; and Frank “Scoop” Vessels, owner of Vessels Stallion Station and president of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.

Ed Martin, president of RCI, the body that developed the model rule, said RCI relies on a committee of regulatory veterinarians who work at racetracks across the nation to review material presented to it. He also said that RCI welcomes input from horsemen.

“The farriers have not shown up at any RCI meeting, nor have they taken the opportunity to comment on the website or participate in the model-rules process. Our door is always open to them.”

Martin urged proponents of toe grabs to band together to conduct scientific research and gather material to support their point of view and present it to the RCI for consideration.

It is important to stress that model rules are merely recommendations, not mandates. Individual racing commissions have the authority to set the rules on toe grabs for their jurisdictions, and proponents should make their voices heard to them also, Martin said.

Industry impact

Toe grabs cause breakdowns, and every breakdown impacts not only the horses and riders involved, but the industry as a whole, Casner said. Norman agreed, and asked, “How many people who watched [2008 Derby runner-up] Eight Belles break down just past the finish line have vowed never to watch another Derby or even another horse race?”

With the Thoroughbred industry struggling for survival, public perception becomes a critical issue, especially when horse racing is trying to woo more fans and create lifelong devotees from youthful fans.

Even before the Eight Belles tragedy, the industry realized it had to take a hard look at itself and how it treats the animals on which the sport is based. That was the impetus behind the first Welfare and Safety of the Horse Summit in 2006. Banning steroids and toe grabs, the launch of the Equine Injury Database, equipment modifications, and stepped-up prerace veterinary checks all contribute to making racing safer for horses and riders, and a sport fans can cheer.

Denise Steffanus is a contributing editor of THOROUGHBRED TIMES who writes frequently on veterinary  and farm management topics.