by Frank Angst

At times, Bill Casner paused to let the startling statistics connecting toe grabs on the front horseshoes of Thoroughbreds to catastrophic injuries sink in.

Casner, who heads the committee on shoeing and hoof care that was formed out of the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit in January, allowed the stats to tell the story during much of his presentation to the Association of Racing Commissioners International on Tuesday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

According to the committee, the odds of catastrophic injury increased 1.5 times in horses wearing toe grabs on their front feet. Casner, co-owner of WinStar Farm, said horses with 4-millimeter toe grabs are 6.5 times as likely to suffer suspensory injuries and seven times as likely to suffer condylar fractures.

When toe grabs are increased to 6 millimeters, those injury rates jump to 15.6 and 17.1.

Those stats came from a 2004 study of horseshoe characteristics. Citing such evidence, in February the California Horse Racing Board banned front toe grabs higher than 4 millimeters. Casner encouraged the regulators to adopt similar rules or ban front toe grabs all together in each of their jurisdictions.

“We have the science now that 15 years ago we didn’t have,” Casner said.

Casner presented slides that documented how front toe grabs adversely affect a horse’s stride by failing to allow the foot to slightly slide forward in contact with the track, as is normal, to cushion impact. The toe grabs also adversely affect the foot as the horse pushes back off the foot during the stride.

The changes to the stride create added pressure on the bones and tendons in the horse’s lower leg.

Darrell Haire, of the Jockeys’ Guild, added that besides catastrophic breakdowns, toe grabs also can cause spills when horses clip heels.

“It used to be when horses clip 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.”

Frank Angst is a Thoroughbred Times senior writer