Smith discussed the biomechanical principles he considers most important in treating foot-related sport horse injuries at the 2019 Northeast Association of Equine Practitioners Symposium. | Photo: Courtesy NEAEP

Much like previously injured runners experiment with different shoes, socks, and insoles until they cover ground efficiently and without pain, farriers and veterinarians must rely on trial and error when shoeing injured sport horses. Sure, basing shoeing decisions on volumes of published research would be nice, but few sufficiently objective studies are available, says Professor Roger Smith, MA, VetMB, PhD, DEO, Dipl. ECVSMR, DipECVS, FRCVS, Professor of Equine Orthopaedics at the U.K.’s Royal Veterinary College Hawkshead Campus, in Hatfield.

Instead veterinarians and farriers must lean on sound biomechanical principles. Smith described those he considers most important in treating foot-related sport horse injuries at the 2019 Northeast Association of Equine Practitioners Symposium, held Sept. 25-27 in Saratoga Springs, New York.

“There are a large number of products out there, every farrier has their favorites,” he said, acknowledging that the products he has access to might be a little different than what some of the veterinarians and farriers at the symposium use in the United States