b'STEP BY STEP HEATHER SMITH THOMASTheHorse.com/Step-By-StepHoofwear InnovationsTodays hoof protection options include a variety of glue-on shoes,hoof boots, and even orthoticsthat increases energy return. Even though it may only be a small amount, when you are running a marathon every little bit helps. Every major marathon record has fallen this year, and these new shoes are part of the reason.Im not sure we can make horses run faster with different shoesthe equine foot doesnt flex and have the same energy return as a human foot, Reilly continues. But there are innovative ways we can address the interface between the foot and the shoe and get ahead of the injury curve.Even if someone were to invent the perfect hoof support, horses feet grow and change. Humans have an advantage in that their feet remain static in size, says Reilly. Were not a size 9 on the day we walk out of the store with a new pair of shoes and a size 11 six weeks later.In this article well look at what shoe types and hoof care materials our farriers do have to work with, as well as their pros and cons.ALEX BECKSTETT/THE HORSEGlue-On ShoesTravis Burns, CJF, TE, EE, FWCF, as-sociate professor of practice and chief of farrier services at Virginia Techs Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine The ability to apply shoes without nails has changed the face of farriery, says Travis Burns. in Blacksburg, Virginia, says the biggest hoof care innovation in the past 20 years F ar more shoeing and hoof care mate- Now glue-on shoes are commonplace;has been the glue-ons. The ability to ap-rials and products are available todayits amazing that weve made that muchply shoes without nails has changed the than 20 or 30 years ago, and horsesprogress in my professional lifetime. face of farriery, he says. Glue-on shoes are the beneficiaries. No longer are farri- He admits, however, that farriers arehave been proven to work, so now many ers limited to just steel shoes and nails. still in need of better materials, more wayscompanies have been getting into the At the first farrier conference I at- to support a foot, and more evidence- game and changing their shoes. tended, in 1988, one topic of discussionbased ideas regarding when to apply oneGlue-on shoes are one of very few was whether glue-on shoes would ever beshoe versus another. He cites Nike as atruly new things in use today, says Reilly. possible, says Pat Reilly, chief of farrierprime example of what ever-i mprovingAcrylic adhesives that most of the world services at the University of Pennsyl- footwear can achieve: They came out thisuses to glue on shoes were originally vanias New Bolton Center School ofpast year with a carbon-fiber insole. Thisused in other industries (bonding aircraft Veterinary Medicine, in Kennett Square.new shoe has a different amount of flexwings) and adapted for equine use by Rob 54March 2020The Horse|TheHorse.comStepByStep_Mar USE.indd 54 2/4/20 9:04 AM'